Hello and welcome it is halfway in the week and so if there is something you’d like to read then check out this months newsletter where I talk about my monthly challenge, which is to declutter for a whole month and getting my life straight, and will be writing and sharing blogs on this and about Spring and what I am looking forward to and wanting the warmer weather and done with Winter and wear less.
So here it is and I hope you enjoy it and lets watch new flowers growing and babies born and welcome the lighter days and nights.
Watching a video by Phil and Alex, who were doing a cleansing detox, made me think that its not just what is inside the body, but for the mind and life too, when life gets too much.
Spend some time away from your phone: Last Saturday I was watching the rugby and was picking up my phone about 5 to 6 minutes, and annoyed at myself as Saturday’s I like to spend time away from my phone, in terms of checking my emails. watching Youtube and checking Instagram. I do still post at the weekend on Instagram of me to document the time I spend with my son, but I like to have my phone away, and do feel good for that. As my son gets annoyed with me when I am on my phone, and just having that time away can really help your wellbeing and your mind rest, because too much phone usage can make us feel unproductive and lose touch with reality.
Change your routine for some self care: Are you fed up of the same old routine? Perhaps you need to have a selfcare routine and change if you feel like you are procrastinating because you are bored, and so need a new routine so you can spend time having a detox, like putting on some chill out music, whilst you use a face mask and want your skin to glow. Stress can affect the skin, it has been discovered and so it is good to have some selfcare to look after your skin and have no make up days.
Work outdoors: Fed up of sitting at a desk in the same room and the same chair? Time to make changes to this and work outdoors. Of course this can be difficult when it is raining and cold, but once the summer starts to get closer, the temperature will change, and I enjoy writing outdoors, with a coffee and have a picnic for one. If not go to the library to work, or a coffee shop, if you don’t do this all the time and have a different change of scenery. In summer I want to film my videos and change my working space.
Detox your house: Last Sunday I continued doing my March challenge, which is to declutter for an entire month, and having less does feel good, but there is more to do, that I need to put away and have more space and be strong in doing so. The items I like to keep is my notebooks because I use these to plan goals, make notes and my writing of my books, because in case someone takes my idea, and because some books I’d like to go back to, to write. I plan to write more books, and use up what I have got before I spend more on items I don’t need to. I don’t need anymore showering gel, or moisturiser as I have plenty to use, and anything not used I will give to someone else or donate.
Detox your mind: I have already talked about stress and goes with the others, like not using your phone and putting it away, but what an help this too, is exercise and I often if I feel things are getting too much, I will walk as this helps to clear the cobwebs away and helps me go through my thoughts and mindfulness is a great tool to use when walking with no headphones in the ear, but taking note of birds, squirrels and visiting a national park can help clear the mind and be present with yourself and enjoying nature.
Have a financial detox:I like having no spend days and if you didn’t know I did no spend January this year and it was so good to help me balance my money. only getting items I needed, and it feels good not having to many receipts. I want that to be my focus and have a lighter purse without receipts, as they just cause clutter. It has help me spend wisely and stop the impulse buys. It good to have a full bank account and saving. This year I want to pay off my debts, and managed to clear one debt and is good to see my credit card balance going down. Being in debt and cause a lot of stress and so it good to sit down and go through subscriptions you no longer use, and making the money I have last, and see my savings going up.
It is so worth it to detox certain areas of your life when things get to much and feel good about life again and growing positively and being rid of the stresses of it, and have a good balance of home life, work life, and getting in touch with what is around you that can help balance your life to feel good within yourself.
As I continue to declutter and make plans to sort out my belongings, it helps me to value the things I have. Example: a bed for my son for when he comes and stays with me at the weekend, and the desk space I have to write my blogs and books, and for the curtains that black out the light to have a good sleep, and shoes that protect my feet. This helps me not to buy another pair of shoes, a brand new set of curtains, and so I go through it of the items that gives me comfort and peacefulness in my mind and how I feel about myself.
This is not to say I will never buy clothes or shoes again, or have the same curtains for the rest of my life who knows what is destined for us, we never know so being appreciative to what we have already that makes you happy can delete those feelings we get when we want a pair of shoes that sparkle or the latest iPhone, when we know its just more expense and actually what we were already using was enough and then worry because we couldn’t really afford it and the buzz you had in buying the item has quickly gone.
