Sundaze 194

Welp, what a long year this week has been…! As much as I knew that 2021 wasn’t a promise for better by any means, the past seven days have been a lot to process. And I’m sending so much love to you all. God knows we all need it. I’ve felt really out of sorts this week and so I’ve tried my darnedest to strip things back.

It was my first full week at work and the new pace of my ‘weeks’ felt really nice; my mental health and concentration have both been all over the place for months on end, and to have things already mapped feels like a cosy cocoon. It feels like a new season, and I’m very much here for it. Work aside, I’ve had a touch more time to devote to self-care. At the moment, that looks like 15 minutes of yoga between work and browsing the snack cupboard in the kitchen. The hour or so each evening spent finally watching K-dramas again – I’m watching Crash Landing on You. A few episodes of unOrdinary, a webtoon a friend recommended me. Slowly but surely, I’m slowing things down a fraction and mostly feel good for it.

A lockdown 3.0 check-in

I’ve got to be honest with you: the vibes are all over the place this lockdown. From an attempted coup in the US to really scary COVID-19 statistics here in England, it’s been a real struggle to feel like myself. Nurturing self-care is just about all I can do, yet those flutters in my chest and stomach continue, because it’s absolutely terrifying to still be facing this pandemic. The bigger concept of loss is one I’ve struggled with for years and years, and so it makes complete sense that I’m constantly on edge knowing that we are surrounded by loss and devastating grief.

But I suppose that’s only human of me, right?

It’s perfectly human to feel a little raw at the edges right now. To feel the magnitude of your own actions amongst the sea of the community. To spend hours not doing anything at all. To spend others filled with seemingly nonsensical things. It all feels a little nonsensical in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it? (I write, now, as though I have an answer to any of these things, when really I’m in the same boat as us all.)

So here’s a check-in: how are you feeling? Have you spent as much time as me just staring into space?

& Chai prep!

Louise and I have also been working hard to finalise the last few things for our & Chai website go-live. It launches on Monday 11th January at 12pm, and we’re so excited! Of course there have been a few hiccups along the way, but we’re very excited to unveil the site and some new products and fragrances…