Journal | January 2019

Welcome to my monthly journal where I gather my musings and noticings captured in fleeting moments during the month. I’m documenting my stories and the moments to create my own regular gratitude and journaling practice. Journaling about life is achievable and you don’t need to write long prose, a sentence of two to capture the feeling in words is all that’s needed or a photo can say it all. However big or small the memories are worth capturing in words or images.

January was a month of savouring all the things that the heart of the winter brings. It was a chance to snuggle under blankets, enjoying candlelight and cosy evenings in, reading books and watching our gorgeous little girl change so much. Here are a few musings and reflections about my life in January…

…Whilst taking down our Christmas decorations I thought about the next time we’d see them. A wave of joy came over me knowing that at Christmas this year our little girl Chloe may be moving around and able to help us decorate the tree.

…I started unravelling 2018 using Susannah Conway’s Unravel your Year. I’ve done this since 2014 and this year especially enjoying thinking about how far we’ve come as we get used to being parents. I feel huge gratitude every day that we had a safe arrival of Chloe and that my birth experience was able to be a positive one.

…Chloe is growing and each day feels new and different, by the end of this month she has slept through the night and his noticing so much more. She turned 3 months old and her big smile makes my heart melt when she wakes up next to me each morning.

…Switching on the lights in our lounge at 3.30pm on a dull day made the space feel cosy, the year round fairy lights bring an extra twinkle to rainy days.

…After a break of a few months I managed to create a space of time and started editing my website copy and re-learning how to use Squarespace. Dipping my foot back into the digital media world and trying to implement things I know. Feeling a huge wave of achievement as my website is published.

…I spent a few spare moments working my way through all of my favourite photos that I’ve taken and feeling brave to put them centre stage across my website. I’m practicing what I preach in my seasonal coaching practice about having the confidence and feeling pride in putting your talents and passions out into the world.

…The outside of our home had a facelift during the month, and we a new roof. A practical (but oh so expensive) purchase and very much needed after four years of leaks. Our home is now leak proof.

… I’ve been creating mood boards, selecting colours and making decisions for our home renovations to our kitchen, utility room and bathroom updates happening in February. It feels exciting to make our home really ours and make the changes we’ve been wanting to for a few years.

…I spent time thinking about my One Little Word for the year and came to a decision (a blog post will follow soon!)

…Things finally felt real when I registered my coaching practice with Companies House.

…I’m making regular time and space to read books that have been piling up unread for months.

…Like everyone else I’ve been ‘doing a Marie Kondo’ on our clothing and have started on the paperwork. I read her book in 2016 and became slightly addicted to the show on Netflix this month.

…Walks in the park and noticing the snowdrops coming out made me smile and connected me back to using my DSLR after a break. I feel a deep connection to my camera, and love being able to take a photo in my own style.

…I’ve been reading about how to help babies learn and what we can use to enable Chloe to explore the world around her.

I hope that you will join me in noting down the small moments each month to help you establish a gentle gratitude practice and a way to journal your memories in a simple way.