Some days it's sunny...

Other days, there's a full blown snow storm (is it weather imitating life?!)

Hello there!

The above photo was taken a few days ago. The sun was shining, it was warm on my glassed-in balcony. The air outside was a little chilly.

Now that I have no job (yes, I have no job now that the whole world is in lockdown), I have been enjoying the nice weather by going for a daily walk, sitting on my balcony enjoying the sun, reading books, and trying to write.

We have had a mild winter here in Finland (see my previous post about that) but April has brought a seriously mixed bag of weather.

This is the view from the balcony today:

WE HAVE SNOW!

It won’t last long but it feels kind of strange after I spent three hours out on the balcony yesterday in glorious sunshine!

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So what else have I been doing?

Focusing on what I can control: this has been important for my headspace as the whole world grapples with a situation that has changed everyone’s lives. I did a bit of research and wrote about it.

It’s called Feel Your Feelings:

The biggest thing that has struck me in the past week since Finland declared a state of emergency, is that I must feel my feelings.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

It is really easy to smile, bury the feelings and reply with “I’m fine” when the reality is you’re feeling confused, uncertain, and in grief. This is exactly what I was doing until I realised that I was scared, I was anxious. I didn’t feel great.

So I let myself feel the feelings. And cried. Talked about it. And did a little bit of research.

Reading: I have always loved to read and had decided to make 2020 a year of reading. Little did I know I would have so much time to do just that! I read ten novels in March after a quick dash to the library before it closed indefinitely.

My standout reads were:

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: this was recommended by someone on Medium and do you think I can find the comment to reply and tell them I read it? I really loved this novel. Set in North Carolina, USA, in the late 1960s, it is a coming-of-age narrative written by someone who really knows how to show rather than tell.

• The Body Lies by Jo Baker: I should have known that the author of Longbourn would deliver! What a fantastic thriller! It builds tension so well and doesn’t need to have a ‘right out of left field’ conclusion like many thrillers do (yet seem to fail at dismally). It is a fascinating tale of body politics — a woman’s life, how she deals with sexual assault, motherhood, marriage, and more.

Writing: although it has been pretty difficult at times, I have continued writing. The great thing about writing on the platform Medium is the communities you can build. I have contact with a great bunch of writers who are really encouraging and supportive.

I did a poetry sculpture and wrote about it, with a call out to others who wanted to try it. It was really fun! And if you’re stuck at home and have a book you can repurpose it’s worth a try. I even featured on a podcast about challenges and creativity!

I tried a new form of poetry, called a tritriplicata. It’s a poem where lines are made up of 3, 6, 9, 6, and 3 syllables.

My first one is called Wake Up And Live:

Ready yet?
It’s about time, really.
Wake yourself up and get on with it.
You only have one life.
Now live it.

I then wrote a triple tritriplicata called Courage Wins.

I enjoy the discipline of this kind of writing. It certainly takes my focus off the continuous news cycle that tends to do your head in after a while.

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I would love to hear how you’re doing. Click through to the post and leave a comment. All reading recommendations are welcomed too. Let me know what you’re up to!

Stay healthy!

Lisa