Clumsy Kisses

Happiness Challenge

I joined in with Mel’s Happiness Challenge this month. Her challenge was to create a daily or weekly ritual to increase happiness. My rituals were: To write creatively in my journal daily, and to paint my nails weekly.

Painting my nails always makes me feel special. I’m really bad at it (especially with my right hand on to my left - I’m a leftie, remember) but I’m gradually learning that they don’t have to be perfect because no one else sees all the flaws I do. That would be quite a good thing to learn in general, really, wouldn’t it? I have nice nails - long and strong, although not particularly white, so when they’re painted it just shows off their length. I have had them painted four times this month. The first time and the current time is in a really slutty red, which I LOVE. The second time was in a dark purple, and the third time was in a pearly pink that I had done for my holiday professionally.

Painting my fingernails means that I don’t chew them (I don’t bite them but I do chew on them, if that makes sense) or the skin around them (which bleeds and looks hideous, let’s be fair). My toenails have been painted all month - firstly in a shiny brown, then in the same slut red as my fingernails. I am SO BAD at painting my toenails but no one ever gets close enough to them to care. More’s the pity.

So yes, this ritual has definitely upped my happiness and I do plan on keeping it up.

As for writing creatively in my journal, well. I write in my journal daily, but it’s not usually anything creative. It was definitely different to use my everyday journal as a place for creative stuff - I usually use a different notebook for this. But it’s been kind of nice to have it all in one place - a one stop shop for my stuff! Plus, my current journal is really colourful and has really smooth pages, which has definitely been an incentive to write in it.

Of the 29 days so far in September, I’ve written creatively in my journal on 17 of them. This is really good considering I was away the first weekend, then away with my parents. There’s only been a couple of days that I’ve missed because I was too tired or something. I have written 8196 words in my journals in those days (I just added it up, cos I kept a handy little chart at the back of my journal). I did have a challenge to write 20,000 words in September, which I haven’t achieved, but I am happy about what I HAVE achieved.

An interesting side ritual to this writing is that Himself and I have been watching TV before bed. I never used to do that - never used to have a TV in my bedroom as a kid - and it was one of the strangest things to get used to with Himself. Usually he’s watching something before I go to bed, and then I lie down to read, so I can’t see the TV anyway. But since I’ve been sitting up in bed to write (I hope this all makes sense), we’ve been watching X-Files. It’s been nice to do that.

I plan on keeping the same writing thing up in October - I have a handy little chart for that, too! November is NaNoWriMo, so I probably won’t do it then, but I will probably go back to it in December. It is definitely a relaxing and uplifting ritual!

Both rituals have made me happier and have relaxed me and made me feel better about myself, which is all you can ask for really, innit?!

I’m back

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

Protected: Ranty rant

She’s lost control again