Save Yourself

My last post was about other people's writing saving me. Then I read Loribeth's post, What's Saving My Life Right Now. I forgot that she did this post every year in February. I like it.

It's a tough time. I'm not going to go into detail or commentary about any of it, nationally or internationally. But even on a smaller individual level, everyone I'm close to currently has major stressors in their lives. Maybe there will always be stress... But then, that's what makes it even more important to consider what helps us get through. I often think about what helps me.

I also love lists. So I wanted to think about, in addition to other people's writing, what's saving my life right now. Off the top of my head...

• Myself. I've learned a lot of things over the last decade: how to redirect my thoughts, how to have boundaries and why, how to quilt. I enjoy my own company and that's pretty cool.
  
  
• My boyfriend. He listens a lot. And he loves me. And we disagree and miscommunicate. And we laugh a lot. I'm actually at a place mentally where I would be fine by myself. I don't feel scared or insecure or lonely anymore. I'd be fine. But I'm glad I have my boyfriend. He adds a lot to my life.
  
  
• My cat(s). How did I live without a pet for so long? Well, it's very easy to not have a pet. It's very easy and affordable. Haha. But we were petsitting my boyfriend's son's cat and I fell in love and I needed a second cat for whenever we didn't have the first cat anymore and a kitten came into our lives and the first cat never left and...
  Now we have two cats. I love them. They are cute and funny and have their own personalities. One of the cats is definitely mine. He falls asleep with me at night and wakes me up in the morning. And oh my god I am writing a full paragraph about how much I love my cat, hahaha. But I do.
  
  Let's see... What else is saving my life right now...
  
  
• My job and my bills. Seriously. It's so easy to complain about work because we are there alllll the time, and it's easy to complain about bills because they're sooo expensive. But also? I like having a job. It means I'm not looking for a job, which is extremely stressful. I also like paying my bills because I'm glad for the services. It would suck without electricity, indoor plumbing, and trash pickup. My job and my bills are providing for my life, so they're saving me.
  
  
• My slow cooker! I've always struggled with what to eat every day, having stuff on hand, chopping stuff, cooking, and cleaning up after. I like the results of the effort. I like to eat tasty food. But, come on, figuring out what to eat multiple times a day every day? It's hard for some people. Like me. But! I am really excited because I've used my slow cooker once a week for the last 4 weeks. It's awesome coming home from work and smelling a homecooked meal that's already ready.
  
  
• Having something to look forward to. That's definitely saving my life. With the move behind me and the new job started, I live here now. It still doesn't feel like it, but I do. I live here and this is my life now. Lol. It's been awhile since I've lived in a city so I looked around for things to do. I found a couple of sewing workshops that I registered for and a couple of shows that I bought tickets for. And just like that, I have plans for 2026! Not too much. I don't want to be busy. But I've got several things to look forward to. And that saves me.
  
  

What's saving your life right now?

Here's a photo dump of other things that are bringing me joy, a.k.a. saving my life, right now.

I love stuffed animals. I saw this last weekend in a toy store. It's a jar of strawberry jam. So cute!

After months of having it packed, I unpacked my sewing machine and sewed an easy pot holder.
It's quilted with insulated batting using variegated thread.
Variegated thread (where it changes colors from one to another) always makes me happy.

I unpacked some embroidery floss I bought last year. I took a workshop about decorative stitches last month, and I'm going to try a little embroidery.

I sewed a cute little starfish with simple felt, stuffing, needle, and thread--
the kind of affordable supplies you buy from a craft store.
In retrospect, it was a nice activity because I held the soft, colorful felt and stared at it while I sewed. It was a nice break from looking at a screen and I enjoyed the colors and the feel of the felt. Hand sewing this starfish was like a little meditation practice.

Hot chocolate. On a cold day. The sprinkles were a happy surprise!