march and april 2019: what I’m learning and loving lately

I started this list last month, but I didn’t finish it up – so I’m just combining both months instead. Extra WILL just for you!

What I’m loving lately

Face serum. I bought some of Seduisance’s facial serum because it was on sale on MarketWagon.com, and I wanted some extra moisture for my winter skin. I love this stuff, and I really notice that my skin feels less dry and brittle and looks brighter.

No social media. I gave up social media cold turkey for Lent, and after about five days without it, I looooved it. I want to find a way to reengage, but with far better boundaries. I’m still working that one out. I’m writing a full post on what I learned from giving up social media for six weeks, so stay tuned.

Sourdough. I have tried to get in a sourdough routine for years, and I think this stretch is the longest I’ve ever gone (giving up social media might have helped?!). I’ve been keeping my wild starter alive and thriving since the beginning of the year, and I have been having way too much fun experimenting with different recipes, timeframes, designs, etc. It is always fun to learn a new skill, especially one that tastes delicious too.

Brown glass spray bottles. I bought these a few months ago. I put my magnesium oil and added a few drops of peppermint essential oil in one and keep it in the shower. In the other, I filled up with water and add various essential oils to it, depending on what I’m in the mood for. I spray the magnesium oil on myself after a shower, and I use the other one to spray the sheets or on clothes that need a little freshening up. It is a little, simple thing that makes me happy.

GOT. Grant and I re-watched the entire seven seasons (see also: giving up social media for Lent. Are you sensing a theme here?!) before the Season 8 premiere, and while I’m a little embarrassed by that, I’m not sorry because we had lots of fun watching it through again. 

Weightless by Marconi Union. Listening to this song is clinically proven to reduce anxiety by 65 percent. I’ve been using their entire album often in my yoga classes, and I’ve used it at home when any of us are feeling the stress or anxiety rising. Here’s the playlist I use.

What I’m learning

N-of-1. An N-of-1 study is one in which a single patient makes up the entire trial. I’ve pretty much learned this in different ways over and over (and over) again since I started tracking what I’m learning, but I like this way of thinking of it that I picked up from James Clear in this context, although I had heard the concept before.

The big idea and takeaway is that we’re all N-of-1 experiments: we can read all of the productivity books, listen to all of the gurus, do all of the things, but none of that advice matters if it doesn’t work for us individually. Let’s say you want to get stronger, and you start doing the program that works for your BFF – but you hate it. Don’t think there’s something wrong with you (or with him/her for that matter), just tell yourself…

I am a one-of-a-kind individual, and this type of training [or fill-in-the-blank for your situation] didn’t work for me. Instead of beating myself up, I’m just going to treat this as information in furthering my own self-awareness and self-knowledge. I can cross this one off the list and move onto trying something else.

Sara’s self-talk

Movement breeds movement. One of the things I learned when our kids were babies was at first counter-intuitive: that sleep begets sleep.
Most of my friends with new babies probably got sick of me using this mantra on them. Before I had kids, I thought that the later I stayed up, the later I would sleep in – and that the same would be true for babies. But I quickly learned that the more Jasper slept as a baby, the more he slept.

I’m learning that the same is true for movement. If I can get moving a little bit first thing, I’m more likely to find ways to sneak movement in all day long – and I’m more likely to crave it.

Somethings about social media, but I’m not quite sure what yet. I haven’t quite figured out what I’ve learned from my social media fast, but I know it’s been a bunch of things.

Empathy has a dark side. I’m a student of Brené Brown (Queen BB as she is known at our house), so if you would have told me a month ago that empathy has a dark-side, I would have argued vehemently with you. But then I listened to this Invisibilia episode and then this RadioLab episode and realized that empathy’s dark-side actually goes a long way to explaining how divided our world is today.

What have you been learning and loving lately?!