Hey friends! How are things? what’s new with you? I hope life is OK and you are doing OK.
Since Easter, I have been spending very little time online and it is exactly what I need. Offline life seems to suit me right now. Most days I only check my emails but over the last two weeks, I dip into a couple of my favourite blogs or substacks every few days too ( I am especially enjoying Pip’s blog. She is, and will always be, my favourite).I’ve clicked on Instagram a couple of time but almost instantly click out. It’s not for me right now. Facebook? Never. News sites? Occasionally but I feel like I get enough news from the small grabs on the radio. Even podcasts feel too much right now, which is weird considering I crammed them into every spare moment of the last 8 or so years.
Hey friends. This week an idea started percolating in my overwhelmed mind- what if I took time away from the whole internet? Would that help me regulate myself?
So guess what? Thats what I’m doing. From Good Friday I’m going to stay off all the internet places that I feel are giving me input overload.
This means no socials. No blogs (not even my own) or substack. No podcasts. No news sites. No articles or websites. No googling stuff unless is an absolute necessity (recipes & clothes are not necessities!!!!).
There are some internet places I can’t avoid because we have all set our lives up to be online, hell, even my bank has gone online only! So I’ll still check my emails but (try) to only read stuff that is essential to our days. I’ll still do my banking & exercise online because they are the only ways I have of doing them. Text, whatsapp & messenger don’t count as online to me as it’s just communication. And since I sold all my CD’s last year music will come from online too.
I guess I just need some quiet. I feed so much information into my head via the internet that I’m unsure what my own thoughts, feelings & opinions even sound like without all that input. So much of my paid job is about communicating too so I feel burnt out by life!
I’ve also noticed how easily swayed I am by stuff I consume online. I feel like my consumerism has increased. I’ve felt myself second guess myself & choices after reading about someone else’s life. But mostly I’ve noticed that so much of what I consume is just filling a gap & has no lasting impact on my life. I read or watch or listen to something only to forget it soon after.
I think I’ve forgotten how to just be with my own thoughts.
So that’s the plan. Have some quiet time. Try & remember what life was like before the internet. Hopefully get my brain to feel less jumpy.
Hey friends. I’m just gonna share some stuff that has been rolling around my head today. No photos, just words.
I can not be online right now without wanting to buy everything that’s being sold to me, without being annoyed/confused by what people share ( Threads is crackers) or without being bored and then getting annoyed at myself for using the internet as my default. But I do enjoy it when it’s fun. Such a conundrum.
Yesterday I started a new book and it’s trashy but god I love it! I stayed up until 11.30pm reading so any book that does that is bloody good. Even when it’s smutty trash. Read what makes you happy. (It’s Tessa Bailey’s latest book, Fangirl Down in case you want to indulge).
Trying to enrol my kids into the local private school for 2025 and 2026 is making me a little crazy. I hate the uncertainty of the system.
I am not good at taking feedback about my hair that is not complimentary. I also am no good at doing make-up which I tried to do today to make me feel less crap about my hair.
I am very excited about the easter weekend. I want to cook and read and craft and hug my nieces a million times.
I filled a bowl with solid mini Cadbury eggs today. It’s sitting on the lounge room coffee table and makes me happy watching everyone walk by and dip their hand in to sneak one.
List are back. I cut them out for a bit but i function better with them.
Sadie’s cat, Layla, is the smoochiest cat ever. I love how she comes up for cuddles. I lied, here is a photos, one of the many I take of her any time she comes for a cuddle. I am a cat person now.
Lastly, I am thinking over what food/meal things I am happy to pay extra for so they become a kitchen shortcut. Think curry paste, enchilada kits, or bagged salad. My days of making everything from scratch are behind me. I am getting choosier about what things I give my time to and that includes time spent in the kitchen.
Hey friends! You know what? I am living in the land of overwhelm right now and there is no real reason for it. Everything just feels like too much. I look at the calendar and sigh. I think about cleaning my house and decide to do the bare minimum. I have so many unread blogs and substack. I am deleting emails without reading them. For whatever reason I just do not have the brain space to deal with anything except the stuff that is keeping us alive. It’s not even mid year! What is happening!!!
Did you see on Instagram that I flew to New Zealand last weekend? My sister got married (she only decided two weeks beforehand) and it was gorgeous! Even though I was running on fumes and it was a whirlwind 2 days I am so overjoyed that I got to be there. I won’t post a photo because she hasn’t shared any online so I don’t want to overstep but here is a photo of her friend’s property where they held the very small and casual ceremony.
I try not to share too much about the serious stuff that goes on within my family but a few weeks ago I had to ask my eldest son to move out. I wanted to share this because as parents we (or maybe it’s just me) constantly feel like we are fucking up or fucking our kids up. I know I am a fairly decent parent, not perfect but man do I try to do my best. So when my son treated me like crap one too many times I knew I had reached my limit. And that’s OK. I want you to know what I keep telling myself- it’s OK to have boundaries with our kids. It’s OK to not like their behaviour and choices. It’s OK to say “I love you but i can’t have you live here any more”. Parenting is hard.
Next week I am booked in for a haircut. The “I can’t stand myself” phase continues and now I want new hair. My hair is not long, chin length at best, but I think I want to go shorter. Or have a different style. We’ll see how I feel when I am sitting in the chair. Hair grows back so it’s no biggie if I had shitty hair for a few months.
My quest for a new style continues. I’ve ordered a few things online from stores I’ve never bought from before. Fingers crossed I find some good items. I also think I want to buy these sneakers to wear on weekends but they are a little pricey for right now.
Can you tell I am bored with life right now?!
A few things I have consumed lately-
Tim and I devoured the latest season of Drive to Survive (on Netflix)
I really enjoyed these two books while travelling on the weekend.
I made this recipe last night and I think with added spice it could be great (I also added spinach)
That’s all friends. I hope you are doing OK. I am doing OK.
The Back Fence 