As I wrote this blog I just picked up my gratitude journal and wrote what I currently value down as I love practicing gratitude and being thankful. Look around you and the people in your life, how do they add value and how do you feel around them and others like I wrote that I value the roof over my head and the my everyday trainers I bought from TU Sainsbury’s as they weren’t that expensive and wear them most of the time, because they are so easy and light on my feet. I value the food that is made for me as I currently live with my Mum and step dad and so grateful the space and room I have and so need to value more as I want a more minimal amount of stuff that no longer gives me joy.
It’s following the Kon Marie method of if that item gives you joy or not, and what purpose does it give? My trainers for example help me walk and comfortable and goes with what I like to wear and are practical as my son likes to play sports and I do a lot of travelling and saves me time, and saved me money.
For me it is essential item because I need in order to travel and get from A to B and buy food as some days my mum and step dad go out and not rely on others and to be able to buy stuff for my son and I believe that every penny does count as I would like to give my room a make over and have it more organized, and so it is essential item to live, and respect it for the items it allows me to have.
My dad used to say “That money speaks a difference language” and part of me believe that too. When I worked in accounts if people didn’t get their expenses paid they would get angry about it and would hunt me down, and found tough because it was a lot of work for one person, and felt overwhelmed. Since those days my relationship with money is starting to be good again, as it is hard when you have little and you have bills to pay.
I did get into debt and became reliant on using a credit card and it can be stressful and can really effect how you feel about money but I am to blame and I have had to admit that. Admitting that has helped me to get back on track with my money and stopped me from taking it for grunted and I like to see money saved and can’t wait to pay off my debt and put it behind me. I have already cleared one, so just got one debt which I am getting down, and so money is important and is what we need to survive, but not having a load of stuff that will make us happy for 5 minutes but forever.
When I buy something now I think to myself Do I need it right now? Will it last once its been cleaned and what role will it play in my life. I know I don’t need 30 pairs of leggins, or 100 notebooks, to feel good about life, but enough that will help clothes me, and does it work with what I have got.
Hello and welcome and thank you for the continued support on this blog. I today uploaded my first video on my March challenge which is to declutter for an entire month to get some order in terms of clothes and areas of my bedroom that continues to be cluttered.
My enthusiasm is not good. I want to be “Yeah lets this decluttering done” and then I pick up my camera to film and see my battery needs charging and sigh with relief. I know I will get more of it done, its for me not being a natural declutterer, not naturally an enjoyable task but I know it needs to be done and who else is going to do it?
I do watch youtube to get inspired and been watching the programme on BBC 1, Sort your life out with Stacey Solomon but I have to really kick myself up the bum to get it done. Sorry for the rhyme, but How many people can identify with that?
I want to be excited but I am not but seeing the untidiness behind me I just got up and tidied this space but its my workout clothes as I was running again, but looked at it and asked “Do I plan to run tomorrow, this week? I want to but whether I do is another story. I will see, but for now as I am not running so put the items away hanging up in my wardrobe in my bedroom, and if I do run this week, I have hung it together can take out easily and put it on.
I have begun and inventory list of what I have got, this is in terms on food, clothes, toiletries and skin care and going though what still to be used and got plenty of. This is to make sure I use what I have got before buying any more, and seeing I have enough and that actually gives me comfort.
So once my camera battery is charged will be filming more and doing a bit more each day. I have to do it a bit at a time because if try and do all in one go, will make me avoid it, so lets do this together and if you have any decluttering tips please share I am welcome to suggestions, and you can leave a comment below.
I got the idea of this blog from seeing the theatre show The Bodyguard, which was originally a film with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, because bodyguards do amazing things and people who create music that last decades and means so much to people.
People who I see on Instagram doing running events to raise money for charity and those who save lives like the NHS, the forces and people who are firefighters or paramedics. I know there has been negative press about some of these services and they overshadow the ones working in these services who do a brilliant job and risk their lives everyday.
Then there are people who run foodbanks and on the One show, which is a BBC weekly show at 7pm each evening apart from the weekend do a section called One Big Thank you to people who have gone out of the way to help others with daily living and making life easier for people who are struggling to live and be happy. Example they had a lady who ran a library and arranged it into local meeting place and people creating a community for those struggling have somewhere to have interaction and support where they haven’t any support.
We should be helping each other and building happy communities and not just here in the UK but all over the world. Doing acts of kindness can really make a difference, and when I shop in Tescos they give you an option to donate to a charity which I always do and giving others clothes to help landfill and making a more healthy environment and help with less waste.
I look at Road sweepers and when I worked for the Borough Cleansing for Hammersmith and Fulham, they would be people who had been working in cleaning our streets all their lives but never get mentioned and they should, because they don’t often get paid a lot but we need people cleaning our pavements and roads.
