How to Slow Down and Find Your Own Kind of ‘Normal’

How to Slow Down and Find Your Own Kind of ‘Normal’

It’s been a long two weeks. As I write this, I’m sitting in bed with classical music humming through my radio, the fairy lights are on, and there’s evidence of tea and biscuits. This morning, I hit a wall — but I allowed myself to hit it.

I’ve been waking up early and doing all of the things I need to do every day for over two weeks. I haven’t had a real day off to be at home and rest for way too long. After a very busy weekend, I stayed up past midnight to finish my podcast edits for this morning. So, when my alarm went off at 7 a.m., it was promptly turned off and I allowed myself to fully experience that brick wall of exhaustion. I camped out there for a while as I recovered.

The thing is, even though I love getting to be “normal” and doing normal things, the truth is, I’m not normal. I have a condition, and two weeks of not having a day off to stop results in endo fatigue crashing down on me and reminding me that I am not, in fact, normal after all.

But that’s OK. I can deal with being “not normal.” And even though my body has to remind me of that sometimes, I’m learning ways to embrace, accept, and celebrate my pretty abnormal endo life. So today, I thought I’d share with you three amazing resources I love for helping me to slow down, stay in, stay well, and find my own kind of normal.

Girls’ Night In Club

Alisha Ramos, if you’re reading this, I love you and think you’re a bloody genius. Ramos founded Girls’ Night In as a response to the increasingly busy lives we’re leading and the rising rates of mental health issues. Girls’ Night In has a weekly newsletter that delivers ideas and content to help you create the perfect night in by yourself or with friends. They also have a virtual book club, which if you like, you can even attend IRL if you happen to live near one of their local book club meet-ups.

I found Girls’ Night In when I was having some difficult feelings about the direction my social life was going. I couldn’t keep up with going out all the time, and found doing more than one or two social activities a weekend left me pretty exhausted. At the time, I had a lot of shame associated with this and felt boring and old before my time. I accidentally stumbled across the Girls’ Night In Instagram page, and it really changed how I felt about the whole thing. Suddenly, I found an identity, a gang I could belong to, and I no longer felt so different from women my age.

The Tired Girl Society

I was only introduced to The Tired Girl Society last week, but I wish I had known about it sooner because I think it’s just incredible. The Tired Girl Society is all about helping those with chronic illnesses to create a beautiful life from the comfort of our homes. It’s not about talking about or focusing on illness, but rather focusing on the things you love, the person you are, and the life you want to live — all in a way that supports your health. The membership site has online forums to chat about your favorite hobbies and interests, ranging from “The Netflix and Chill Club” to “The Healthy Kitchen Club.” They also have weekly online coffee dates and online events like baking banana bread, and they’re even about to release a home-school section that allows you to learn and gain skills at your own pace.

As someone with big dreams and lots of interests but limited energy, The Tired Girl Society is exactly my kind of place.

Shelf Help

A slightly different kind of club, but one I think is brilliant for the endo community all the same, is the Shelf Help club, launched by journalist Toni Jones. Shelf Help is both an online and offline book club focused on self-help and self-development. Now before this causes any eye rolls, it’s not about needing to be fixed, it’s about finding new ways to be inspired, grow, and see life. I’m the first to admit that self-help books on physical and mental health have been essential to helping me feel better with endometriosis. You can take part online through Facebook and Instagram or attend one of the physical meet-ups — or host your own.

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