Day 261

I felt a lot of joy yesterday. The things that brought me joy yesterday were communing with nature, taking photos, listening to uplifting music and, most significantly, spending time with friends. Last night I treated my friends who helped me with my removals a few weeks back to a drink or two, and then we stayed on at the restaurant and had a meal. I had a great time.

As part of the 'healing process boot camp' I'm putting myself through, I'm drawing up a list of all the things in life that bring me joy. I then need to make sure that my plans for the future allow me to spend as much time as possible doing those things. Other things that I already know bring me joy include yoga, singing and dancing. While I do yoga every day, it's a long, long time since I sang or danced. I can't afford to take singing lessons or dance classes at the moment, but I can spend some time every day bopping around the living room, singing along to my favourite songs!

I also get a lot of joy from learning new things. I'm particularly interested in science, philosophy and psychology. As soon as I get back to the UK I'm going to enrol on an OU course (probably in philosophy). In the meantime I'm going to buy as many audio books on philosophy, psychology and science as I can afford every month. Why audiobooks instead of paperbacks or ebooks? Because not only do audiobooks let you 'read' while you're doing mindless tasks such as housework, but they're also great company for a person who lives and works on their own. A human voice is the most comforting sound in the world.