Sundaze 165

“The days are long, but the weeks are short.”

This is the sentiment that I’m experiencing during lockdown at the moment. Time has lost all meaning, and it’s time itself that I’m struggling with, like I mentioned last week. I started the week feeling really positive, and that completely diminished by Tuesday night. I’ve been struggling recently with trying to spin plates when my own energy is waning, and now I’ve pretty much accepted that all I can do is my best. And if that’s, ‘enjoy a coffee and get on with work’, then so be it.

Jaye shared a beautiful post about how she struggles with friendships, and it echoed a lot of what I feel, especially these days: I can’t be the ‘always on’ friend. My notifications have stacked up, I’m marking messages as read, I’m barely looking at my phone, but it’s not because we’re not friends — it’s because my energy won’t get me there.

Anyway, after that solemn realisation, my week began to feel more peaceful. I enjoyed a Barre class, took loads on at work, applied for my COVID-19 grant (as I’ve officially got zero freelance work and had zero paid invoices since January!), and did lots of writing. And island-decorating.

Work changes

This week, as if all of the above wasn’t enough, I had a bit of a change at my part-time job, moving to a new team. It’s been really exciting, and I’m so thankful to be so well-looked after by the company. First a care package full of soap and surgical face masks, and now a Hotel Chocolat gift card to welcome me to a new team!! I feel like one lucky girl at the moment. However I’m having no luck on my own biz front, and have no clients for the foreseeable. I’m seeing it as a blessing in disguise, because I do feel like I was on the brink of burnout and, of course, I already have big plans for what’s next!

Hanging out with Harvey… at a safe distance

Although I certainly haven’t been doing ‘unlimited outdoors exercise’ or ‘driving for long periods of time’, this week I drove over to Harvey’s house to drop off some homemade cake and see him for a big ol’ chat in his front garden. We’ve been isolating separately because I’d literally just moved house and there’s not enough room in this bedroom for two people to comfortably cohabit. Which means… two whole months, so far, of not being together(!) It was really strange, but it was comforting somewhat to see him IRL. Here’s to being properly reunited soon, and if not, we’ll be celebrating our four-year anniversary by making DIY Patty & Bun burgers!

On community

I also couldn’t let this Sundaze pass without extending a HUGE thank you to you guys!! I’ve had the most overwhelmingly positive response to this week’s posts (so much so that I held off sharing a ‘Petite joys’ on Friday, because I didn’t want to shift gears), and it’s been a total tonic during a really tricky week. A few months ago when I decided to focus a little more on sharing my life as a British-born Chinese woman, I worried constantly that it’d deter you guys, but it’s always met with such curiosity, gratitude and interest, and I’m so thankful. I try to intersperse the tough long-reads with my usual magic-seeking, productivity-making content, and right now I feel like the blog feels like an almost-exact replica of what my offline life is like. I’m truly loving it.

Links I’ve Loved

I’ve really struggled with Instagram over the last two months or so, and this post on Jodie Melissa perfectly articulates why.
‘5 Books You Can Read in 24 Hours‘ on Chapters of May made a great read. I’m really enjoying Anika’s book blog these days!
Like I mentioned earlier in this post, Jaye penned ‘I Struggle with Friendships‘ this week and I really resonated with it.
Monica’s endless productivity tips are useful to me, and her recent post about macro to micro to-do lists was of no exception.
If, like me, you’re constantly curious/envious about the US’ Everything Bagel seasoning that seems to be used in everything, Love & Lemons shared a recipe for their own!
Lastly, I filmed an Animal Crossing: New Horizons island tour! It’s odd to watch this back because I’ve made so many tweaks to it already.