Hello everyone
I think this may be the first time I've posted in this thread myself.
I've not been around for almost a solid couple of months now and only patchily before that, for various reasons. I've been mentally exhausted, mostly because of my job (the only other person who does my job has been off sick for a good while, meaning that I've been working long hours and covering two workloads). I'll be honest, I've found it quite tough and just needed to take a break from pretty much everything for a little while, so I sort of withdrew from everything. I haven't even felt like looking at a computer outside work hours. It's also been fairly tough working from home for almost a solid year now, and being in my bedroom working for usually ten hours a day has meant it's not been the sanctuary it once was for a long time. We also had to care for my grandparents for a few months, but fortunately they've recovered well from falls and need a much reduced amount of care from us now.
I decided I needed a break from work as I was at breaking point, so I took three weeks off work recently to recuperate and feel much better for it. I've also been doing things to try and reduce stress and relax myself - even small things like putting fresh flowers in my room to brighten it up, meditation exercises and talking to friends more regularly has helped, and I shoved my work computer into a corner while I was on leave to open my room up a little more to claim my space back a little.
Hope you're all doing well, and I'm hoping to be a little more active from now on. Fingers crossed!