I won’t lie to y’all – May has been just as tough as I expected. So far, I’ve been coping with the crushing ghost-trauma** by binge-watching TV. While this isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, it’s far better than binge eating or drinking! I’ve also been forcing myself into a bit of exercise, though it’s far less than usual. (The heat – now into the high 90s in the day and already 75 by morning – has a lot to do with that, too.) Other than these two trying-to-stay-afloat action items, I’ve spent a bit of time creating a new life-goals journal, with color-in items meant to help me cultivate a life I love.

I decided to make this a little more artistic than my usual style. My bullet journal is all minimal and simple and list-oriented, but I bought a sketchbook for this one, with nice paper, and have been sketching my way though life goals. I’m not a great artist but I have a tiny bit of skill, and I’m pleased with how most of these came out (click pics to enlarge).

Included in the book are travel goals, health goals, weight loss, fitness, events to attend and places to see, home improvements and reminders to keep trying out new movies or foods or live productions. I might eventually add more as ideas come to me. This is meant to be an ongoing, rolling bucket-list type thing. I have it all indexed like a bullet journal, and the rest of the sketchbook will be used for journaling and sketching my experiences of some of the larger goals (like travel stuff).

So this has become a secondary coping strategy for me, and I’m doing okay. I’m doing about as well as can be expected in May, and I hope that most of the ghost-trauma is behind me now since I’ve passed the halfway point of the month!!

**Ghost-trauma: When the trauma of previous years was so acute that your body stored it in your subconscious and you relive it each year despite not going through any trauma in the present. This is not a medical term. Ha.