Emily Dickinson I am out with lanterns

How to Deal with Overwhelming Emotions

Hi friends. I hope your weekend has been filled with rest and peace…and some unexpected fun!

But if it hasn’t — I wanted to share my easiest trick for dealing with feeling overwhelmed. For years now, when too much is going on at once and I feel stuck or unsure, I use the One Piece of Paper Trick. I wrote about it in Chapter 23 of The 10 Minute Fix.

I take a huge sheet of paper…you can use anything, even A4, but I specifically bought one ream of A3 paper for this, and I am slowly using it through the years. I like something BIG for big thoughts and plans (and problems).

On the paper, I brain dump everything that’s going on, and I place those things in categories like Family, Work, Books, Health and Fitness, and any other topics that are on my heart and mind. Then I make lists of what is working, and what isn’t.

It helps so much to see everything on one page.

Try it for yourself and see — it’s the best way to plan and feel like you have a bird’s eye view of your life. You can group all your worries and joys in one place. A simple paper of paper can help you breathe a little easier, I promise.

And yes, I do still use my own book! I wrote it for others, but also myself, and it’s a collection of ideas I need to move forward with happiness, confidence and far less worry.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend. I hope something unexpected and lovely happens to you!

Love, Catherine x

P.S. The Fun Stuff!

  • I’m trying to improve my chocolate chip cookies. I don’t know if it’s my oven or what, but my cookies are just not as good as usual. I’m going to try this recipe. Tips?? Let me know.

  • Remember this gorgeous line from Emily Dickinson? I am out with lanterns, looking for myself…

  • I know, I know, the photo looks pretty terrible, but I’ve seen this dress on so many women online and it looks AMAZING. I’m tempted to try it. (Note: they were all a bigger size, too, not super slim.)

  • A favourite song for table dancing (you know, when you’re all sitting around playing a game, or having some snacks and you shimmy your shoulders and bounce in your seat?). Also great for cleaning the kitchen. It’s the song that makes everyone sing along…wah, wah, wah….here on YouTube and here on Spotify.

Hope is the thing with feathers…

Hi, my friends.

I know so many of you are American, and the events of this past week are horrific. I keep imagining a circle of mothers standing with other mothers from around the globe, protecting children. I know, too, that thoughts and prayers aren’t enough. Please know that we’re here taking deep, slow breaths with you. 💔

Emily Dickinson, beloved American poet, wrote this line: “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.”

It sounds dramatic and metaphorical, but in real life she was writing a funny letter about moving and losing some of her possessions.

Still, what a brilliant line.

I often feel like Emily, as if I need a lantern to go out into the world and look for myself.

I keep changing over the years, reinventing myself and growing. I know you do, too.

  • Have you ever imagined introducing 16-Year-Old-You to your Present Self?

  • Do you remember yourself as you walked into the first day on your first job? (Mine was in a shoe store, and I was fifteen.)

  • What would the conversation be like if Pandemic You had tea and chatted with you right now?

We change.

And yet, as wise women we continue to grab lanterns and look for ourselves.

At the end of my life, which I hope won’t come for decades yet, I want to be a person who always looked for joy. For growth.

My promise to myself this year, at 56, is to gain skills in all the little things:

  • I want to learn how to bake croissants.

  • I want to make a painting that’s beautiful. (Hard for me!)

  • I want to learn an instrument. (Gah! Scared of this one!)

  • I want to dance and sing more. Plan a family holiday. Write another book. Make a friend from one of my unexpected, unusual, new pursuits: a new dancing friend?

We have this beautiful day, and it’s good to have simple dreams.

What are yours? What do you love? Who do you want to become?

It’s all waiting for you, with your very next YES.

Enjoy your Sunday. Sending my love all around the world. I cannot stop thinking of those little American faces, and I hope you and your loved ones find peace.

Love Catherine x

PS. The fun stuff…