“If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

Oh that is easy to answer. That would be either Scotland or Japan. Not in a big city. Countryside, tiny cottage with a small garden. That’s all what is to say about it. Shortest Daily Prompt ever. Sorry, I’m just not a writer. Would be nice if they would give us a “Daily Photo* too.

“Is a little chaos actually good for us?”

For me it’s a clear nope, but since we are all different, the answer to this question will be different too. For me, it wasn’t always that way. There where times, when I was much younger, when I didn’t mind chaos, but nowadays I can’t tolerate it anymore. Tidiness is important for my mental health. That my home is tiny doesn’t help in this regard. When things are not in their spots it looks very messy very fast.

But just because I do not like chaos, it doesn’t mean it never happens. Actually it happens every weekend. See, I’m retired and for people with chronic depression nothing is more important than structure. But when one day is like the other, you do not have a structure, it’s more like a big blob of days. So I came up with that rule that there are no chores on the weekend. No laundry, no vacuuming (unless it’s an emergency of course), no dishes. (I do not own a dishwasher and I do not want one), just pure laziness (knitting and gaming without any interruptions). You can imagine, every Monday I’m busy playing catch up simply because the “chaos” (a mug, two plates, a pan) really makes me feel meh. That said, I gotta go, my kitchen is calling and the vacuum is waiting too. Have a pawesome week.

“What’s a lesson you’ve learned recently that shifted your perspective?”

About 2 years ago I purchased a rice cooker of Amazon and at that point I actually didn’t know why I did that, I can cook perfect rice with just a pot. Yes, I know, it sounds a lil bit nuts. Why spend money on something you do not really need. Well, I blame my belly feeling. Sometimes it does that, it tells me to get something and I’m totally clueless about why the heck I should do that, but month, sometimes even years later it hits me like a truck with this “aaaah that’s the reason”. However, I’m digressing, let’s get back to the rice cooker. So, when I was getting one I was under the impression it is just for cooking rice, hence the name. And I parked it in my storage place and almost forgot about it. Fast forward to last month. I’m hanging out on YouTube, yes I know I shouldn’t but come on, one guilty pleasure should be ok. There was this cooking channel that just kept popping up in my feed, regardless how often I told YouTube to “not recommend this channel” and “I’m not interested”. So at some point I gave in and clicked on one of her videos. She was rating Rice Cooker recipes she got from TikTok (never have bin to and never will be, the important stuff finds me elsewhere, often on YouTube) and I was amazed about what that little thing can do. So much more than just cooking rice. Scrambled eggs, chicken dishes, soups, pasta, even desserts. That little thing is like a magic cooking tool and now I’m so glad that I got one. Also glad about my trusty belling feeling that always knows what I really need in my life.

“What do you do to improve your sleep?”

From own experience I can tell, that good sleep starts long before bed time. There isn’t just one thing to make your sleep good, there are a lot of small steps you can do. But keep in mind, we all are different. Things that work for me, maybe not helpful for you. So you need to find your own way by trial and error, at least that is what I did. Habits that help you in general: No social media, no alcohol, no drugs, healthy home made meals. Be aware of what you stuff into your body. Avoid the news if possible or just stick with a lose overview. If you can not change it, there is no need to carry it. If it doesn’t make you happy, it has to go (goes for everything, people and things). Make your bed every morning. It’s less about being tidy, but more about you deserve a tidy bed when you go to sleep at night.

In the evening, have dinner early, so your body gets a chance to sort that out before you go to bed. Have a steady rhythm, go to bed around the same time every night. Melatonin will help falling asleep but it will not make sure you sleep through. And, everything below 5 mg is totally pointless. So if you do not have trouble falling asleep, you can just ignore it. Safe that money. Get a good herbal tea instead.

My biggest problem with falling asleep and stay asleep what constant pondering in circles. Audio books helped a lot to break that. The story itself doesn’t really matter that much (as long as it doesn’t make you feel bad in any way, shape or form), but the voice that is reading the story to you. Just last week I noticed that again. I was listening to an entire series of one author, all together 8 books and I loved them. When I saw, that there was another series from the same author I thought nothing could go wrong, after all, same author, the books must be as good, right? Wrong! Different person was reading the books and for me her voice was soooo annoying. I stopped after 1 book (even when I got 3 at ones – see, if it doesn’t make you happy, it has to go). Anyway, I set the timer to an hour and usually I’m asleep long before the hour is over.

Before you ask, yes, I wake up during the night, mostly around 3 am, but that is no problem. I go to the rest room, then maybe get something to drink and then I go straight back to bed. I simple repeat what I did when I went to bed in the evening. I turn the audio book back on, timer to one hour, and go back to sleep. Works every time, like a charm.

And then there is my secret sleep weapon. My dog! She sleeps with me in my bed (actually it’s her bed), under the covers. It is incredible cozy and nothing on this planet is more peaceful then a snoring dog.

Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite you.