Quite a few of the posts are embarrassing to read now, as I don't think that way or view myself that way anymore. I thought about deleting some, if not all of the posts, but in reading through them I was reminded of many things that happened during that time. I also had some insights and ideas which I think I might find useful now.
* I beat myself up very much less than I used to. This is awesome. I don't really know how it came about. If there's anyone reading this blog and wishing for advice, I don't really know what to say. I just slowly seem to have let go -- let go of perfectionism, let go of comparing myself to other people (though it's still something I need to constantly remind myself of, especially when I'm on social media!). There were a lot of little incidences here and there, like comments from Husband and friends, which made me think about things and slowly start to re-arrange my priorities.
* I think that having our own house has helped immensely. I finally have a place that's mine. I don't have the looming shadow of real estate agents and landlords wanting to come and inspect the place always in the back of my mind. Not to mention the possibility of being kicked out again on someone else's whim. It's more relaxing to be at home. I have privacy. I have a garden that I can spend time in and do whatever I want to. In fact, gardening has become, not just a hobby, a great passion and solace for me in the last three years. I know that not many people are lucky enough to have this -- I try to be aware of my privileges -- but I'm mentioning it just as an observation, not to brag etc.
* I notice that I used to make a lot of lists of things that I was determined to do that week, and then not do them, come back to the blog and whinge about how much I sucked. Things like exercise x times, drink x bottles of water, have NO DESSERT EVER!!!, etc. I think the main problems with that were: a) I had no way of recording whether I actually did what I said I was going to do; and; b) I don't even like being told what to do by myself, let alone by anyone else!
I seem to have solved this problem somewhat organically a couple of years ago. I added a section to my weekly to-do list, to record whether I did several things each day, including drunk enough water, went for a walk, washed my face, etc. I'm constantly reminded to pay attention to these things because I check my to-do list many times a day. I give myself points and a reward if I did these things more days than last week. I call it Improvement On Last Week (IOLW), and it's part of my larger Frequent Walking Points system -- something that I created during the time I was writing the blog, and which has stuck around. Perhaps I'll write about it more at a later time.
* I developed some different ways of coping. Some of them were what I started to call Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms (UCMs). (As much as I joke about over-formalised language and using acronysims, I find that it helps me deal with concepts that are difficult to think about.) When I finally realised how unhealthy they really were, it was a bit of a turning point, and I reverted back to some healthier ones that I'd used in the past instead. I let myself relax a lot more than I used to. And just acknowledging that you need coping mechanisms to get by in life is important, I think. Whether it's daydreaming, watching guilty-pleasure TV, having a hobby that you spend a certain (reasonable) amount of money on, etc. It's important.
* Around the start of this year, not long after I finished up at my old job, I decided to renew my spiritual side. Before, I've found it a great comfort and a reminder of what's important in life. I set up a ... well I'm not sure what you'd call it, altar is not really the right word. A shelf to keep my special things on, including my runes (of which I bought a new set), Tao Te Ching cards, crystals, and things I've collected like feathers, pine cones, stones, etc. I committed to spending time reading on spiritual things, and thinking about them. I've come to some conclusions and made progress on other lines of thought. This might never have happened, had I not had the time to think about them while I was
I spent a bucketload of time on Tumblr, gathering information and resources, finding new blogs, reading about other people's experiences, etc. I know it's trendy lately to call yourself a witch, but it was nice to see other pagans out there representing.
That's all I can think of right now. Perhaps more will come up as I think about things more; I've also flagged some of the posts/ideas as potentially helpful, so I may write more about those at a later time.