How quickly the days and weeks have flown by. It’s already the middle of January and I have yet to come back to blogging.

Lately, I have been telling people how much easier life was when the kids were smaller. Their messes were small and contained. I controlled the toy situation. Now that they’re bigger, they have school and activities. The idea of helping mom clean the room isn’t a fun game but an annoying chore.

So by the end of the day when I have time to myself, I just can’t. I can’t be bothered to turn the computer on. I can’t be bothered to think about what to post of Instagram. It’s exhausting.

Now here we are. 2019. Another “get-back-to-blogging” promise made. What better way to start than to post about my One Word theme. As you may remember, I started to adopt the one word theme rather than do resolutions. (read my one words theme here: 2016, 2017, 2018) I have found that I, like most people, can’t keep resolutions. We make them too big and set ourselves up to fail almost instantly. However, a one word theme helps me to focus better and then adapt that word into my daily habits.

Last year, I wanted to focus on myself. ME- was my one word theme and my neglect from this blog reflected that. I spent more time reading, some exercising, more cooking, baking, photography, travel and just enjoyed my time. I was less concerned about having to post and while I missed it, it was what I needed. It gave me the time to reflect and decided wether or not to continue this blog and how I want to present myself on Social Media. So with the YEAR OF ME, somewhat sorted out, it’s time for the next step.

It’s time to Clean! We’re taking out the garbage, negativity and unnecessary crap!

SOCIAL MEDIA

I started a few days before Christmas by deleting my Twitter account. I created it for the purpose of getting more clicks onto my blog and Instagram, but here’s the thing… I NEVER USED IT!! Most people search for news, tweet a link to their many other social media accounts or retweet a Celeb in hopes of getting noticed. I rarely did any of it so, it was literally a waste of time. I hated seeing the icon on my phone with 20+ notifications about accounts I follow and what they did. Ugh… I don’t care!!!! So, it was GONE!

Next was Facebook. Unfortunately, I can’t delete that as it’s the primary source of contact with EVERYONE back home. I have stopped sharing so many pictures just because I don’t have much time to sit, post and caption them all. What I did make time for was to go through my Friends list and delete the Fake accounts and anyone who I don’t have much communication with. I also went through and got rid of a few groups and pages and deleted the page for this blog.

Then.. Instagram. A lot of people are concerned about how many followers they have, I get it. I more concerned with how many people I actually engage with. I don’t have time to see negativity or crude language on my feed. I’m tired of seeing the occasional “my life is awesome because I only post the good stuff.” There are a few accounts I deleted based on the fact that they only post their alcoholic beverages on an almost daily bases. I don’t even drink so why I did I follow them? Oh.. because they’re expats in Italy. Yeah. I don’t care. They also never commented or liked anything I posted so that was the end of that. It felt great. Now all I see is uplifting positivity. Expats who are genuinely nice and who DO engage with their audience. I now actually enjoy my time scrolling through Instagram and want to see their InstaStories!

PHYSICAL CLEANLINESS

For a few month, I had been feeling very sluggish. I was always tired and I didn’t have any energy. There were so many things I wanted to do but I just couldn’t. All I wanted to do was sleep. Something was off. I hadn’t had any blood work done since Rosie was born (in 2013) so I went to the Dr. Turns out, I have high cholesterol and my liver enzymes are high. So he told me I had to cut out all of my favourite stuff…. LIKE ALL OF IT!!

Good bye PROSCIUTTO AND SALAME! Adios MILK AND CHEESE! Arrivederci BUTTER AND WHITE BREAD! Basically all pork products and animal fat products. While Carlo and I had started leaning towards more veggies and less meat, I had to do more. I went hardcore the first month and with great success! Then Christmas came and I indulged in sweets and salame! After New Years, I picked up right where I had left off. I’ve dropped almost 5kg in the process and I have noticed when I do occasionally eat something like pizza, sometimes I just can’t eat more than 2 slices because my tastes have changed.

SPIRITUALLY CLEAN

Having purged my social media and began to get rid of certain foods, I feel like a have a higher sense of clarity. I am much more spiritually connected. While I’m at church, I totally feel the spirit… every time. It’s strange how small changes in different parts of your life can have a major impact on others. As I mentioned above, I love looking at my Social Media and only seeing clean, uplifting, positive message from inspiring people. My goal is to use this One Word theme to elevate myself in hopes that I can help someone else. I hope I can carry that through Instagram and this blog. To use as an uplifting platform not just for Expats wanting to know what life in Turin is like. Not just for Italy related content but also a place where the occasional church related post can turn your day around and make you smile.

What’s your One Word Theme?