If slow living means buying an inflatable sun lounger and spending every waking minute on it, I'm an expert.
Okay, maybe not...
There are two things I want from life; to eat well and to live quietly.
Okay, maybe not...
There are two things I want from life; to eat well and to live quietly.
I flourish in the silence where other people crave noise. I take pride in my clutter free home, its clean white walls and, the comfort I've found through solitude here. I listen to calm piano tunes and find inspiration in the small moments. The apple tree growing next door, the sound of geese flying above, a nearby coastal walk.
Slow living embraces joy and comfort found through these moments. It's an attitude which turns away conformity in seeking a fast-paced lifestyle. Slow living isn't about completely decluttering any ounce of colour from your life. This approach wants to radiate everywhere - to add small touches of happiness in every corner and allows you to appreciate the details.
This lifestyle movement is something I subconsciously decided upon several years ago, and has shaped my identity within the past year. When I thought about the home I wanted to create and the life I wanted to lead, slow living became inevitable. Staying on top of my well-being was high on my priority list because at the ripe age of 24, I already felt burnt out and totally lost. I thought adulthood meant being constantly stressed and pushed to your limits. I didn't know how I was going to cope under such pressure as I grew older. I hoped I didn't have to.
I tried the 9-5 rat race for a couple of years after I graduated, almost immediately concluding it wasn't my thing. I didn't know what was. Yes, I enjoy a certain level productivity and yes I enjoyed an office environment, but I craved more flexibility and time to appreciate the aspects of my life I deem important. So, I fled. Vowing to never return. Accepting a new lifestyle and shifting my work life balance entirely.
These days I live intentionally to value every moment and am able to shape my days. I work part time to pay the bills and being busy is not my goal. I hardly worry about managing a daunting workload or rely on other people for reassurance in my work. This slower pace of living is all my own. Created to rid anxieties, to share a great life with my partner and to create a calm atmosphere.
My home is filled with personality, love and light. Glimpses of colour tie everything together and beautiful houseplants welcome me through the front door. In this life I can pay more attention to the details and find a level of calm within myself where I feel truly on top of my mental state. Life runs at my pace, feels organised and works for me - how and when I want it to.
My home is filled with personality, love and light. Glimpses of colour tie everything together and beautiful houseplants welcome me through the front door. In this life I can pay more attention to the details and find a level of calm within myself where I feel truly on top of my mental state. Life runs at my pace, feels organised and works for me - how and when I want it to.
Whilst the rest of the world adjusts to a new norm, life for me and other healthcare workers has become busier than ever. I've been running around like a headless chicken for the most part of April, but knowing that I had seven days off of work starting from last Saturday has been a true blessing.
Sometimes you simply don't realise how tired you are until you stop. Setting my head down onto my pillow last Friday night after working multiple 12 hour shifts within a short space of time was indescribable. There's no better feeling and it's particularly special when there's no need to set your alarm the following morning, or the morning after that or after that...
April has been somewhat of a blip to me, but over the past week I've made up for lost time by drinking plenty of pink gin, lounging around with my partner, partaking in a Zoom pub quiz with my closest friends, and getting on with the big food shop. We even treated ourselves to a BBQ and inflatable sun lounger, which is where you'll find me from here on out. I need to write a new blog post titled 'I spend 90% of my time on my sun lounger' now right?!
I'm a sucker for a burger and over the past year or so I've been perfecting several burger recipes, all in anticipation of moving to a home with a garden in which we could host many gatherings of friends and family. Despite the pandemic stopping us from hosting such events, I still took the opportunity on Tuesday evening to whip up a delicious warm potato salad with sugar snap peas, sausage burgers with onion mayo and honey BBQ chicken kebabs. It was delicious!!
I'm a sucker for a burger and over the past year or so I've been perfecting several burger recipes, all in anticipation of moving to a home with a garden in which we could host many gatherings of friends and family. Despite the pandemic stopping us from hosting such events, I still took the opportunity on Tuesday evening to whip up a delicious warm potato salad with sugar snap peas, sausage burgers with onion mayo and honey BBQ chicken kebabs. It was delicious!!
This week has been wonderful to say the least. A taster of life to come this Summer. On my days off during the week whilst my partner still works, I've achieved so many little things I've been putting off for a while including coursework for a qualification I'm working towards through work, mundane housework, lots of life admin and I've finally been able to put my time and energy back into writing too.
