GoodBye February: Looking for Sunshine on the Grey sky Days

It’s been a while since I last wrote my Month in Review post. A lot has happened in my life since last August. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with situations, people and events as I’ve been going through a mix of emotions and a lot of reflections. Overall, it’s been a lot of learning and a lot of painful setbacks that made me rethink my priorities, friendships, relationships and so on. The silver lining from all this is learning to focus on things that truly matter.

With February gone, I realised it was time to pick up the things that were a part of my life before things turned awry. Writing itself had become a casualty, so I knew I had to make it a practice. Writing a monthly review as a gratitude post was something that I wanted to bring back, so when my blogger friend Corinne floated the idea of Glimmers and Grace, a monthly feature where we recount all the positive things that happened to us whilst in the face of challenges, I saw it a sign from the Universe and jumped right in.

FYI, Glimmers & Grace is meant to be “an uplifting monthly feature in which bloggers reflect on moments of joy and grace experienced (even amid challenges) in the past month.

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In 2022, I first encountered the word ‘glimmer‘ on an Instagram post. It was meant to be the opposite of a ‘trigger‘—a word that we all seem to know only too well—one that we now mostly refer to as an event or a cause for a particular action, process, or situation to occur. A word, which has come to mean something unpleasant or negative.

My connection with the word, though, dates back to August 2023. Those days, I used to visit an Acupuncture clinic for treating a rather stubborn neck pain. One morning, as I was about to leave the clinic after my session was over, I noticed a book titled Anchored by Deb Dana lying on her table. Interestingly, Deb Dana had first used the term ‘glimmer’ in her 2018 book, The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy. According to her, glimmer is a “micro moment of feeling safe enough, connected enough, organized enough.”

The book piqued my interest and I got it on my kindle. The fact that we do not always need grand experiences to feel safe and good within—even the tiniest of encounters or fleeting and seemingly trivial experiences can make us feel a range of emotions and elicit a rush of happiness, gratitude, calm, peace, safety, or goodwill made so much sense to me. It was a tough book to read, but I managed to glean a few essential learnings to help my own understanding of the concept.

We now know how glimmers help calm the nervous system and return us to a regulated state. All of us have our own version of what we identify as glimmers in our life. I think, looking back on my childhood days, the time I spent in Nature, watching the sky, spending time creating art, losing myself while going on a road trip, playing in the garden, amidst the blooms all qualified as ‘glimmers.’ Interestingly, these things still continue to remain a source of joy for me, even to this day.

The complex nature of our lives mean that all of us constantly navigate one challenge after another, and showing up with grace does not come easy on most days. But, now, we know it is these little moments that are so uplifting and so positive that they instantly work as great pick-me-ups and fill us with all the positivity that we need to get on with life. It is like our lifeline and thanks to them, I can now look back at the month of February with a deep and comforting sense of gratitude and joy.

Some glimmers this month that I would love to share with you today:

– My time alone every morning before the rest of the family was up—a habit that I started in February this year, when I meditated, journalled, and sat in stillness.

– The routine solo breaks I took, when I prefered to read or work from a coffee shop, where nobody would disturb me.

– Revisiting the park near our previous home, where I spent an hour one morning, basking in the bliss of the morning sun.

– Listening to my favourite podcast while doing routine household chores—The Way Out Is In on Spotify has always been insightful, engaging and absolutely delightful. I loved every episode of this podcast and saw it as a wonderfully illuminating element of my self development journey and even more than that, it turned out to be a great pcik-me-up on the days when my morale hit the lowest.

– Chatting with friends who’ve been there for me, unconditionally—through the ups and the downs. I can’t imagine my life without them, and remain grateful for all the life seasons they’ve walked me through, with their prayers, their laughter, and their encouragement.

– My third batch of free offline meditation classes got underway—another bunch of eager folks who learned to cope with a whole host of issues—ranging from stress, anxiety, neurological pain, sleep disorders and so on. Most of the attendees found it to be an amazing experience especially when everyone meditated together. The highlight from all this for me was the beautiful messages that came later, where they shared how the practice has been helping them tackle many of the long-term health related issues that they’ve been struggling with.

– Being intentionally kind to at least a few people,everyday, through words, help or some form of support that they might have needed on a given day or simply being there to listen to someone when they wanted to offload something. 

– Picking up on reading again—reading while commuting, or whenever I could find the time.

– Going on a short one-day break to a beautiful resort and spending time with Mother Nature, whilst soaking in the peace and serenity.

– Having breakfast whilst enjoying the morning sun on days when I felt very low on energy and motivation.

– Being able to get back to writing—even if it were a few lines on a day or an entire blog post on another. 

– Being able to listen to music even though my knee did not permit me to go for walks.

Whenever doubts crept up and I felt lost, the Universe showed me signs that I was being supported. Mostly, it was the littlest of things that I kept watching out for, that made the most impact. The little sparks of inspiration and the positives made the grey skies dim in comparison! My gratitude diary kept overflowing with things that helped me cope with life overall!

That was how February went for me. When I looked back and found the things that made me happy, the rest felt insignificant.

Now, tell me, dear reader—how did February go for you? Did you snatch the little moments here and there, and did the glimmers in your life make the difference? I’ll be happy to hear about the blessings that came by your way and what stood out for you when you looked back at February.

See you next month, again. Until then, here’s wishing you all a blessed month in March. May life treat you kind and may you come out of the tough times wiser and stronger than before.

Much love and positive vibes!