Does everything make your heart sink?

Sometimes you can get stuck, and you simply can't be bothered to make any positive changes that you know would make you feel better. Here's how to start making tiny changes.

This Heart Leap Substack is all about how to build a happy, creative, and simple life and we explore ways to ‘begin again’.

We look at ways to simplify our routines and processes, ways to build happiness habits into our daily lives, and ways to carve out time for our creativity so it’s not drowned out by the grind.

I posted yesterday about a simple technique to have you moving in the right direction for 2024.

It’s very simple.

When you’re at a crossroads or decision point, I invite you to head in the direction that makes your heart leap, not sink.

But everything makes my heart sink.

But if you’ve been working too hard, if you’ve been feeling low, or if you’ve been ill, sometimes it feels like everything makes your heart sink.

You can’t be bothered.

It’s easier to sit and numb yourself.

With scrolling.

Or eating

Or a Netflix binge.

But afterwards, notice how it makes you feel.

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a Netflix binge to help you zone out when life has been intense.

But numbing yourself constantly can keep you stuck in the heart sink loop, where nothing makes your heart leap.

And you can’t be bothered, and then you numb yourself.

On and on.

Simple, easy, minimum effort

So today, I’m inviting you to look for something that would be really easy to do and that requires minimum effort that makes your heart leap.

Today, I started a 10-minute sketch challenge after reading this post by Adam Ming, who encourages us to just start a daily creative practice.

I’m a writer, not an artist. I’m pretty crap at drawing and painting, but I enjoy being a beginner with no pressure to perform. I did a brilliant course on ‘intuitive painting’ with Kia Cannons in the summer, and I have been painting madly and badly ever since.

It really helped me and brought me out of a fug of ‘can’t be botheredness’ last year.

But starting a course can require lots of energy and focus, and when you’re sunk into a pit of numbness and general ‘can’t be botheredness’, you usually have no energy or focus.

So this week, start small.

Look for anything at all that might give you a slight shift or lift.

That might make you smile.

With minimum effort.

It might be finding a favourite book and reading a page.

You might read your own tarot cards.

It might be rubbing a beautifully smelling hand cream into your hands.

It might be clearing a shelf.

It might be reading a poem and then trying to write a line.

It might be stepping outside, seeing if you can see the stars, and researching a constellation.

It might be answering one of these journal prompts:

• My three favourite moments of 2023 were…

• What do those moments have in common?

• Who inspires me, and why?

• Who lifts my spirits when I see them, and why?

• When did I last feel alive?

At 9 a.m. today, we start the first of our ‘happy writing hours’ for paid subscribers. It’s for anyone who is trying to write a book, start a substack, or just have a little accountability for their writing practice. We chat for 5 minutes or so, and then we write quietly together for the rest of the hour. It’s strangely comforting and motivational to have a cohort of writers to support you and write alongside you. Subscribe and join us if you want some support. Zoom link below.

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

Here’s the zoom link