DETOXING Happy Feet: On Blogging, Simplifying and Decluttering 2017 Part 1

I love watching our (permanent!) guest cat (Harry) stretch out without a care in the world!

“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old” 

― Peter F. Drucker

It's fascinating to watch him; he is always on guard, and always quick & ready to change his "relaxing" spot, and move on elsewhere, when something bothers him.

He is a curious cat, who explores, and finds many other new spots inside and outside of our home.

Some words before you read this series. . .

The "blatherings" below (and all that will be posted in this blog series) are more for myself, actually.

Writing reflections in a regular basis over the process, I am going through  helps me be reminded, why I need to do, what I have to do.

I chose to share these reflections instead of keeping it in my private journal  because I know a lot of people struggle with the same things I struggle, and they too find it hard to articulate what they are going through.

It is far better to say or put down into words those seemingly "clumsy", disjointed, racing thoughts even if they stay clumsy and disjointed in print, than keep them in.  In the end, all these collective thoughts put into words will eventually make sense, even if only to the writer! Or the random reader, who identifies with what has been written.

You can say, I am following the example of our guest cat, Harry.  I am following my curious thoughts, and settling in a spot it leads me.

Humans find it quiet safe to stay in the status quo, even if doing so,  takes out the life out of one's spirit.  There is a certain comfort with the familiar. You find out though, when you dare, that you can liven up your life, if you change your perspective, your "geography", when you step out of your comfort zone, and nurture the curious side of your being.

When you enter the world of exploration for what you have never done and where you have never been before, life become more alive.

Rehabilitating an Internet and Social Media Addict

A month has passed, since I deactivated my various Instagram accounts.



This was a part of my plan to decrease my time online, and limit my use of the internet. I would like more quality time with my family, more than what we already have; I would like to deeply enjoy "the quiet" (physical and mental) ; this is  my concept of  sublime quality time.

Simply put: a life of quality outside of the web..



The decision has been both a huge relief and a struggle to make.  It was a relief to finally act out a plan, to attend to a personal need, and fulfil a promise I made to my family; I procrastinated to do so for more than 3 years.

I admitted to everyone  of my internet addiction and how it was affecting the quality of life for my family and I.  In the steps, I have been doing since November last year (deactivating Instagram, for example), I take full responsibility and hope in this first of many simple steps to rehabilitate myself.

In order for me to "function" with my condition (bipolar disorder*) and continue my ongoing healing process, I need to follow my path to recovery, no matter how strange it may seem to others.

Changes, Curious Paths, Challenges . . .

This week, I resumed my marathon training; the detailed blog about this: here.



Contrary to my original plan of completely being social media free for 2017, I created a new private FB account for the sole purpose of having access as administrator to a new FB page for this blog.



The plan is to share there links of my blogposts.

I will share links to blogposts about my running years from 2011 - 2016; they will be  (belated!) race recaps, my favourite race events in Holland, random reflections about running and life behind running.



My blog links regarding my current training will not be shared there.

Subscribers to this blog (you can subscribe by submitting your email, via the box on the upper left side of this blog page, under the title : Follow the Adventures) will receive blog updates regarding training related blogs.  Or if you do not want to submit your email address, you could simply check here,  every week for (a) new blogpost(s).

Of course followers of the FB blog page and the public in general would be able to read these blogs as well, if they visit the blog.



Why do I seem to be making it complicated for my blog followers?

I am not.

This decision belong to sets of compromises, which best accommodate the needs of my mental health*.



I am excited to see, where I will be (mind, body and spirit) a year from now.

NOTE TO SELF: The date of the post is when I started the draft, and at the bottom of the page is the date I publish the draft.

31.01.17 00:51 Tuesday