Meg Evans

This week I’ve been reminding myself to frame everyday situations in terms of allowing for improvement, rather than fixing problems. The latter wording implies a binary state, in which things are either fixed or broken. While that may be accurate if we are talking about machine parts, most of life’s issues are more complicated and do not have quick fixes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. When we regularly leave room for improvement, we can find ourselves in much better places—often unexpected—than if we simply tried to fix things to get them back the way they were.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

Although I’ve enjoyed going on road trips this spring, I do need to balance that with time to relax and unwind. My coach says that a travel day puts enough stress on the body that it should be treated like a hard workout, with some rest needed the next day.

Sometimes it’s not immediately obvious when I’ve had too much going on. I didn’t have much energy on Saturday night after traveling to a rowing regatta, however, and it has been slower than usual to come back. A peaceful week with no rush to do anything—just living in today—has been good for me.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

I’ve had a rather quiet week, mostly free of distractions and confusion. At work, I am getting ready to start a new project and also finishing up some training that I probably should’ve done sooner; but it’s all good. Sending peaceful feelings to the world tonight, while making space for new beginnings.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

I’m writing this entry on Friday evening, but that is okay. Yesterday I couldn’t quite get clear in my mind on what I wanted to post, so I decided it made more sense just to wait, rather than forcing something that probably wouldn’t come out right.

I joined the Nurturing Thursday blogging group in 2014 because I felt that a weekly reminder of the importance of self-nurturing would do me some good. In today’s busy society, it is all too easy to neglect ourselves without realizing it, while scrambling to get through the daily to-do list. For me, each of the Thursday posts became a snapshot of what I did to take care of myself in that particular week. Looking back on them gives me helpful perspective.

While traveling in the South this spring, I took a photo of Melton Lake in Tennessee. I meant to upload it to the online library for my art display, but that website hasn’t been able to upload anything recently. Given the fact that the company went out of business years ago, I can’t complain—it is still mostly functional and has given me a lot of enjoyment. I decided to go ahead and post the photo here instead.

I wrote part of this post during a midday break, but rather than push myself to finish it, I went for a short walk and did an online yoga class before coming back to my work much refreshed. Afterward, my husband and I went out to dinner for our anniversary. We shared a bottle of wine, which is now making me sleepy because I don’t often drink it, but I sat down to finish this post anyway. Even though it is belated, I’m pretty happy with what I did for self-nurturing this week.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

We got rained on at the weekend rowing camp during the Friday afternoon session, as the forecast predicted. I had thought it wouldn’t be so bad because my husband had bought nice raincoats especially designed for rowers, but there was such a downpour that we got soaked right through them. Then it got colder on Saturday and the river was high, so we stayed in the boathouse and did some exercises on the rowing machines. By Sunday the river had gone down enough to row, but the current was still fast enough that it was definitely no fun doing drills. The boats were drifting downstream and occasionally colliding with each other. It felt more like bumper cars than rowing.

The coach gave us some good advice, so it was worthwhile, though stressful. I meant to write a separate post about it before today, but the week sort of got away from me and I wasn’t able to concentrate on writing. I’ve been reminding myself to just breathe and be present in the now.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

Last weekend, my husband and I went on a road trip to Chattanooga and met up with some online friends at the Lookout Rowing Club on the Tennessee River. Our hosts were very friendly and welcoming, and we had a great time. The river conditions were excellent for rowing, the weather was gorgeous, and we enjoyed riding bicycles in the park one afternoon.

This weekend, there is a rowing camp at our local club. We’ll do some training with a visiting coach and go out to dinner as a group. The weather forecast is on the chilly side, and we’ll probably be in raincoats; but it’s still good to get outdoors and do something fun with friends.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

I’ve felt a bit rushed this week, in part because I was trying to cram too much into the days, and in part because I did not get quite enough sleep as a result. When that happens, I remind myself that it’s nothing to worry about. Time is not really a scarce resource, even when it seems that way; it’s just a matter of getting the days better organized.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

My husband took his car to the shop for an oil change early Wednesday morning, so I had the home office all to myself when I started my workday. The house seemed weirdly quiet. For the past two years we’ve been sharing the space, and that is likely to continue because my husband is now on a team that doesn’t have anyone in the company’s local office, so he has no reason to do his work there.

I worked from home even before the pandemic, and I thought it was pretty comfortable having the house all to myself during the day. Now it seems as if I was missing out on more than I realized. Although I wouldn’t want to sit in a cube farm all day, it’s nice to have more human connection.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

Although today was just an ordinary workday and I didn’t do much beyond going out to get groceries at noon, it felt like the day went well. Maybe yesterday’s post, in which I wrote about my future self and about developing perspective over many years, put me into a calm and reflective mood. Rather than letting mundane worries drain my energy, I felt more inclined to appreciate how I’ve learned and grown.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

I have a row of willows along my back property line that I still think of as trees, although they’re not much more than bushes now, after a few years of climate change stress. Hot, dry summers killed so many branches that I had to cut the willows back drastically, and some died altogether.

Last year they started looking better, though, and I am hopeful that this will be another good year for new growth. I took some cuttings in March, which I plan to use for replacements. They’re currently sitting in a pot in my kitchen, and I noticed a few leaves sprouting this week, which has me feeling optimistic.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”