Love is in the air!

Valentine's Day seems to be an appropriate day to start my journey in search of love in 2022. Now, before my regular readers gasp in horror, this doesn't mean joining dating agencies or online websites such as Tinder! I'm talking about loving my life here in Spain, loving my friends and family and in particular - something we all tend to neglect - loving myself. I'm sure many of you can identify with the last point. It's too easy to forget about yourself and concentrate on making others happy or even to become self-critical, so this year let's change things round. Start loving ourselves! I hope that you will decide to join me and start loving yourselves too. Trust me, we are worth it.

It's a long while since I've posted and it's actually the first time this year. My previous post was about Joy and this seems to be a continuation of that theme. What gives you joy? In my case it's spending time with my family and friends, walking with Lisa in the countryside, listening to music, dancing, writing and travel. These are some of the many things that I love doing, so doing more of them will be part of my plan for self-love in 2022.

Writing this post is important for me as, now I've told you all about my plan for 2022, I have to follow it through and promise to give you an update at the end of the year. I enjoy the process of writing, so this is a good start. I often write about my capsule wardrobe, which I'm in the middle of updating and, as part of this, I'm trying to declutter. Not so easy for a hoarder! 

I'm sure that many of you will have heard about Marie Kondo and her method of tidying your home, known as the KonMari Method®. Recently I've been watching a series of workshops given by Hester Van Hien of Tidylicious, which have inspired me to declutter my home and not just my wardrobe. Two key things when deciding whether to keep something are: does it inspire joy?; do I love it? This seems to fit in very well with my 2022 theme. I love the idea of living in a clutter-free home with a tidy wardrobe so this is my first project of the year.

I'm hoping that this year will give me plenty of opportunities to spend time with friends and family. It started very well with a visit from my friend Liz en route to Malaga, where she is staying for a few months. Not only did I enjoy having her here for a week, but so did my dog Lisa! I have many good friends where I live in Jumilla too, of all nationalities, so I meet them for coffee several times a week, with the occasional glass of wine and tapas.

I'm fortunate that the weather here is pretty good, though we occasionally get sub-zero temperatures in the evenings during the winter. I live on the edge of town, so Lisa and I are able to walk in the countryside. I love the connection with nature, spring being one of my favourite seasons as the trees start blossoming.

Music and dancing make me feel happy, so they will fit in very well with practising self-love this year. One of my favourite Zoom classes in The Joy Club is Tracie's Solo Dancing, where I can lose myself in the joy of dancing every week : Lisa seems to enjoy watching me too! I find that if I'm feeling tired, lonely, sorry for myself, stressed out (we all have negative emotions at times) putting on my favourite music immediately revives me. It might be classical music, jazz or rock 'n roll, depending on my mood.

I have a very important birthday coming up in September (75, in case you want to know!) so I'm planning to visit my family in the UK to celebrate, with a possible trip to Paris. As I love Paris, this will definitely be an act of self-love too. I had to cancel a planned journey through France by train in 2019 due to Covid, so I'm hoping that this year I'll be luckier.

I trust that you don't think this is being selfish, as I strongly believe that the more we love and care for ourselves, the more love we have to share with others. Happiness is definitely contagious! Do let me know what plans you have for 2022 and whether you will join me in my journey through a year full of love. Happy Valentine's Day!