Skip to content

Thrive In Chaos

  • About
  • Mental Health
  • Published Work
  • Wild & Improbable Tales

Still and small in the madness we grow.

Tag: it’s the little things

A Hundred Tiny Pleasures

June 10, 2018June 9, 2018 Jen EdenLeave a comment

There is so much joy to be found in little things. This is a fact that seems to be popping up in front of me on a regular basis at the moment: in the final chapter of Matt Haig's Reasons to Stay Alive he lists just that - reasons to stay alive - and for the most [...]

Posted in LifeTagged happiness, happy list, it's the little things, joy, life, lists, little things, reflection, small pleasures, writing

Welcome to Thrive In Chaos

A place for books, writing, mental health advocacy and general musings.

Come say hi.

Instagram

Just adoring getting lost in The Starless Sea. This book had some flipping high expectations to live up to. So far, it is every bit as magical as I had hoped. Bravo @erinmorgenstern 💛✨ You are a true virtuoso. #bookstagram #bookstagramuk #bookworm #booklove #bookdragon #readmore #bookstagramfeatures #somanybookssolittletime #armchairadventures #bookish #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #bookblogger #ILoveBooks #erinmorgenstern #bookishchristmas #bookandchristmastree
You guys, I may not have won NaNoWriMo this year but something exciting is happening... A long time ago I started working on a collection of poetry and micro fiction. It was a passion project I was doing on the side of my attempts at novel writing. Something fun for when I needed a change of pace and space to play with ideas. But it has become much more. This little collection is where I’ve felt my creativity come alive. Where my writing has had room to breathe. And I’ve fallen in love with it. I edited and pieced all the words together a little while ago and, although I was happy with what I’d written it felt unfinished. So this week I started playing with some illustrations. And it’s all fallen together. Suddenly I can see this book coming to life. And I’m proud of it. So..I’m plunging in. Full steam ahead. And I will be looking to self publish ‘Thrive’ very, very soon. WHO’S EXCITED?!?! 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ QOTD: anyone interested in some sneak peeks...? #Writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #amwriting #blogger #author #write #writersofig #writing #aspiringauthor #writergram #selfpublishing #poet #poetry #poetrycollection #thrive #passionproject
Happy to be mobile enough to get downstairs and enjoy our Christmas decorations now. I’ve set up camp next to the Christmas tree and am ready to get lost in The Starless Sea, which - 26 pages in - I’m already completely in love with. @erinmorgenstern is, without doubt, my literary hero. QOTD: what are you reading at the moment? ##bookstagram #bookstagramuk #bookworm #booklove #bookdragon #readmore #bookstagramfeatures #somanybookssolittletime #armchairadventures #bookish #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #bookblogger #ILoveBooks #thestarlesssea #erinmorgenstern #bookishchristmas
Ventured downstairs today for a change of scene. Still a bit brain addled by all the pain meds so struggling to focus on words but instead I’m having a play with some illustrations for an ongoing project. Still in love with my Apple Pencil.✨ It’s been an absolute age since I spent any real time doing art of any description and I’m so enjoying rediscovering this side of my creativity. Feeling pretty rusty and it’s a whole new learning curve figuring out all the things I can do with the pencil but it’s so much fun! QOTD: aside from reading and/or writing, what else do you like to fill your time with? #Writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #amwriting #blogger #author #write #writersofig #writing #aspiringauthor #writergram #illustration #applepencil #procreate #illustrator #creative #artist #workinprogress
Managed to make it out of bed and across the room to my desk for a change of scene this morning. My brain is still to groggy and painkiller-addled to be able to concentrate on reading or writing at the moment so I’m watching GBBO on Netflix and planning Christmas presents (picking up what I can in the online Black Friday sales!) QOTD: how are you spending your Friday? #bookstagram #writergram #christmas #surgeryrecovery #endometriosissurgery #recovery #selfcare
There are some advantages to being laid up post-surgery...I had book mail waiting for me when I got home from the hospital yesterday and now that I’m slightly more compos mentis I get to enjoy all the magical goodness that is the November. Illumicrate box! It’s my favourite ever, without a doubt. Gorgeous special edition of The Starless Sea, which I am DYING to read but am holding off a few more days for the pain and medication fug to ease a bit so I can properly enjoy it, plus some gorgeous accessories that I’m already obsessed with. It’s been the perfect post-op pick-me-up - thanks Daphne and team! (And excuse the very informal, on top of duvet unboxing pic! Bed-bound bookstagram is slightly less well executed than my usual!🙈) #bookstagram #bookstagramuk #bookworm #booklove #bookdragon #readmore #bookstagramfeatures #somanybookssolittletime #armchairadventures #bookish #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #bookblogger #ILoveBooks #illumicrate #illumicrateunboxing #thestarlesssea
