The Joy of Coloring

 

I am beginning this month's Awesome Apps feature with Happy Color.  I have been using this app for a few months now and I have found it to be really useful in a couple of ways. 

 First,  I have it on my phone so it is lightweight and portable. 

Second, it is a joy to use.  The colors just flow in a way that does something neat to my brain, everything is gorgeous and the palettes are so beautiful.  There is so much variety.  Happy Color has been around for a few years so there is a lot to choose from. I love colors, and I love looking at beautiful pictures so this really appeals to me. There is a video of your coloring after you have finished.  I have fun sharing them to Instagram.

Third, as a therapy I use it in a few different ways.  I found it to be calming after a day at work.  As an introvert it is a great way for me to recharge after having to do stuff with people.   It's also a great way to practice mindfulness.   I can't sit in lotus position for too long anymore to meditate as my knee bugs me after a while, so this is a good alternative.   There are these mandalas to do that, if you plan carefully, are very rewarding to do as they take mindfulness and focus to achieve and there is the reward when you finish of a really neat show ( which also does neat stuff to my brain).

Fourth, there is no clutter of coloring books, pens, pencils etc which appeals to me.  I already have an excess of stuff which is stressful whenever I look at it.  

I trialed this app last spring for the library... I wanted to find options for mindful coloring to promote during Mental Health Month, and decided to keep this app.  

 It's really worth paying a few dollars to get rid of the ads.   

You can find the app here at Happy Color

Bullet Journal!

 A fun new concept I wish to try 

I started using this awesome app called Canva a few months ago.  It was very useful ( and a lot of fun) when I was running the social media pages for the library.  Now it is for my personal use and I am having fun exploring the possibilities.  The hands holding the heart have become something that I envisage as my mission statement.  Embracing my heart, embracing my life.

Managing the Spoons

 

This is the final day plan that I have arranged on the SpoonieDay app.  On good days I manage to check off most of the boxes, and on others I practice self compassion so that I don't feel so bad about having a rest.  It's complicated and sometimes very frustrating to not have the energy I used to have. 

It's going to take a lot of time, patience and self referral to adjust to the new way of doing things.  

So until then, I am keeping it simple.  Everything planned is geared towards mental and physical health (I will explain some of the entries in later posts). 

I saw this image two years ago (on Facebook) when I was deeply depressed and it spoke to me...gave me some perspective finally on what might be happening to me.

Tiny Buddha

Awesome Apps

Ever since I bought my own mobile phone I have been using it for more than just communication.   I have embraced apps whole-heartedly and I am impressed with the ingenuity of people who create such wonderful things.  Awesome Apps will be one of my features on this blog.  

My first week of retirement has been a mixed bag of stress, anxiety, frustration and exhaustion.  I have had overwhelming moments where I just haven't been able to stop my thoughts.   I have a few ways to deal with that, and I will talk about them at another time. 

 Today is about the management of energy.  The app I am featuring today was trialed over a year ago, and I discovered some interesting things about my self at that time (mostly that I did not have enough spoons to do what I did every day).

Over a year later I am using it again, because now I have a better chance of not using up my spoons,  and because I want to be mindful of what I do every day.  

 SpoonieDay by Blackburn Labs is entirely free.  The application is easy to use, there are tutorials on spoon theory and even some ideas on how to replenish spoons as well.