How Routine Can Change Your Mood

To Make routine a Stimulus
Remember it can cease
Capacity to Terminate
Is a Specific Grace

by Emily Dickinson
 
When life feels dark and gloomy, it’s important to find a way to lift our spirits. Dublin City Libraries will run an online workshop on how routine can change your mood.

Fiona is a qualified and accredited counsellor and psychotherapist. I understand that she is passionate about de-cluttering, living with less and feeling more organised. Letting go can help us move forward with our lives, thus improving our mood. She is not alone in having this view. Take Marie Kondo for instance, whose book Spark Joy is on the best seller list for several years. Her message is to help people form a routine of tidying up thereby allowing them to live a life that sparks joy living among things they truly cherish.

If tidying up isn’t your thing, well maybe you could develop another routine. Many people have developed a heightened interest in nature over the past year. We are more acutely aware of the uplifting songs of our native Irish birds. It is such a joy to sit in the mornings with a cup of your favourite brew, observing and trying to identify the various species on your bird feeder. If you don’t have a feeder, you can still entice them to your windowsill by placing some seeds on a saucer. It’s amazing how such a simple routine can lift your mood and give you immense joy.  

There is a beautiful book called Ireland’s Garden Birds which can help you identify the various birds and also suggests tips on how to develop your garden to attract them.

Submitted by Teresa in Inchicore Library.