Me time!

One of my biggest struggles during my first semester was never finding time for myself to do the things I love to do. I love tinkering around with crafty projects - knitting, sewing, painting furniture, attempting to crochet, trawling through DIY shops, adding sequins, buttons and ribbons to anything that I think requires updating! Sometimes I finish these projects, sometimes I don't. But I always enjoy the act of being productive!

It makes me sad then when I look back at how my first three months of college completely took over my life. Any spare time I had in the evenings (after dinner, showering and preparing for the following day was done) was spent slumped in front of the tv, scrolling through facebook and Instagram and Pinterest - lazy, mindless methods of low level brain stimulation. I abandoned my bikram yoga classes because class times always coincided with a hectic college schedule. I was always too tired on my one day off in the week to get out my boxes of sequins and buttons and ribbons. I dreaded getting in to the car to go ANYWHERE, so I didn't bother.

From my research in to occupational therapy it would appear that a high level of importance is placed on leisure time and many OT's promote the positive effect it has on mental health. Why then do many OT's spend so much of their time and energy on others, frequently forgetting do to the same for themselves?

My second semester is about to start and I have made a promise to myself that I will make time for me every week. A couple of hours to attend a yoga class. An hour for cooking or baking for pleasure, not just out of necessity. Twenty minutes of sitting alone in a quiet room to reconnect with myself. Anything! But I have to do something, for the sake of my own mental health.