I thought that spending seven days alone at home would drive me stir crazy, but slowing down this week and taking a step back to adjust my mindset was so so needed apparently. I've loved every minute at home. I've appreciated everyday spent eating a good breakfast, opening the patio doors and letting light in. Sunbathing, relaxing, talking with my neighbors and looking after my own well being.
Life is a little crazy right now, but I'm feeling positive in spite of everything. I love my home. I feel safe and happy. I'm exactly where I need to be. Now if this sunshine would continue through May, that would be great.
Life is a little crazy right now, but I'm feeling positive in spite of everything. I love my home. I feel safe and happy. I'm exactly where I need to be. Now if this sunshine would continue through May, that would be great.
Roughly six months ago I took a leap of faith and decided to scrap my old blog and the entirety of its work. I'd nurtured my previous blog for over two years and felt sad saying goodbye to content I'd worked so hard to create, but I fell out of love and in late November 2019 I decided to reintroduce myself under as Kindly Kate. The decision was something I'd be mulling over for some time, I just didn't really know how to go about things. All I knew was that I wanted a clean break.
I also knew I wanted to rejuvenate my love of writing though, instead of giving up completely. I wanted a chance to create copious amounts of content that fulfilled my current mood and lifestyle, and for whatever reason I thought my old writing style wasn't good enough or representative of that. I needed to do something I stupidly never did first time around, to find my identity and to share my voice with authenticity and confidence.
The process began by reassessing my work and comparing myself to other bloggers within a positive mindset. I wasn't looking at my failings, instead I was looking through my most successful topics from before and understanding what subjects I enjoyed writing about the most. I thought about the others bloggers I love so much and the work they were creating, I thought about how I could fit in the mix and the type of audience I wanted to obtain.
This analysis if you like allowed me to identify my previous mistakes and understand what I needed to do and what I wanted from my blog moving forward which included the following... 1. I needed to move away from my previous blog platform, teach myself some basic code and start from scratch. 2. I needed to start using my camera instead of my iPhone if I wanted to appear more professional. 3. I wanted to create content with no boundaries instead of sticking with a niche in order to create the laid back writing style I enjoy. 4. I needed to focus on blog content instead of obsessing over Instagram. 5. I wanted to establish a new brand through finding an entirely new domain name.
So, here we are today! Those five acknowledgements among many more have helped me profoundly. Second time around I've refined so many skills and learnt so much. All I needed to do was kick my business grad brain into gear - who would have thought?!
With confidence, I can honestly say that I've accepted that starting again is a good thing. The right thing to do in order to grow in fact.
Challenging ourselves to do better, admitting that we didn't like the way things were shaping and making a decision to switch things up rather than quitting completely is something to feel proud of. I'm proud because if I'm truly honest, there are many situations I've encountered over the years where I have given up and quit, instead of trying to make things right for myself. Employment, relationships, subscriptions - you name it, I've quit it. I'd love to say that's the old me, but I know that probably wouldn't be the truth.
However, these days I'm in a much calmer headspace, living in a new home with beautiful aesthetics that fuel my inspiration. I have much clearer values and insights into the writer I hope to be, and as a result I can create content with a direction in mind.
The daunting task of saying goodbye and starting again has been incredibly gratifying long term, although absolutely terrifying at the time. Without a doubt it's one of the best decisions I've ever made though because by some miracle, I've achieved more success within the past six months of this blog than I ever did within two years of my previous - now that's truly something to smile about.
I'm still learning though, and I'm not stopping here. I try not to look at the numbers and overthink my success or failings. I'm always striving to improve myself. I still have a lot of ground to cover, and I'm simply so excited and motivated to see where this blog takes me.
The process began by reassessing my work and comparing myself to other bloggers within a positive mindset. I wasn't looking at my failings, instead I was looking through my most successful topics from before and understanding what subjects I enjoyed writing about the most. I thought about the others bloggers I love so much and the work they were creating, I thought about how I could fit in the mix and the type of audience I wanted to obtain.
This analysis if you like allowed me to identify my previous mistakes and understand what I needed to do and what I wanted from my blog moving forward which included the following... 1. I needed to move away from my previous blog platform, teach myself some basic code and start from scratch. 2. I needed to start using my camera instead of my iPhone if I wanted to appear more professional. 3. I wanted to create content with no boundaries instead of sticking with a niche in order to create the laid back writing style I enjoy. 4. I needed to focus on blog content instead of obsessing over Instagram. 5. I wanted to establish a new brand through finding an entirely new domain name.
