This is my first ever blog on my first ever website. I guess I want to use this space to offer information, tips or recommendations regarding self-help and health and well-being, along with food for thought, from myself or other sources, not just homeopathy. So in this first piece I’m asking you to ask yourself:
“What replenishes me? And am I getting enough of it?”
And by what replenishes you, please consider everything that counts for a whole human being: from the biological (enough good quality sleep and food, sufficient exercise to keep you fit enough for your life and paid employment, if you have it); to the mental, emotional, spiritual and creative aspects of your human being. So:
The best medicine I had recently was in the form of six hours spent in a workshop on bookbinding. I’d done a little of this when training for a career in printing and publishing, more than half my lifetime ago, but I had completely forgotten the pleasure and satisfaction it gave me.
Likewise, tuning into Radio 3 whilst driving a long distance without another family member there to request Heart, Radio 1 or Radio 4 as their preference. I enjoy most forms of music, but in my home classical is rarely played. I’m no ‘classical buff’, but an hour with Mahler recently was like unexpectedly running into a treasured old friend whom I hadn’t met for years.
What gives us pleasure in accordance with our own person is important. Really important. It not only contributes to maintaining a sound ‘vital force’ in us, but having the will and being able to access and maintain opportunities for experiencing personal pleasure and satisfaction is also a good sign of a healthy vital force.
It needs to happen at a daily or weekly level, and can start with the smallest things. Like consciously choosing the cup that is most pleasing to you to drink your tea or coffee from; or ditching a bit of telly or time on the internet in the week to Do Something Different – something creative, something social, something physical, something mentally stimulating – whatever.
You may need to re-prioritise how your time is spent; or be creative with how and where you gain the time to do something; or perhaps find low-cost ways of gaining the opportunities you need; or ask someone to do something to help free you to do what you want. But if you have the will, the opportunities will appear.
And you may have to communicate some of this to your nearest and dearest. A statement like ‘I fancied a little change’ or ‘I need to blow some of the cobwebs away’ is usually a good enough reason for most people. If it’s not, and clear, open, honest communication about what you want doesn’t change their stance, what’s their beef? If you return replenished and renewed from doing something for your self, for your ‘personhood’, it should be a good result for everyone.
And if it doesn’t overbalance your life in any way, or impact on any responsibilities you may have, then you are not being selfish and self-indulgent; you are being responsible for your best health and well-being by acting in your own interests.
So go ahead. As an advocate of good health and truer well-being I fully endorse your being mindful about pursuing what gives you pleasure, in whichever way chimes with your whole healthy self.
Sandra Joyce MA (Hons), LBSH, RSHom
Sandra Joyce Homeopathy
“What replenishes me? And am I getting enough of it?”
And by what replenishes you, please consider everything that counts for a whole human being: from the biological (enough good quality sleep and food, sufficient exercise to keep you fit enough for your life and paid employment, if you have it); to the mental, emotional, spiritual and creative aspects of your human being. So:
- Are you bored?
- Stuck in a rut?
- Need to change a habit? (Or two? Or three?)
- Need to explore something new?
- Need to do something creative? physical? intellectual? spiritual?
- Need to reignite some aspect of yourself that’s been lying fallow for too damn long?
- What lights your candle?
The best medicine I had recently was in the form of six hours spent in a workshop on bookbinding. I’d done a little of this when training for a career in printing and publishing, more than half my lifetime ago, but I had completely forgotten the pleasure and satisfaction it gave me.
Likewise, tuning into Radio 3 whilst driving a long distance without another family member there to request Heart, Radio 1 or Radio 4 as their preference. I enjoy most forms of music, but in my home classical is rarely played. I’m no ‘classical buff’, but an hour with Mahler recently was like unexpectedly running into a treasured old friend whom I hadn’t met for years.
What gives us pleasure in accordance with our own person is important. Really important. It not only contributes to maintaining a sound ‘vital force’ in us, but having the will and being able to access and maintain opportunities for experiencing personal pleasure and satisfaction is also a good sign of a healthy vital force.
It needs to happen at a daily or weekly level, and can start with the smallest things. Like consciously choosing the cup that is most pleasing to you to drink your tea or coffee from; or ditching a bit of telly or time on the internet in the week to Do Something Different – something creative, something social, something physical, something mentally stimulating – whatever.
You may need to re-prioritise how your time is spent; or be creative with how and where you gain the time to do something; or perhaps find low-cost ways of gaining the opportunities you need; or ask someone to do something to help free you to do what you want. But if you have the will, the opportunities will appear.
And you may have to communicate some of this to your nearest and dearest. A statement like ‘I fancied a little change’ or ‘I need to blow some of the cobwebs away’ is usually a good enough reason for most people. If it’s not, and clear, open, honest communication about what you want doesn’t change their stance, what’s their beef? If you return replenished and renewed from doing something for your self, for your ‘personhood’, it should be a good result for everyone.
And if it doesn’t overbalance your life in any way, or impact on any responsibilities you may have, then you are not being selfish and self-indulgent; you are being responsible for your best health and well-being by acting in your own interests.
So go ahead. As an advocate of good health and truer well-being I fully endorse your being mindful about pursuing what gives you pleasure, in whichever way chimes with your whole healthy self.
Sandra Joyce MA (Hons), LBSH, RSHom
Sandra Joyce Homeopathy