They should be rewarded and given honours, and people who stand out in all weathers selling the big issue. These are people that do amazing jobs, and they don’t see it that way. To them its become their life and just doing a job, but do we want to have dirty untidy streets? Growing up in Hammersmith and Fulham in the 80’s there would be dog pooh all over the pavements, rubbish everywhere and in Chelsea too. It was grubby and so people who clean our rubbish and they in Hammersmith had refuge officers making sure that people didn’t put rubbish in the wrong place and fly tipping, which is against the law in the UK so they would make sure that people paid for items to be collected as waste like fridges were collected and alerted by residence of the borough following the rules in living waste on the streets.
Then there are carers. They don’t get much help financially either and that to me is disgusting because when you have a person with a disability or an illness can affect them emotionally and do wonderful jobs in helping people to still have normality in their lives. I think about Katie Price and how she has looked after Harvey. and on her own a lot, and had to deal with people using him to make fun of children and adult with disorders, and using him to put offensive material online. I know she is in the public eye but that is no excuse of the treatment they have often received and I think she is a excellent advocate to carers of children and yet doesn’t always get credit where she should.
Lets celebrate the wonderful people we have in the world and give them a One Big Thank you.
This is not saying we should forget about the man as there are men we could celebrate, like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, but us women should be celebrated to and love writing blogs on this day because as women we carry our families with us and try to do so much and in the passed decades women were seen as being wives and looking after children when now men and women take care of the home and we raised our voices to change on what being a woman means.
I was around very domestic women and when I think of decluttering, which is my challenge this month (March 2023) to declutter think of it being a woman thing, because of the women I was influenced by. This is not a bad thing I am glad to have learned to tidy and clean, cook and make a cup of tea, and look after my son whilst his dad goes to work . Cleaning and tidy is not my favourite activity, but who else is going to do it? Should it be me? Or course, check my last post: I do not want to declutter and its only the beginning
Being a woman means to be strong and feeling good about being woman and like my boobs, my bum, face, eyes and seeing what we can achieve being a woman. Don’t forget I know not everyone was a fan but had female Prime Ministers, we have had Queens and celebrated Queen Elizabeth ruled for 70 years and so we should feel proud in being a woman.
I love the fact I was carrying a child, my son and was able to cradle him in my womb, and see him being born and watching him grow, not want to miss any minute and us women carry a lot on our shoulders and so being woman is to be a sister, mother, Aunty friend and a Nanny. Not saying that we all should be mothers, that is personal choice, but being able to carry another life is an amazing thing, being able to produce milk to feed our children, and be proud of what as women of what we can do.
Yes I am now regretting my March challenge to declutter because now I am like “Can I be bothered?” feeling, but I know it has to done and this week I have free, well kind of, because I have been doing a course, but I really don’t feel like decluttering.
Since beginning of this blog I have sorted out my sons pants and sock draw and so one part done, and it was me saying to myself “Do it now and then its done”. I am not a natural organized person and looking at my desk where I type my blogs, as that is where my Laptop sits is well overcrowded and so this area is going to need a change.
This is what month challenge is going to be, me getting more out of the space I have and working to have a better set up, that makes me feel good about and excited about using that space doing the thing I love, writing and so for this I know I need to make changes, and so I have the time so I am gong to do it.
I do feel that I have begun, sorting out my son pants and sock draw, and next gonna sort out his nightwear and gonna take my time, and gonna try and make mornings my mornings decluttering rather than later.
For me I need to take baby steps and get in touch like running, how I feel once it is done. It helps boost my energy and one step further to where I want to be. I like having the things I love and use around me but in a less crowded space.
As I just wrote this section of this blog tidied one area of my desk and feel better just by taking that step.
House work I don’t enjoy, but the feeling I get once it is done, is where I do feel good. I like the outcome not the doing. How many of you feel this way? I know I am not alone here.
God bless Mary Poppins, she was a terrific woman and I wish she was real as I could do with a spoonful of sugar, or actually less sugar as my downfall is sugar, but its the organizing skills, one click and then its done.
You may like to read my EBook where I talk about making one change a day and not doing it in one go, if that makes you feel overwhelmed.
Things to Change one day at a time : Life doesn’t have to be fast pace but easy, simple and flexible Kindle Edition:
I have written others too like this one, under the names, Carrie Challoner, Carrie Lee Holmes and Carrie Holmes.
It is all about making changes that are easy to do, and feeling calm and not that life is hectic, when we have a cluttered space and being able to open a draw without having a fight to open it or shut it. Opening a cupboard without all the clutter falling on your head, and make it a useful happy place.
