friends

The right people hear you differently

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote Anon

Recently I was in a yoga class and at the start my teacher was explaining how she was enjoying Instagram, that much like a garden she had cultivated AI to make her feed wholesome and positive. It made me reflect on my own social media and I agreed that I didn’t often see any negative comments online any longer and that my feed was full of my personal enjoyments – things like baking or yoga, positive quotes, book recommendations etc that fill my cup up.

Online I don’t follow thousands of people but there are about ten to fifteen people that I regularly see and enjoy there content. I even have a handful of people that I’ve followed for so long, they feel like friends. We share content and tag each other and I’m pretty sure if they lived local I would enjoy there company. One of them is called Hannah, she’s a mother to about a thousand children (well, more than two) and a million chickens (this I might not be exaggerating), she has enjoyments and similar nature based loves that resonate with me. Randomly, I also follow her husband? A similarly hairy dude to my other half. Anyway, this week Hannah posted a bread roll bake that she had made…they looked incredible. She then kindly and without me asking, sent me a link to the recipe.

I gave the rolls a go and oh my! The joy level was amazing. They came out super fluffy and light.

I baked them on Friday evening at stupid o’clock (gone are the days of clubbing and drinking) I was sipping green tea and watching piles of dough expand. Saturday morning we devoured three with bacon. Yesterday evening three more were consumed as I made homemade chicken burgers in breadcrumbs with mozzarella, lettuce, mayo. Two are requested for tomorrow’s packed lunches.

The process of making them was satisfying and I’ll be making them again, but joy was also found in private messaging Hannah with the process and celebrating my success…seriously baking break always makes me feel proud and if it doesn’t go well, I enjoy unpicking and perfecting the process.

Social media often gets a bad press and for many valid reasons, but in the spirit of keeping things positive I hope this post reminds you that you can cultivate a mini online world of things you enjoy. You also, might be blessed to make connections with people that geographically you could never call friends and would never have the joy of meeting but they still enhance your world. So let’s raise our cups of tea, to all the lovely humans that the internet helps us to connect us with. Hannah is @bloomsandhens and she recently got a puppy! My online bestie is Lincoln’s goddess to a sunset photo @sammanfa1 and @backtobrickbungalow who is building a amazing home for her daughter Rosie called ‘Muriel’s place’ and I love it for her real content and DIY drama…no posh aesthetic here, just a woman crushed by life (frigging men) and the dream of a place to call home. I’ve also realised that these three women are all living up north? So if like me you’re as southern in the UK as possible and need a splash of northern joy to your life – give them a follow.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote by Melody Beattie

As a child I was brought up by two exceptional parents, I’m blessed. I was taught and given a range of experiences and along the way reminded to say thank you for them. At Christmas, after birthdays and sometimes randomly in the year my Mum would help me to create thank you cards for gifts i’d received or teachers who had guided me, perhaps even for a person who has shown me a new skill or given up their time for me. As a result I appreciate all I have as an adult, has good manners and passes these skills down to my son. I begin each day by writing down what I am grateful for and before my son goes to sleep we exchange three grateful moments from the day. Appreciation helps both centre you, tell those around you that you are thankful for them but also, is a foundation for more gratitude.

It’s often in the darker times that we truly appreciate those around us, those who go above and beyond or those who simply give what they can when they can – they are enough. When our daughter passed away I learnt who my tribe was, mainly just by how those who loved me knew how to dance around me. voicemails left saying ‘call me when you’re ready to talk, we can talk about shoes if you’d prefer’ or my best friend who wanted to be physically by my side and I told her it was okay, she didn’t need to come…moments later I picked the phone back up and she made what must of been a lonely car journey to hold me, I needed her.

In August I was also reminded that gratitude is also abundant in the joyful times in our lives – the same dear friend got married. Love for the couple flowed and it was a privilege to be part of a piece of their history. She is still on cloud nine and rightly so, I couldn’t be happier for her. We had many deep chats though watery eyes and glances across the room that day and I realised that a best friend really is someone you can sit in silence with and know that you’ve both had the most wonderful conversation with.

For the last few weeks she and her husband have been in isolation, both of them ill and I have been worried about them. Some how from beneath the cough and chest congestion, from the depths of her sofa…and probably her onesie, she made the time to send my son, her godson a birthday card. She organised presents to be delivered and when he wanted to FaceTime she did the best fake ‘I’m healthy, nothing to worry about voice’ I’ve ever heard.

If you catch yourself feeling sad in moments of uncertainty, if perhaps you have distance between you and you’re loved ones. Reflect on how good it will be when you next see them, how amazing that hug will feel and how blessed you are to have ever had them in your universe. Sometimes its the little things in life that enrich our world and my best friend is under five foot small…. look at what you do have, have had and will have, suddenly with a pinch of gratitude the world can feel like it’s scooped you up and wrapped a big red bow around it. Enjoy the journey and smother yourself in gratitude.