Hello, I hope you are doing well wherever you are! Here is the latest episode of A Little Bit of Lagom, now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts :)
In this episode, I chatted with Gill, also known as Jam Jar Gill, a nickname she developed based on the many uses she has for jam jars! (I do agree, they are a very versatile, and useful container).
Gill is a mother of two 3 year old twin boys (who turn 4 on the release date of this episode - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!), and she’s been blogging as a passion project for around 10 years.
About 5 years ago, she decided that blogging was no longer just a hobby, so she has started transforming it into a genuine side hustle and personal brand.
On her blog, she shares about so many things including well-being, eco-friendly living, cooking, interior design and so much more. She also loves to support local, eco-friendly businesses who openly support sustainability and the green economy.
I was so touched when Gill got in contact with me, expressing her desire to come on the podcast and chat with me. It was really lovely getting to know her, and talk about such a range of topics, as well as getting to meet the twins.
We have both valued the grounding power of nature in these turbulent times.
What helps Gill in times of such chaos is her belief in controlling the controllables. Trying to focus in on what you can do and have control over, rather than feeling overwhelmed by what you don’t.
Books recommended – Girl, Wash your Face. Girl, Stop Apologising (both by Rachel Hollis)
Health and well-being conferences. During lockdown, launched a 30 day challenge which really helped.
One of the challenges was writing a joy list – recognising the little things in life that bring you joy that you can still do in this time, and finding ways to schedule that in to your day.
Being out in nature – absorbing sound of the birds, such a calming peaceful thing.
“You can’t control situations, but you can control how you respond to situations”
Something that’s become habitual for Gill which she finds really helpful is keeping a gratitude journal which she writes in every day. She’s also found a really useful app which allows you to add photos to it, called Gratitude Me.
Something so powerful about gratitude – “Regardless of where you are in your life, I think there’s always the opportunity to find something to be grateful for”
We can forget the basic things sometimes, that we often take for granted. The fact you could eat, have access to clean running water, to use your body. Taking a moment to find gratitude for these seemingly simple things can really make you feel so much better.
The book The Secret – there are definitely messages within this book that we both don't particularly agree with, and she just takes with a pinch of salt, but an aspect that really resonates with Gill is that what you focus on, and focus your energy on gets bigger, and more prominent in your life.
Shifting your perspective is such a powerful thing to do, and really impacts your experience.
Gratitude journal – sometimes you can really struggle to find things, but Gill finds once she thinks of one thing to feel grateful for, you realise just how much you have in your life to be grateful for.
Gill explains why it’s really good, especially when feeling in a low mood, to set yourself a challenge to find these things to be grateful. There’s so much, especially in western society that we take for granted that actually we are lucky to have – clean running water to drink, a comfy bed (perhaps), a roof over our heads.
I think there's something empowering in recognising the things you do have control over, and the ability to shift your perspective to those things, and to look for the positive moments in your day can be so valuable.
Taking an holistic approach to well-being – why it’s so important to Gill
Gill has practice yoga since she was a teenager, and her first every yoga instructor was a great source of inspiration for her – the teacher suffered from MS, but through practicing yoga was able to reverse the effects of it! How incredible is that?!?
Holistic health had been an interest of Gill's for a while, but once having the children, she began suffering from insomnia. Initially, she was provided a lot of medication from doctors, some of which actually had side effects of causing insomnia which is just absolutely crazy, to give someone medication knowing that the side effects could worsen what was the problem for her in the first place!
Also, another side effect of long-term usage of one of the medications she was kept on for a longer time than recommended is Alzheimers!
Group therapy through the NHS – really great course. This was the point at which things started turning round for her, as she found a sense of community with others who were experiencing similar things to her.
She started looking for alternative solutions, and she came across tests for CBD oil, and has found this whole experience helped her realise the importance of taking a more holistic approach, and not turning straight to western medicine to fix problems.
She wanted to look more at nature for solutions, and liftestyle changes, rather than money and drugs.
There’s such a desire for a ‘quick fix’ through drugs masking symptoms but not fixing the underlying problem which is really worrying. Of course, there are many situations where drugs/medication are necessary and do wonders for peoples quality of life, but in many ways, we have become too reliant on them.
Even when medication is necessary, it’s so important to have holistic aspects along side to support other aspects of mental/physical well-being.
Sadly, there is still a divide between western/eastern medicine.
“Why don’t we look at these things holistically, why don’t we question why we are doing these things?”
The problem often lies in convenience and money, and how pharmaceuticals really do run the health industry.
“In the ideal world, its far better to take a more gentle approach that might not fix problem A fully” But it’s less likely to cause a multitude of other problems like medication side effects tend to.
“Look at your whole body, look at how it’s all interconnected”
“When you go through the process of giving birth to twins, you do really have a whole new appreciation for your body”
When you think about it, how incredible is it that a human body could grow two brand new, unique human beings!! It’s amazing.
Advice for taking a more holistic approach to wellbeing
“Doing little things every day can make a big difference, and it doesn’t have to take up much time in your day”
Keeping a routine with some of the things that help as well has been super helpful for gill – for example the gratitude journal and yoga a little bit each day. One day it might be 5 mins, another day maybe 30 mins but just keeping some consistency has really helped.
Even when times are really chaotic and you feel you don’t have time, in the last 5 minutes before you go to bed, it’s amazing how just doing a few stretches vs not doing it can have such a benefit.
Social media
Social media can be such a time-sucking and anxiety provoking void. It is addictive, so we all have to be careful how we use it.
Social Dilemma – WATCH IT IF YOU HAVEN’T
It’s so important to work out what you can do in your own life to help monitor digital/social media usage.