With the challenges it is the outcome that I want and to keep building a better place where I have my stuff in order, I have money in my bank account that will be forward and be out of debt and excited about the next stage of my life and keep building and learning. Learning is key to living calmly and what we will do from this point forward and not on what we will not.
Please follow if you want to keep updated of my blogs and like, so I know my blogs are helping you.
Lets work together and build a community that is full of happiness and posibility.
Check out my Youtube channel to as I share videos on resetting, being a parent and life coaching, and filming my challenges to help you do the same: https://www.youtube.com/@typicallondongal
First of all welcome to those who are new to my blog Everyone can build a castle, and to new followers of my blog, and thank you for your likes, and really helps me in what topics you like me talking about.
If you didn’t know I also write books, and my newest one is about a Mother and a daughter who live together and is a love hate relationship, but there is one person who unites them, a lady called Gloria, who is a beautician and head of Elizabeth (the daughter) son’s school, PTFA and Elizabeth takes part in a virtue bake off, and because it is a pandemic they have to have meetings using Zoom and emailing and texting. This blog is about trips and falls, which in this book happens. Its available on Amazon and is called Mum&Me and I write other books too under the names Carrie Challoner, Carrie Lee Holmes and Carrie Holmes. See link to my new book:
Last Monday coming home I got of the bus and it being dark, crossed the road I tripped and cut my hand, knee and hurt my back and I was shaken up, and didn’t do much walking or did my run I started to do this year, because of it.
We are all gonna have trips and falls, it’s part of life, and it is how we react afterwards that can help us get over them.
I had to gather my confidence and brush myself off. And because of this fall I have been going to bed early to try and allow my body to recover and feel ready to continue on and so next week I will be exercising indoors, do some walking and go for a run. I do write a blog where I talk about exercise, that I also write on WordPress, check it out via this link: https://sportsandfitnesspassion.wordpress.com
Its not all about falling over though, it can be your car broke down and now having to travel using public transport, or the trains having delays and make us feel that it is not going to be good day. It can make use want to stay indoors and hide away.
This for me means I get into a what I call “Dead end mindset” so makes me more unhappy, but I have to get up, I have a son and he needs to be met. It can hard with kids because like my son, he wants my attention all of the time, and so I have to get up and get on.
This doesn’t mean you have to forget yourself, it means you have to take more care of yourself to help your kids grow and be there for others. If you are a carer, this can be demanding, and we forget ourselves, but when we fall over we realise we need to care for us, aswell as others. We need a cup of tea and coffee, a shower or a bath, and do some reading to switch off, and so listen to when you trip or fall to realise you are just as important aswell as the people you care about.
We grow from our trips and falls, not saying you can’t be careful and not trip again, but if I cross that bit of road to the pavement to take more care in making sure I don’t trip and fall there again.
If you’d like my content then there is more on my Pinterest, so check it out:
So it is the end of the month and I have two videos to be put together and one them is my last what I bought video for my February challenge and need to film my reflection,. which will be on my main Youtube channel that I have linked below @typicallondongal under my name Carrie Holmes. It was good to see what items I needed if I could get a good deal and feel I did, but I had to buy a few items for my son, and not sure if I should take these amounts into his monthly allowance I give him to spend, or as my home products and in my home budget. What would you do.
It has really helped me financially to see my spending habits and if there are other things I can cut back on or cut out.
I would recommend trying it out. I spent more than I wanted so gonna reduce on snacks and this month is going to be declutter month and so this is managing productivity and will include reset videos. and post on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/typicallondongal/) aswell as on this blog site.
There will be areas in which need to be done first and that is decluttering first my son’s underwear and socks, and it is little changes like that, that can free up space and does ease the mind when you see the results and why not when it is now spring time, I know the weather doesn’t match the new season yet at the moment, and for those you live in Australia and it is Autumn and if you are from the land of oz check out my Autumn Reset videos and blogs and sorting out my life to get things completed and tying lose ends.
I do write a blog on google blogspot called Organize4thebetter. and will be posting on there too.
I am late in starting as I did a course this week, but will begin as of next week and so lets get rid of what we no longer want and bring home stuff we do, and it also means sorting out my laptop and phones I no longer use, that are lying around. Even those things can cause or mind to feel cluttered aswell as rooms and homes.
If you have a office the one thing many companies I have worked for, would make sure we cleaned our desks, as it good to work in a clean and tidy environment.
Everyone can build a castle 