This afternoon, my mum and I went to Lyme Hall (better known as Pemberley to fans of the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice!) for a festive afternoon tea. We had a wander round the beautifully decorated house and admired the bookish decorations before eating ourselves fit to bursting in the salt cellars with delicious soup, sandwiches, cakes, scones, trifle, mince pies, Prosecco and coffee - the list goes on like something out of a Dickens novel! It was wonderful. One of my favourite places in the company of one of my favourite people with scrumptious food and that Christmas feeling all around. I love this time of year. QOTD: what are some of your favourite things to do in the run up to Christmas? Or if you don’t celebrate Christmas, what are some of your favourite things to do at this time of year? #bookstagram #bookstagramuk #bookworm #booklove #bookdragon #readmore #bookstagramfeatures #somanybookssolittletime #armchairadventures #bookish #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #bookblogger #ILoveBooks #bookishchristmas #lymehall #lymehouse #lymepark #nationaltrust #lymeatchristmas
Diving into some business development today. This has been an unexpected part of my new job and I’m absolutely loving it! It’s been really interesting to bring the skills I’ve garnered over the years working in education to a completely different context. It’s a whole new world (for so many reasons) and I’ve been thrilled to discover how rewarding and interesting it is. I’m increasingly excited by the new direction my professional life has taken - I would never have imagined myself into this role, which just goes to show that you never know what’s waiting round the corner! I may have fallen off the NaNoWriMo train but I’m still putting my writing skills to good use.😉 QOTD: what’s your day job? Is it what you hoped/imagined/expected it to be? #Writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #amwriting #blogger #author #write #writersofig #writing #aspiringauthor #writergram #publicrelations #womeninbusiness #creativeagency #businessdevelopment #writerslife
November is not going at all according to plan. I’ve basically abandoned my NaNoWriMo project. My surgery has been postponed once and it looks like it might be postponed again. I have spent way more time in hospitals and doctor surgeries or on the phone to doctors and consultants than I would like (especially given the aforementioned postponement of surgery!) and I’m generally finding myself in a pretty low place that is putting me in a creative funk. And it’s so frustrating. Because I have all these half ideas fluttering in the back of my head but I can’t seem to reach them and bring them out into the daylight. I knew it was going to be a tough month. I had hoped that NaNoWriMo would provide a distraction - something to help me feel positive and creative. But after consistently falling below the word count in the first week followed by just not writing anything in the second week has turned it from an enjoyable challenge into yet another point of frustration. But I’m trying to let go of that. It doesn’t matter that I won’t hit 50k. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t managed to write every day. Even if I don’t write another word for the rest of the month I still have over 5,000 words more than I had at the end of October. And even if I can’t reach those fluttering half ideas just yet, they are there and they’ll emerge in their own time. All this rambling is simply to say that if you too are struggling - creatively, physically, emotionally or any other way - it’s ok. I mean, it’s not ok, it sucks. But what I mean is that it’s ok that it sucks and it’s ok to say that it sucks and it’s ok to not give yourself a hard time about it. Nothing is made better by making ourselves feel worse. So be gentle with yourselves, friends, whether you are storming through your goals or struggling just to get out of bed. Be gentle. And this too shall pass. #Writer #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #amwriting #blogger #author #write #writersofig #writing #aspiringauthor #writergram #writerproblems #nanowrimo #selfcare #gogently
Follow Thrive In Chaos on WordPress.com

Let’s Connect

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Goodreads

Tags

am writing anxiety creative writing depression help hope inspiration life love mental health mental illness personal reflection share support time to change time to talk words write writer writer's life writing writing community writing life writing prompt

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,185 other followers

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Cancel