If you’ve followed my musings for a while, you’ll know I love setting New Year goals. For me, it’s not a case of HAVING to set them. It’s more a case of WANTING to. They keep me focused on things I would like to achieve, and the geek in me loves to keep track of…
Category: Musings
A Look Back At October
Wow! What an epic month of adventuring October turned out to be! It’s funny how I can go months without seeing people, and then out of nowhere, I have a crazy month of socialising and going places. Being an introvert at heart, I find socialising tiring. So as much as it’s been fun, I’m ready…
Post-Therapy Reflections
It’s been almost two months since I finished going to psychotherapy, and there is still a lot to reflect on. It has been one of the most insightful experiences I’ve been through so far. I learnt so much more about myself in those 12 sessions. In this week’s musings, I want to share some general…
How Do You Know When It’s Time To Take A Break?
If you’re reading this blog post hoping to find the answer to this question, you might want to look away now. Unfortunately, it’s a question I don’t have the answer to yet. I haven’t had a week off work since Christmas, and the last couple of weeks have been a struggle as a result. Perhaps…
The Downside To Being Freelance
Earlier this month, I wrote a blog post called ‘The Highs of Being a Freelancer‘. As promised, I’m back with another blog post, and this time, I’m aiming to balance out the highs with the things that are slightly less enjoyable about freelance life. I mulled over the title of this post for ages. Should…
A Look Back At June
If you’re new to my blog, I like to finish each month (or start the next month) with a look back at the month just gone. It allows me to reflect on the highs and the lows of the last few weeks and is a great way to remember some of the adventures I’ve had….
The Law of Attraction
This post was originally published on 27th May 2019 and updated on 20th June 2021. Have you ever felt an overwhelming desire to go somewhere or do something you’ve never done before? I’m not talking about a desire to go somewhere just because it looks nice or because it’s different to somewhere you would ordinarily…
How I Became Confident Without Realising
Thirty years ago, when I was just eight years old, I was a happy but shy kid. If anyone spoke to me in the street, I would often hide behind my mum and, I would avoid eye contact at all costs. As I progressed through my teens, I still struggled with shyness and nerves, despite…
Old Fashioned Romance with a Modern Day Twist
This post was originally published on 9th June 2019 and updated on 30th May 2021. I love being single, but that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to being in love again. Although I have to admit, and if you have read some of my earlier blog posts, you may have already worked out, I’m…
Receive Monthly Musings Directly To Your Inbox
Happy Sunday! I hope you’ve had a productive week and a fun weekend. It’s been a busy week at the Mindful Gingernut HQ as I’ve been beavering away writing client newsletters and social media posts, as well as working in the background creating my first Mindful Gingernut newsletter! I’ve been toying with the idea of…
My Top #5 Apps for Newbie Freelance Writers
Earlier this year, I snowballed into the world of writing. As much as I knew I wanted to chase a career as a freelance writer, I was starting everything from scratch. Up until that point, I’d spent most of my adult life working in sports governance. I had a massive network in football, but I…
Chocolate Memories
This post was originally published on 16th November 2019 and updated on 28th March 2021. Chocolate brownies fill me with mixed emotions. Whether I’m baking them or simply eating them, they fill me with a mixture of happiness and overwhelming sadness. My best friend was the absolute queen of baking brownies. No-one else’s could ever…
Olhos de Água and Praia da Falesia
As we eagerly await Boris Johnson’s announcement tomorrow as he lays out the UK’s ‘Road Map’ out of lockdown, I thought I would take another look back at my solo trip to Portugal. Fingers crossed BoJo’s plans see us being able to travel again before the year is out. This post was originally published on…
Love or Loyalty?
As it’s Valentines Day today, I thought I would re-visit one of my favourite blog posts. This subject really got me thinking, and it certainly caused some interesting debate in our office at the time. This post was originally published on 28th March 2019 and updated on 14th February 2021. Have you ever stopped to…
Setting Goals in 2021
Happy New Year folks! I hope you all had lovely Christmasses and New Years celebrations even if they weren’t the same as they perhaps would be in normal circumstances. I want to start this week’s post by asking you a simple question. Have you set yourself any goals, aims or resolutions this year? Over the…
Signing out of 2020
Happy day after Boxing Day folks! I hope this finds you all well-fed and relaxed after the Christmas festivities. I’m taking a short break from my usual post this week as I find myself sitting here knee-deep in my first freelance project. It’s incredibly exciting to be moving straight from my day job into my…
Claremont Landscape Garden
During a week off work earlier this month, I paid a visit to Claremont Landscape Garden, a Grade 1, 18th century listed garden, close to the village of Esher, in Surrey. I’d never been before, but after a week of job hunting and sitting in front of my laptop, I decided it was time to…
Early Riser
This post was originally published on 10th November 2018 and updated on 30th August 2020 I love being the first to wake up, especially at the weekend. When I first moved in with my now ex, I was always the first to wake and would lie in bed reading or checking my social media until…
Muddled Mind
This post was originally published on 21st October 2018 and updated on 23rd August 2020 My mind has been all over the place this week. I’ve been struggling to write, starting a number of blog posts but unable to find the right words to finish them. I was relieved to have some alone time this…
Kids
This post was originally published on 2nd October 2018 and updated on 16th August 2020 Having finally been able to travel up to the family home last weekend as I find myself in between flats, it’s given me the opportunity to catch up with family and friends, and to play ‘Auntie’ to my friends kids. I…
Friendship
This post was originally published on 6th October 2018 and updated on 9th August 2020. I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately and what it means to me. I don’t have a large circle of friends, more pockets of friends whom I’ve met at different stages in my life. There are those I’ve known…
Change, Grief and Pride
What a hectic week that turned out to be! With so many things going on at the moment, by the time I got to the end of the week I had to press pause and prioritize. Thankfully it’s been a somewhat quieter weekend. No outdoor adventures this weekend. As much as I’ve loved getting out…
Cat and Mouse
Ok, so, picture this. It’s 2:58am. The cat is running around my bed like a lunatic on acid. I switch the bedside lamp on to see what’s rattled her. It’s quite normal for her to run frantically through my flat and out the backdoor (which is in my bedroom), but not to be running around…
The Wombles of Wimbledon
With my neighbourhood starting to feel like it’s part of Eastenders, I was grateful to get out to the outskirts of the city yesterday to enjoy some much needed peace and quiet. Over the last couple of weekends, a number if things have got me questioning, for the first time in nearly five years, whether…
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