I’ve let my work/life balance get very out of alignment recently, and have quite a lot of catching up to do here on mrschristine.com. However, while I get my act together, I thought it was worth sharing five things that have been keeping me going over the last couple of months where otherwise I may have run screaming for the hills.

1. Cheers

I’m a sucker for a really good sitcom, and having indulged in Spin City, as well as The Dick Van Dyke Show, the current obsession is Cheers. I was vaguely aware of Cheers before starting to watch the series in earnest - the extent of my knowledge being aware of a will-they-won’t-they between Sam and Diane, and that watching the opening credits made Joey feel homesick in London.

It’s so good. So funny, so well done, so sure of itself that the jokes can be instant or have a big build up but they always pay off. It’s aged well, it stands up to modern viewing, and it’s just hilarious and warm and lovely. It’s also absolutely bizarre to see the origins of Frasier, who only has slight hints of the character he will become. I love it.

2. Library audiobooks

On something of a savings kick, but also having more capacity for listening to audiobooks, I couldn’t believe my luck to find the library’s audiobook service. Renting or reserving up to ten audiobooks at a time, this is part of the reason I’ve been absolutely powering through the Jack Reacher series, and has enabled me to catch up on lots of books that have just been in the waiting pile, especially with a x2 speed option. Wonderful.

3. One foot in front of the other

A couple of years ago, I picked walking every day as one of my 30 day challenges, and enjoyed the process. It’s not something I’ve kept up religiously but I definitely walk so much more than I used to and if I don’t get to go out after a few days, I can feel myself getting antsy. Alongside the other items on this list of things that have been keeping me going the past couple of months, getting short sharp bursts of fresh air and putting one foot in front of the other has really helped.

4. Stationery

I’m one of those stationery nerds, who loves cracking open a new notebook, or testing out a new pen. I’ve been trying to use up things I already own instead of using any excuse to run out and buy a new piece of stationery, but recently I did have the opportunity to spend some money in the notebook department and it was wonderful.

5. Positive News

I recently watched the final couple of series of Bump, which I’ll cover in a different post, but I loved the concept in this series where whenever a character is spinning out (usually about environmental issues), they gather hands and tell each other three positive things. A country using more solar energy, or new discoveries in purifying water, or that kind of thing.

In a similar fashion, I’ve really enjoyed reading Positive News recently. They have some individual posts, but the best updates for me are the weekly roundups of ‘what went right this week’. It can be all sorts of things - this week’s included reducing shipping emissions, new medical advancements, nature on TV, and schools doing the right thing for their kids. They’re not all going to be interesting to you, but considering what else is going on in the world, it’s like a salve on frayed nerves.

Thankfully, my work/life see-saw is finally starting to balance itself out so I have time to down tools and get writing again, and hopefully this is the start of better habits going forward.