I’ ve talked a lot about this on Instagram, but instead of a “word-of-the-year” or New Year’s resolutions, I decided to just have 2 focuses. Curating a joy-filled home for Caleb and Caroline and focus on getting healthy. About 9 weeks ago I slipped and fell down our deck stairs and dislocated my knee cap which in turn stretched and damaged a bunch of tendons and ligaments around my knee. The good news? No surgery required, the bad news? It’s been a slow recovery and has definitely put a huge speed bump in my road to health-ugh. Regardless my positivity from 2020 till now is night and day different. We all know last year sucked and if we’re being honest, it seems the same this year, but this girl right here has a different outlook.
Here are 7 things I’m implementing that are helping me live a joy filled 2021.
1. I stopped watching the news.
All of it. Everyday. I have no clue when our governor’s holding press conferences, or what is happening with Covid. This also includes turning off all news notifications on my computer, phone, and Apple Watch. I still keep informed on current events, but now I have more control over it and with fewer opinions thrown in my face all hours of the day.
Unfollowed 95% of people and things on Facebook
Facebook is an incredible tool and I don’t want to discredit the wonderful and positive things it can do, but it became too much for me last year. I took a 6-month break from FB in 2016 and it was truly the best thing. This year, I am not completely off of it as there are some mom groups and community pages I love and still want to keep up with, but everything else (yes even friends and family) I unfollowed. Now I feel like I have control over my newsfeed which only shows me group updates and the weather. Now it’s not so strange for me to go on FB once or twice a week.
I now only follow Instagram accounts and watch stories that bring me joy or inspire me.
Similar to Facebook, I did a massive purge in January. I unfollowed about 600 accounts and muted almost everyone. Sounds harsh, but it has done wonders for my mental health. Again, social media is an amazing tool, but can easily spiral out of control. It wasn’t even comparison that was getting to me-that never bothered me- I’m well aware that IG is a highlight reel. I was just so over seeing things that didn’t spark joy or were political or about Covid or political things. It’s not that I don’t care about these things, but I’m very aware of how mentally and emotionally damaging it can be to surround yourself with things that can be mainly negative. Now my IG is filled with a few influencers I love, home design accounts, and others that bring me joy.
Keeping my circle of friends small.
And cultivating those relationships. I’ve never been one to have dozens of friends and that is even more so now. I have a small group of friends I speak with daily.
Upgraded our house cleaning to twice a month
We used to have our house cleaned once a month and that was life-changing, but in January I decided it would help my mental health so much to have our cleaning ladies come every other week. It’s so nice and beneficial in so many ways. It helps me keep more of a cleaning schedule and keeps the house uncluttered. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
I only watch Friends
Hah. This is a strange one and as someone who used to watch so much TV, it actually shocks me. Outside of toddler shows and the occasional movie with Chris, I don’t watch tv. I am a huge Grey’s and Bachelor fan, but this year it just seemed to distract me and I realized that tv just doesn’t bring me joy. So Friends is the only thing I watch and only before I go to bed. My brain feels so much lighter.
Focusing on our home life.
This one goes back to my outlook for 2021. With all the craziness outside our front door, it brings me peace to know that all I need to focus on is my children, my husband, and our home. I am so l blessed to feel completely fulfilled by our little life. We live in a great community, are so lucky to live near most of our family, I have a business that I love and inspires me, a thriving marriage, and 2 healthy children. Over the past year with the slowing down of life, I realized that I am most happy at home with the ones that I love most. Cultivating a love-filled home where God is spoken about often and we can concentrate on raising Caleb and Caroline. Included in this is an organized home and finding ways to do things that make our life run smoother. I’m loving the book “The Clean Mama’s Guide to a Peaceful Home”. This has been a game-changer is the way I organize my home and our routines. Highly reccommend.
I hope you are living a joy-filled 2021 as well.
Warmly,
Michelle