The Day Aldi Broke Me
From cranky chaos to calm (and why sketching saved the day)
Yesterday, I was cranky—not just a little irritable, full-on muttering under my breath, slamming things in the kitchen, cranky. But I didn't exactly set myself up for greatness. We'd just come back from holiday, and my to-do list was epic. The first task was the family food shop. I dislike grocery shopping at the best of times, but after a trip away, it felt like a punishment.
I went to Aldi with my list, determined to get it done quickly, except? They didn't have half the things my boys had requested for their birthday tea! (Happy 20th, Isaac Ethan!) So, I trekked to another Supermarket to get the missing items and headed home. Now that's when somebody stepped out in front of my car.
I hit the brake sharply, and my meticulously packed shopping bags tumbled across the boot like a slow-motion disaster film! When I finally got home, I was hoping my young men would come to my rescue and help me unload. One was in the shower, and the other was in a meeting. So there I was, the solo shopping Sherpa.
I opened the fridge to put things away, and yep, it was in a state. I should have cleaned it before our holiday, but alas, past me had failed to deliver. So I cleaned it grumpily. By this point, I was stomping about like a teenager who’d just been told to tidy their bedroom.
I muttered something sharply to one of the lads and then caught myself. Ahh! This wasn't just about shopping; I was overwhelmed.
Mind mapping my way out of the muddle.
I took myself upstairs, grabbed a clean sheet of paper, and made a mind map of everything rattling around my brain.
There were: work tasks, secretarial jobs for the Kirkham Cultural Consortium, organising things for Mum's Healthcare, preparing for the church camping Festival, house and family jobs, and commitments for friends. Looking at it all laid out, I realised that:
It wasn’t possible to do all of this in August.
Some of it could easily wait.
And some of it didn't need to be done at all!
That's when it dawned on me, ‘doing therapy is paying off!’ With a grin on my face and relief in my heart, I completely scribbled out two items! I postponed some others until September and ended up with a manageable to-do list. It was still long, but no longer terrifying.
Noticing, feeling moving.
Recently, I read an article by Dr. Stephen C. Hayes on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It has three key steps: notice, feel, and move.
Notice what's going on inside of you.
Feel it instead of pushing it away.
Move towards what matters, even if you still have some uncomfortable feelings.
Yesterday, that's precisely what happened. I noticed my crankiness. I let myself feel the overwhelm and frustration of the messy fridge, the endless errands, and the unmet expectations, and then I moved. I didn’t tackle the long list but did something to soothe myself.
My Reset Button (aka art)
I reminded myself that I'm human, and shopping slams happen. Then I set up for something I've been looking forward to: a five-day online sketching course. I unpacked my new pencils, smudging tools, skinny eraser and sketch pad - that made me really happy. I do love new stationery.
That evening, I followed a live tutorial for 90 minutes. I was in another world—no to-do lists, no mind maps, no overwhelm, just quiet, focused Joy. It reminded me of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s work on flow. His book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, describes the magical state where you're so absorbed in what you're doing that time disappears. You forget about yourself, and you feel good. He explains that flow happens when the challenge in front of you is a perfect match for your skills. Tricky enough to keep you engaged, but not so hard that you want to throw in the towel.
Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.
The sketching tutorial wasn't easy, but it was engaging, drew me in, and stretched me just the right amount. In that challenge, I found calm. I loved it and even created something I'm feeling pretty proud of:
So, friends, I'll leave you with this. If you've had cranky days lately, maybe give yourself some grace, just like you’d give a friend. Notice what's going on? Let yourself feel it and then move, even in a small way. Move in the direction of your values towards something that brings you calm. And if you want my biased suggestion, try art.
In September, I’m launching monthly online wellbeing watercolour gatherings. These sessions will be perfect for soothing crankiness. Stay tuned to my blog for details soon.