Hello my friend, welcome back to my blog.

If you’ve connected with my website, I hope you’ve found it useful, if you’re reading the blog (my fifth) please do take a look around the website while you’re here.

My Week

I cannot pretend; this week has not been easy. If you look on my About page and my photos of life outside of work, you will see a photograph of Holly, our beautiful 13 year old Cocker Spaniel.  Holly is a joyous part of our lives and became very ill this week, with a diagnosis of Vestibular Disease.  We are giving her all the love and attention she deserves at the moment.

Our pets are a part of us; they are members of our families, who love us unconditionally. The bonds that form run deep into our hearts and when they are suffering, it’s difficult to escape those heart wrenching feelings and focus on the joy they bring.  

So finding joy and balance in a difficult week comes in many ways despite the lows.  On Saturday, dear friends got married, it was such a beautiful day.  To be able to share their day was a real privilege; listening to the couple share they vows and dedicate their lives to one another was truly joyous.

We were also reunited with friends that we had not seen for a few years.  We chatted about how longstanding friendships never diminish over time even though we’d not been in contact and how natural it felt just to catch up, laugh and reenergise the relationships. True friendship. 

Favourite Things

App – this week I came across a meditation app called Balance.  The app is a guided meditation app and so far I have really connected with it.  Over the years I have tried really hard to maintain a consistent meditation habit and have used many other apps to help, and this one is going well so far.  It has a minimal design and navigation experience.  I have been able to customise it to suit my needs and the voice over is very soothing and easy on the ears. I would say definitely worth a look if you are a beginner to meditation or just curious and want to give it a try.

TED Talk - I love watching TED Talks in many different subjects and this one from psychologist Guy Winch entitled ‘How to turn off work thoughts during your free time’ really resonated. Guy talks about the impact of ruminating, how it disrupts our free time and what strategies we can put into place to help overcome rumination.

Photo of the Week

Quote of the Week

Chose this one this week with my dog Holly in my heart and mind because her happiness is my happiness and the two exist together as one.

Question of the Week

I’ll always leave you with this question, as I think it’s a nice way for us to connect.  Please do leave your answers in the comments section and I will read and reply to them.  Continuing the theme of joy.

“What has bought you joy this past week”?

Thank you for reading.  Bye for now.

Jackie