And so we* stumble to the end of Bloganuary, cup of tea in hand, bleary-eyed and in a dressing gown.
*The royal we, obviously.
In an attempt to honour my body’s natural rhythm, I have found myself awake at 6 am this morning and apparently blogging. So, let’s sum up.
How did Bloganuary go?
Well, we got through a lot of the days but not all of them. My focus on mindfulness and self-compassion has developed over the month, and I’ve learnt a lot. I also learnt that illness can strike when you least expect it (do we ever really expect illness?) and ruin all your best laid plans.
I managed 24 posts in total, which isn’t awful. It wasn’t as successful as Blogtober, but there was so much more going on this month that I wasn’t prepared for (but how can you prepare for all the nonsense in the world right now?)
January hasn’t been a total disaster though, it’s just easier to focus on the negative sometimes. I completed multiple puzzles. I visited Berrington Hall with my parents and wandered the grounds. I have read so many amazing things this month and purchased so many books (one from Berrington!). I’ve focused on self-care, self-development, completed a short course on CBT and mindfulness, AND I’ve quit all my social media.
Actually, when I put it like that, January has been a pretty amazing month for me. Look at that – suddenly everything doesn’t look so grey.
Slowly developing
I managed to get through two weeks of the Artist’s Way (currently on hold until next week). I learnt a lot about myself and my creative habits. I have also started to develop a daily meditation practice. My Headspace app just informed me that I have hit 10,000 minutes of meditation which is pretty wild – and that doesn’t include the meditation that I am doing off the app as well (Playne is still involved in my daily practice too).
With this self-development, I hope to be able to approach what I am now referring to as The Big Three with a kinder, and more open, mindset. The Big Three I am referring to are:
- My counselling studies (group presentation next week – argh!)
- My writing (novel, why won’t you write yourself?)
- My French studies (je veux pratiquer régulièrement mais je trouve toujours autre chose à faire)
All in all, not a bad start to 2025. I don’t know if I will do another daily blogging challenge until I have a fixed subject to talk about. That being said, I still want to blog as often as possible. Not like I have an Instagram to scroll now, eh?
Thanks for coming on this ride with me.
See you next time.
Rhi Axtell - Writer 
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