Friday Feelgoods: May Days and Wonderful Weekends

I spent this morning at a Media Open Day at the local Recycling Centre (Material Recycling Facility.) Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. Almost too scared to go and not a very good start, when I got out of a friend's wagon in the carpark and fell headlong in the dirt! But a fantastic day, fascinating stuff and a good reminder to face up to fears. Will share more about it on the Freelance Writing Curve over the weekend. (The most recent post on there is about Writer's Block ... it would be great to hear your views on that unfortunate affliction!)

Some Friday feelgoods for you ...

Welcome to the Magical Month of May

May was named after the Greek Goddess Maia, the mountain goddess "of the lively black eyes." She was also know as Bona Dea, the "Good Goddess," who was associated with healing - the sick were tended to in her temple gardens with medicinal herbs. Bona Dea was also associated with freedom from slavery and her followers were mostly slaves, low-class citizens and women.

In French and German folk tradition, people planted a tree in May to honour someone special. What a lovely idea. I can't afford a tree, but have decided to plant a seed for each of my friends and family. I'm looking forward to choosing something that has special meaning for them and planning making a list as something lovely to do this weekend.

See below for Deborah Ng's fab ideas for the weekend!

In British folklore, May is a generally unlucky month, it seems! Although with some great anniversaries. And thankfully there are lots of great days to celebrate in May:

Note: May 2nd is NOT Autism Awareness Day ... as I announced this morning. On Twitter! (Honestly, I'm not so much Twitterer as Twit!)

Wish I'd written this post first. Somehow I'd fogotten we were in May, and realising it was the 2nd, I posted a link to Autism Awareness Day, which was actually on April 2nd! Oh well, at least it means everyone has plenty of notice for next year. It's not the first time I've made such a public fool of myself (with evidence, in writing, online ... forever!) And it probably won't be the last. It's a good job I find it funny!

Every day in May (quite appropriately in my case) is a day of Mental Health Awareness Month, with this year's tagline: "Get Connected."

At least it is in the US. It seems we don't have one in the UK, but let me know if I'm wrong.

I think it's an excellent idea. Mental health is still such a taboo subject, yet one in three of us will suffer some kind of mental health problem at some point in our life. As someone who suffered from a total physical, mental and emotional meltdown a few years ago, I am happy to talk about it, if only to let people know they aren't alone (mental health problems are very isolating) and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

May is also New Zealand Music Month in NZ and Celebrate Older Adults Month. It seems we don't have one of those either ... what a shame! I strongly believe we should cherish our elders and feel passionately about ensuring they are heard, particularly women, as you might have gathered from my Crone post! Wikipedia have a list of individuals who became famous in old age, most of whom are, interestingly, women.

The third week in May is Bike-To-Work Week ... another fantastic idea. I don't possess a car, in fact I don't even possess a driver's licence. I currently don't possess a working bike either, but I do walk everywhere or use public transport and really believe it's a great way to help the environment. Easy for me, I know - there are times a car is necessary. Well, we manage without one, but it is very difficult sometimes and we do have friends and family with cars, so benefit from that when we visit them. It must be very hard to avoid 'unnecessary' use of a car if you actually have one!

The second Saturday is World Fair Trade Day, something else I think is well-worth getting involved with.

The second Sunday is Mother's Day in lots of countries.

So, May is overflowing with feelgoodness!

Everyday Indulgences

I have a lovely, tiny, pink book covered in gold writing and glitter (would post a pic, but Blogger is being mean again!) It's one of my favourite books. It makes me smile, because it is filled with more than 200 everyday indulgences:

The Woman's Book of Simple Delights written by Kerry Colburn, beautifully illustrated by Debbie Hanley (Philidelphia: Running Press, 2003)

It's not exclusive to women, all the ideas are great for guys too ... although perhaps not these three:

1. Paint your toenails a colour you've never dreamt of wearing.

2. Try on couture gowns at a fancy boutique.

3. Buy fishnet stockings and wear them to a meeting you're dreading.

Then again ... I have a male friend who'd be up for all of them! The thought of a nervous business man with fishnet stockings under his suit makes me giggle, at least. (So it probably counts as an everyday indulgence of mine.)

I'll share a few with you every Friday and try and think up some more. Let me know your own ideas too!

1. Take a salsa lesson.

2. Spend a full half-hour at a florist's or greenhouse (floral smells are a natural high.)

3. Make a list of the best compliments you've ever received.

4. Read your favourite childhood book.

5. Invite a friend over for jump rope and hopscotch.

Does anyone else remember a game with elastic? I think we called it French Skipping. Like a bigger version of Cat's Cradle ... remember that, too?

6. Skip rocks at the beach or riverbank.

7. Let yourself have total stillness for 15 minutes in the middle of the day.

Pass on the Feelgoods

Deborah Ng has posted a wonderful list of 26 Free Things to Do this Weekend as a Family.

My first thought was to share them with you by posting them here, adding one or two then passing it on like a meme. But a much better idea is to share a link to Deborah's Simply Thrifty blog. So you can check out Deborah's post (and the rest of her lovely blog) and leave her a comment with your own ideas, then share Simply Thrifty and your own ideas on your blogs if you want to.

To be honest, it wasn't easy to think of any more, Deborah's done a great job! But here's a few ideas:

1. Make a simple bird feeder or start a Nature Journal.

2. Write and perform a play.

3. Decorate plant pots (or old plastic containers, like margerine tubs) and plant an apple seed in each one ... for someone special.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

:o)