Welcome back to week NINETEEN of The Weekly Balance! It’s hard to believe we’ve reached May 2020. This year has not turned out as many of us had planned I know. But we can try to make the best of a challenging and uncertain time, and I hope that my sharing these weekly articles gives you guys something nice to read while staying at home. Let’s take a look at my past seven days.

What went on in my doctor life…

I think that, while the COVID-19 pandemic continues, I’m going to leave out this section of The Weekly Balance for now. I can’t share the specifics of my day to day work – its not appropriate for many reasons, but confidentiality is the main one. I would also guess that many of you, like me, enjoy taking time to switch off from all things pandemic, and I hope these weekly posts might help with that a little. I hope you guys can understand that, and thank you!

What I’m thinking about…

To be honest, I’m thinking about the WEIRD dreams I’ve been having lately. I’m used to the occasional dream, but recently, and much of this is probably down to stress, I’ve been having regular vivid and at times unusual dreams. I’m trying not to over-analyse them, and to be honest I can’t remember most of their content after waking up, but it’s definitely something I’ve noticed. So, I’m going to make a renewed effort to switch off at night time – from work and from social media, and try to slow the pace of my mind down. I have a bedtime routine I stick to as much as I can, but I think being more disciplined about my screen time at night will help too.

What I’m reading…

Currently, I’m reading Nudge, a non-fiction book by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. I’m really enjoying it – it is centered around our behaviours, and how the choices we make in daily life, for both the short and long-term, can be influenced by our environment. As a public health doctor I’m finding it especially interesting, and I’ll hold off on a review until I’ve finished it of course!

My next fiction book is on its way – its called Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, and I can’t wait to start it.

What I’m listening to…

This week, I especially enjoyed an episode of The Food Medic Podcast about imposter syndrome, which was a guest interview with Dr. Jessamy Hibberd. You guys will have read my review of The Imposter Cure book by Dr. Hibberd in a recent Weekly Balance article, and this podcast episode was a lovely chat to tune into.

I also really enjoyed a two part podcast interview on Jamie Laing’s Private Parts Podcast with author, journalist and podcast host Elizabeth Day. I am a HUGE fan of Elizabeth Day, and adore her How To Fail podcast and book by the same name, so to hear her interviewed instead of being the interviewer was really interesting. She’s very inspiring, and always maintains such honesty and bravery in how much of her life she shares. The podcast chat is also very funny too – well worth a listen for some inspiration and a bit of a laugh!

What I’m watching…

This week, I finished the BBC television series adaptation of Normal People, the book by author Sally Rooney. It was INCREDIBLE. I am obsessed with it, and will probably watch it all through again. If you haven’t read Normal People, you don’t have to have done so to watch the show, but I would recommend reading the book first. Either way, it is a brilliant series – the chemistry between the two leads, the set itself across Dublin, Sligo and Italy, the storyline, and the beautiful spark the show has – all of it combines into an addictive watch that you can’t help but get tangled up in.

I also watched the Michelle Obama ‘Becoming documentary on Netflix, and loved it too! If you have read her autobiographical book Becoming you’ll love this documentary, but to be honest even if you haven’t read the book but are a fan of Michelle, you’ll love it too. Next up on my Netflix list is ‘The Last Dance’ docu-series about the Chicago Bulls basketball team!

Recipe of the Week

This week’s recipe favourite from my blog is my Satay Style Chickpea Curry. Because peanut butter has many uses as an ingredient, and making a tasty satay curry is one of them! You can find the recipe at the link above or here.

And that’s a wrap for this week gang! If you want to get in touch, you can find me @theirishbalance on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And a massive thanks to everyone who joined my Instagram Live Cookalong today !I hope you have a lovely week ahead folks – remember, stay home, stay safe, wash your hands, keep your distance and be kind!

Ciara 🙂 x