One of my favourite childhood films was Mary Poppins, and I really loved the scene where the children’s bedrooms are tidied in record time: a snap of the fingers and things were put back in their place immediately.
 
Now, as an adult, every time I have a good clear-out, I’m reminded of this and invariably start singing the accompanying song in my best screechy Julie Andrews impression!
 
While I was rearranging my home office this week, I was thinking about how freeing it feels to tidy up – and how it’s also important to apply this to our minds too. Having a ‘tidy’ mind means that ‘messy’ and destructive thoughts have no room to flourish, and we can gradually clear out cynicism, negativity and unkindness.

Where does your sense of well-being come from? What is ‘at the bottom’, where you can go no further?
 
Well-being is not a peripheral or surface-layer state – it is something that lies right at the root of yourself. It’s made up of your fundamentals, your values and your non-negotiables. The important thing to know is that well-being does not lie in other people, in things, at the bottom of a bottle or in the promise of future times: it is in the present time.
 
If you have a chance today, spend some time playing around with the idea of what is at the root of your well-being. What are your fundamentals? This might feel a bit uncomfortable at first, because it can challenge our ideas and encourage us to question the status quo.
 
Whatever you ponder, remember that caring for your roots allows for more well-being shoots to thrive. 

Do you ever long for the days when your life wasn’t influenced by apps, phones and laptops?
 
If so, consider taking a manual day, a dedicated, hands-on day. This is where things are created for real, not just joined-up electrons. Try putting up a shelf finally (of course you might not be good at it, but that’s not the point). Practice doesn’t make perfect; it simply makes better. Bread and salad made, dinner in the oven, the garden tidied for summer. Art or craft project started or finished. Some DIY completed. Being outside in ‘real’ weather with appropriate clothing. Reading an actual book. Writing with a pen on paper.
 
We are a finely-tuned mind-body creature; and when mind and body are in sync, they produce magic. Make it a mind-body manual day today!

Do you ever feel like you aren’t doing enough? Like you aren’t making a big enough difference in the world? I sometimes get like this and realise I’m having one of my ‘tilting the earth’ moments (©​Joanna Feast) – I feel like I want to do something so significant and helpful that its impact will literally tilt the earth on is axis. Then I make a list of everything I want to do, knock off the stuff that is wildly complicated, and I’m usually left with manageable stuff.
 
My lesson from this is always “I can do anything but I can’t do everything”. I try not to get overwhelmed with everything I’m not doing and focus instead on what I can and am doing. Still having an impact, just not knocking the earth around. I’ll leave that for a day when my ‘to do’ list is shorter!

During lockdown, did you find a renewed love of nature, whether it was listening to birdsong from an open window, enjoying more time in your garden or going for a walk around the park?
 
Meet Nicolette, this month’s guest blogger. She is a Naturepreneur who helps people fall back in love with nature and enjoy life again. We met last year at a bullet journal workshop and had so much in common. Here’s her story:
 
“When I was little, I loved being outdoors. I learned the names of the flowers in our garden and spent hours playing in the woods. I still have a child-like curiosity about the world and now help people reconnect with nature for self-awareness and creativity.
 
Connecting with nature has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress, increase self-esteem and boost health and well-being.
 
I help people, particular women juggling family and work, to ‘press pause’ through my own blend of mindful photography and forest bathing. Together we slow down and use our senses to fully notice nature, find joy in its beauty and feel more positive.

I’m an introvert too, so my sessions are always in small groups and held around Reading and Bracknell in places that I know well.
 
Once you connect with nature deeply, you tend to want to care for it more. I hope my work will go a little way towards saving the world for future generations.”
 
Find out what Nicolette is noticing in nature on Instagram and Facebook @natureworkswondersuk or read her blogs on www.natureworkswonders.co.uk. LinkedIn link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoletteevans/.
 
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