So, here we are today! Those five acknowledgements among many more have helped me profoundly. Second time around I've refined so many skills and learnt so much. All I needed to do was kick my business grad brain into gear - who would have thought?!
With confidence, I can honestly say that I've accepted that starting again is a good thing. The right thing to do in order to grow in fact.
Challenging ourselves to do better, admitting that we didn't like the way things were shaping and making a decision to switch things up rather than quitting completely is something to feel proud of. I'm proud because if I'm truly honest, there are many situations I've encountered over the years where I have given up and quit, instead of trying to make things right for myself. Employment, relationships, subscriptions - you name it, I've quit it. I'd love to say that's the old me, but I know that probably wouldn't be the truth.
However, these days I'm in a much calmer headspace, living in a new home with beautiful aesthetics that fuel my inspiration. I have much clearer values and insights into the writer I hope to be, and as a result I can create content with a direction in mind.
The daunting task of saying goodbye and starting again has been incredibly gratifying long term, although absolutely terrifying at the time. Without a doubt it's one of the best decisions I've ever made though because by some miracle, I've achieved more success within the past six months of this blog than I ever did within two years of my previous - now that's truly something to smile about.
I'm still learning though, and I'm not stopping here. I try not to look at the numbers and overthink my success or failings. I'm always striving to improve myself. I still have a lot of ground to cover, and I'm simply so excited and motivated to see where this blog takes me.
Okay, maybe 90% of the time is a slight exaggeration, but I do love my bed - that statement has never been more true. It's always been my sanctuary, my safe space. In fact my love of bed goes beyond the hunger for an undisturbed nights sleep. This love runs deep.
Through heartbreak, love and loss my bed no matter where I've lived has always felt truly my everything. In times when I felt entirely alone my bedroom has been my best friend. My bed knows my every truth. Everything. Over the years it's also been the surface for multiple laughs, meals, glasses of wine and serious talks among friends. Ultimately somewhere for us all to seek comfort in casualness.
Thinking back, I'm not sure when exactly or why I decided my bed was the one, but it started from a young age. My mum worked lots and my sister was the total opposite to me. She enjoyed the noise and was very much an extrovert. We bickered a lot and couldn't always handle each other. I, I suppose at some point decided that seeking calm within the safety of my room could help me escape when I felt overwhelmed.
There have only been a few occasions in recent years that have led me to feel the same sense of worry / dread I experienced so fondly as a child thankfully. Now being a little older, wiser and with my own home, I've got the ability to control the atmosphere somewhat, and have been able to create solutions that work both for myself and my partner. When he's feeling full of energy and I require a little less noise, I head off for my downtime with laptop in hand and blog content on the brain. It works because if I hadn't mentioned it already, I love spending time in bed. I'm literally writing this now IN BED.
In addition, through establishing a bed time routine that I can stick to at least 50% of the time, getting a good nights sleep comes easy these days. I have two methods...one involves running around like a mad women for 12 hours, before returning home to shower, eat dinner and pass out in bed around half 9. The other involves watching Netflix, chatting to my partner and avoiding my phone. However, there are rare occasions that require ear plugs and my eye mask - for instances when I feel a sense of anxiousness, where switching off all senses is required.
My mornings are usually where things feel a little trickier...
As I've grown older the devotion if not need to spend multiple hours lounging in bed has become almost addictive. Sometimes I feel as though I have to drag myself up. My brain wants to move but my body feels trapped by security and warmth. I've wasted so many mornings that could have been productive hiding away from the world, shielded underneath my duvet - this mindset often leaves me kicking myself for the rest of the day, as I'm actually an early bird if you would believe it! On mornings where I do muster up the energy to scramble out of bed, I'm the most productive person and feel a sense of joy like non other.
However, some days spent in bed have been my most productive and rewarding oddly. In fact some of my biggest achievements to date such as creating this blog and earning my degree happened whilst hibernating. These two things I'm enormously proud of, one of which was far from the stress free vibe you might wish your bedroom to be.
Mostly though, life is calm and undisturbed when I'm tucked up in bed and that's what I love so much - that's why it's so difficult to leave and begin the day. Whilst my duvet swallows me up whole, birds are chirping, my neighbours are going about their lives and everything continues. I find a weird sense of pleasure knowing that whether my head is thumping and my eyes are yearning to shut, or whether I'm loving every moment of lounging in bed, life is continuing around me. Time stops and serenity exists. Nobody knows I'm home. It's my time to feel the most unapologetically me.
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