An extra day that didn’t exist!

I dictated this into my phone, having woken to blue sky, revealed to me the moment I opened my bedroom window shutters in the bay window I sit and write in every morning. The faint sound of birds tweeting, and in view a magpie crafting a nest peacefully and skillfully in one of the trees opposite. Just watching and hearing nature feels so calming. (Don’t let me romanticise too much… This sound is coupled with the hum of the main road which I can also see, but that in a way comes with its sense of ‘life happening in so many different ways’ comfort about it too).

Today began at a slightly slower pace than usual, as weekends tend to, which feels glorious, in the way it differentiates the week from the weekend somewhat.

Now, this year, one of my very best friends (@wellbeing_withgeorgia) bought me the Donna Ashworth daily journal ‘Words To Live By,’ for Christmas. As you know, gratitude and journaling practice is something I thoroughly enjoy every morning. This beautiful gift was another welcome addition to this precious me time—just short, sweet prompts that have added a new level of thought and pleasure. (I’ve committed to this morning practice since 2020 and it’s been genuinely life-changing. So much so, I created my own FREE Gratitude Journal to share far and wide some time ago, so you too can have a go—you can download it here).

The Donna Ashworth journal, I now realise, is not specific to the year in which you are using it. (Relevant information as you will hear in a moment….). Each month has its own section, and each day of the month is given a short space to write, with the prompt being different every day. So yesterday morning I sat at ‘day 29’ and Donna had written:

‘This day is a bonus 24 hours to keep our calendar in tune with the seasons and nature. What can you do with this leap year day?’

Aaah I hadn’t realised it was a leap year this year! How exciting.

On completion of writing down my thoughts, I carried this fresh excitement into Instagram, to share this wondrous realisation and pondering opportunity with you, as I invited you too to consider what you might do with yours. “An extra special day. What will you all do with it?”

A few hours later, one of my other best friends (@sophiedevault) asked me what I meant by an extra day, questioning if she’d missed something? It was only upon receiving this call did I bother actually checking my diary…. And hence realised that it was of course 1st of March, and this year wasn’t a leap year after all. What a wally! We were both in hysterics. Thoughts of school reports ‘must pay more attention to detail’ flashed into memory—still imperfectly pressing on then Georgie.

Anyway, the ace thing that happened (after removing said Instagram post) was that it led me to think actually, ‘sod the date,’ This might not be an ‘extra’ special day, but it is indeed still an extra special day. I’m here, alive, healthy and thriving—so indeed it was an extra special day after all.

And this day actually was a particularly extra special day in my life too, because it’s a day me and said best friend Sophie had booked in to go and have a commemorative tattoo done; matching, to celebrate our 30 years of very best friendship. (Also making it even more ridiculous that I hadn't realised it was 1st March—because that’s the date we’d booked to spend together and had been so excited for for ages). Incidentally, we met on the 1st of April 1995. The tattoo celebrates the deep, solid, foundational, loving, everlasting sisterhood and friendship we’ve held since that date, will till the day we pass, and I don’t doubt beyond…

Now, this ‘extra’ special day prompt, regardless of the date, really did move me into feeling so incredibly grateful and that gratitude was really grounded in the moment… I told you about the birds tweeting, the blue sky, the magpie, and it continued into my thinking consciously of all the really simple pleasures in my life. The things that really matter to ‘me,’ the things that really matter to ‘us’ as individuals (these can be and very much are so specific and unique to each of us). The things that somehow make your heart feel huge, like your ‘being’ feels nourished from the inside, make you feel so lucky to be alive, a metaphorical cuddle. That makes you feel so just ‘at home’ (that’s how I feel it anyway).

So I wanted to share those things, from my perspective, in the hope reading them you might encourage you to stop right now, even just for a few moments, to tune into and think about the things that make you smile from the inside out, as I am right now, as I tune into mine to pull all of this together.

Here’s a tiny selection of my everyday stuff. Just the bits that popped up right now.

• The meditation first thing in the morning. My morning space.
• The cuddle I get from my boy every morning as he runs in in one of his fluffy onesies and sits cuddling, rocking on my knee. He’s 9. What a TREAT.
• The sound of my eldest's voice shouting “Morning, love you too!” back to me in the morning, having shouted the very same upstairs to her first.
• The process of making a fresh cafetiere of coffee in the morning—waiting for the brew—pouring it into the specific handcrafted mug I’ve had for a few years (made by a very talented woman I also love being in the presence of @rebeccamorrisceramics). The cradling of it, the smell, the taste—the whole sensory experience.
• My little fridge raids of the delicious fresh fruit, veg, pre-prepared salads, raw mushrooms dipped in hummus (ha, so many people think this is gross!), nuts and seeds… purposely decanted into clasped mason jars for added sensory pleasure! The picky food I know I ‘should’ put on a plate first but never ever makes it there.
• Freshly washed and folded towels. Yum.
• The smell of fresh-made bread—actually the whole experience of getting to and being in my local deli—the people, the visual array of food selected from all over the world in all its finery, coupled with fresh salads, meats, baked goods and the most glorious staff ever! The chat, the sensory experience—the getting outside either side of it—precious.
• The local organic cooperative with its shelves and shelves of locally grown, sustainably sourced veg and fruit and uuuummmmmmm. The LIFE, the colours, the textures, the people, the chat—all of it.
• A shower—fresh—hot then cold. Alive. Then taking time to apply body cream I LOVE the smell of.
• My mum’s home-roasted cashews (it’s not about the nuts really, although they are delicious, it’s the knowing she always has them in the cupboard really for me whenever I pop in. It’s special).
• Time with my best friends. I have no words. Soul food. Absolute soul food. Absolutely beyond blessed to have them. So, so blessed.
• New socks.
• Clean, fresh-washed and blown hair.
• Clean sheets.
• Dancing. Singing. Music. Dancing. Singing. Music. Dancing. Singing. Music—repeat to fade.
• House plants.
• My work. My God, does my work bring me pleasure.
• You lot!
• Humans. People. You are all wondrous.
• Running. Walking. Moving my body—WHAT A PLEASURE.
• Weights. Heavy weights in my gym. My time for me.
• The sea.
• Mountains.
• Hearing people laugh.
• Laughing! BELLY LAUGHING.
• Fresh Air. Fresh Air. Fresh Air.
• Cooking. Chopping. Prepping. EATING.
• The vastness of the universe and how tiny and completely insignificant I am. Yet so significant in so many other ways. That feels so GOOD. I can’t put it into words.

I could go on and on, and quite often do, but I’ll stop here for now. But I would really genuinely LOVE to hear your list. If the mood takes you to create your own (It feels so good to do!) please hit reply and share with me if you feel comfortable. No presh!

And you knew I’d bring it back to the nervous system, didn’t you? Every single thing I have detailed above are things that make my body feel safe. These are all things that make me feel naturally regulated. And when we practice our nervous system regulation tools, this is the feeling we are looking to create in our bodies.

If you don't get your daily prompts to help you create this feeling more and more every day, you can join us here in REGULATE today and get started. See you there!

Make this a very 'feel great in your own skin week' - you get to choose to make it more so - even if just a tiny bit you know. Do shout up if you're struggling. I'm here (just hit reply).