Wonderful Wednesday #150

 {Icy blue skies and the barest of branches!}
I'm feeling quite pleased that this week's post is a nice round number.  It somehow seems apt to end the year on one, tidier almost?  Or is that just me?!  What.  A.  Week.  I can't believe Christmas has been and gone and i honestly feel as if it was pulled from underneath me in the blink of an eye - a blink that was filled with longer-than-long days at work;  of getting tangled in ribbon and tape and wrapping paper and lists of lists of things to get or do and places to be.  And then WHOOSH.  That's it.  If it's true what people say, that time flies by faster and faster the older you get, i fear I'm going to have to start holding on a little bit tighter!

I thought it might be nice in this week's post - end of 2016 and all that - to list a little bit of the best parts of this year.  For reasons i can't put my had upon quite as i write this; it's felt like a year with a little bit of grey cloud hanging over even the sunniest of days, have you felt it too?!  Between losing some of my very favourite artists and greats of this world to generally feeling like i have been a little bit too hard on myself and tried to take on just too much; well I'm more than ready to start a fresh and learn to take things a little more....gently shall we say..?

But enough about grey cloud and fuzzy headed-ness and more about what has warmed my heart these past few months.  Surely when times are tough, being grateful for the littler things is even more important.

1.  You! And you, and you, and you and even YOU!  This little corner wouldn't be what it was - which let's face it:  A collection of #wonderfulwednesdays a not much more really.  It's no secret that i feel a little bit lost in quite which direction i'd like to take this little corner of the internet BUT i can't write a post about this last year without giving a HUGE shout-out and virtual hug to those that have climbed aboard the #wonderfulwednesday boat and embraced all and what it means with arms wide open.  If i could hug each of you i really would!  You make writing this post mean so, so much more and it's lovely knowing that a little team of creatives want to join in. It's heart-warming beyond belief and thank you doesn't even come close!  You know who you all are *wink wink*...

2.  Stepping back.  I've had a year full of so much this year that it's felt a little bit overwhelming to fit it all in.  I often set such huge lists, tasks and personal expectation upon myself that when i don't achieve them, i feel like i've let myself down.  It's only taken me thirty years or so to master the art of recognising this and being able to step back and say 'actually, yes there are a million and one adult-shaped and important things i should be doing and i will get to them BUT today i'm going to please myself and ride my bike and drink tea and eat brownies in my pyjamas.'  Learning to look after yourself is something I'm learning to get better at...

3.  Family.  I'm not lucky enough to live in the same city as my parents or brother but i am lucky enough to live just round the corner from my sister.  Family meant a lot to me when i was younger but it's only really taken the last year to realise how much the dynamic of us all has changed and what a special relationship i have with each and every one of them - all different but all really special.  I'm not huge on New Years resolutions but this year i'm certainly going to make even more of an effort to spend as much time as possible with them all, wherever we are.  

4.  Feeling comfortable in your own skin.  That's something that I'll never 100% master - i mean who does?!  But I'm definitely learning that this is how i am now.  I feel settled in having a good exercise/active balance and i know what my body needs to make it do the very best that it can - and also what makes it do quite the opposite.  It takes such a long time to tune into that - if only you knew all of this when you were a teenager and could tell your future self:  "It really will be okay, you'll work it all out."

5.  Giving less time to the material things.  This is a massive work in progress and a big learning curve for me but moving house - purging everything from our little attic flat and having all the extra room to keep it all has kind of made me not want a lot of it.  I'm always going get butterflies in my tummy if i see a Liberty print anything and want to live in Anthropologie but what moving this year has taught me more than anything is that what actually makes home feel like home is the person i live with and the items i've collected that have love and memories attached.  The rest of it is just...... fluff.  Pretty fluff all the same but still fluff.  I've emotionally hoovered up a lot of it and whilst that spare room of ours is a million miles away from the clean, tidy and simple space i want it to be - I'm getting there!

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Golly gosh has that turned into a little bit of an emotional Spring clean come early!  Sorry if you were hoping for tales of birdsong, clean sheets and the best mince pies i ever ate.  Expect more of that in 2017 {2017 PEOPLE!!!!)'s first #wonderfulwednesday I'm sure.  But for now skip your little self over to that lovely bunch of fellow #wonderfulwednesday -ers   {Jo, Helen, Michelle, Sarah, Kate, Cat, Sam, El , Kerri's, Mimmi's, Martina's AND lovely Isabelle} and read all about their very best bits of the week so far.  

And from me and this little blog - a very Happy New Year and thanks times a squillion for still being here 140 {!!!} #wonderfulwednesday posts later?!?!