Operah Winfrey – Super Soul Sunday Interview with Ariana Huffington from the Huffington Post.
In the interview, she discusses her burn out from social media usage. This extreme burn out led her to restructure their business model. Also, on a more personal, micro level, she started leaving her phone outside her bedroom when going to sleep at night.
Gill gave this a try, and since doing so, she’s never gone back.
She’s also trying to find the balance between not making herself feel guilty, and not putting so many rules and regulations around it that it starts to trigger anxiety. Her route has been setting a point in the evening when she can no longer look at social media, but can still listen to podcasts, audio books and her gratitude journal app.
Definitely a system worth trying!!
How Gill came into eco-friendly/sustainable living
It was quite embedded when she was growing up, and has always been something she’s tried to think about in her life. A big catalyst for her was watching the WAR ON PLASTIC DOCUMENTARY ON THE BBC.
Before that point, she felt like she was one of the ‘good’ ones. Doing her bit, putting her plastic in the recycling, and cutting back where she could. She still stands by the point that it is very hard to cut out plastic.
This programme highlighted what is happening to the plastic we dispose of. Often, the plastic we think is getting recycled is actually being shipped to developing countries such as Indonesia, and the sheer excess of plastic they received isn’t within a capacity they can manage, so often plastic is being burned, releasing toxic chemicals into the air, both damaging worker’s health and the environment!
It’s awful how the countries actually responsible for this waste negate responsibility once they ship it elsewhere, which really is appalling.
The programme also drew attention to the amount of microplastics in the atmosphere.
With regards to proper disposal of waste from products, the programme highlights how more pressure needs to be placed on companies to have the responsibility for the end of life of their products, rather than all the financial burden and responsibility being placed either on the individual or the council.
It’s sad that companies often don’t care enough without a financial incentive. I really do wish that seeing the horrific damage they cause would be enough, but it seems “money does talk”, and if that’s the only way we can get companies to listen and take responsibility, then that is what needs to happen.
Going back to controlling the controllables – what can you do in your own life that can have a positive impact?
Wonderful podcast recommendation – Sustainablish. In one of her episodes she sends a wonderful message about going for the low hanging fruits – what are some fairly simple tweaks you can make in your life that can help?
Book recommendation – Seven by Jen Hatmaker. She goes through 7 months of less. The process she takes you through makes you realise the extent of choice you actually have. This was really eye opening for Gill.
Importance in making sustainable options more readily available AND cost effective.
We do have responsibilities as consumers but there’s so much out of our control that companies need to be held accountable for!
If you have a look around your room, how much plastic do you see? Probably a lot!! Some of it may be necessary, but consider what items you have that probably didn’t need to be made out of plastic.
Every positive change you make is a win.
Good bit of advice – some sustainable alternatives e.g. eco-friendly period products, may be more expensive, so with things like this, try swapping in a little bit at a time of something more sustainable in a way that is cost effective for you.
Or, like me, I also am very clear around birthdays or Christmases with gifts, that I don’t want to be given gifts for the sake of getting a gift. I’d rather receive less but for it to be something I really would need/use e.g. shampoo bar over plastic bottles, eco-friendly toothbrush.
Changing the things I will use to a more eco-friendly alternative, that may be more expensive, but in this context I receive it as a gift, and even the gift giver doesn’t spend more than they normally would because they buy fewer gifts, but of a better quality.
Push for free period products for school children!! That’s great, but there needs to be a push to make sure the legislation goes through.
Also, Gill points out here how great it would be if they push eco-friendly period products at this stage, and educate children about the possibility of eco-friendly period products and why it’s so important.
There are situations where individual/community action is making positive change e.g. push for reduced plastic packaging, the wonky fruit and veg campaign, petitions putting pressure on governments etc. it highlights the problem where companies are often telling consumers what to want, rather than asking them what they really want.
Big problem when governments show they have the possibility to tax products, but have their priorities in questionable places e.g. taxing period products, which is a natural bodily function, but not taxing on the use of plastic packaging when we can see how detrimental they are on the planet.
There’s still such a way to go in making the sustainability and environmental space more accessible for everyone. We must hear from a diversity of voices to come to any kind of just, sustainable solution.
We had a lovely little visit from the twins during the interview. Gill really wants eco-friendly living to just be normal for them.
Gill is trying to share her values with them, teach them about living in a more environmentally friendly way. She wants them to understand what they should be aiming for to help the planet too.
Advice to parents
Especially early on, it may be much harder to be more eco-friendly, because you’re just trying to get through it (especially with nappies, potty training, sleepless nights etc.).
Some good advice – if you have a baby shower, ask for eco-friendly things that would be super helpful, environmentally friendly but perhaps not as cost effective for you. For example, biodegradable nappies.
Biodegradable nappy will rot down within 5 years, whereas a standard nappy will take 500 years!!!! Just think how many nappies a baby will go through in their early years, that’s a huge waste problem!!
Price difference 4p per nappy for an Aldi nappy, 14p per biodegradable nappy.
When you think about how many nappies babies go through, that price difference is huge and really not affordable for many parents.
Gill talks about how important it is to not feel riddled with guilt if you aren’t in a financial position to make that sustainable swap, but if you are financially in a place to do so, give biodegradable a go.
I have heard a lot of positive things about reusable nappies, but also know this is not for everyone, and I can imagine is probably quite a messy process, but if this is something you might want to consider, you could give this a try.
Flannels!!! Not new, nothing fancy, but sustainability should focus making use of what you have where you can, it’s not always pretty and we shouldn’t feel it needs to be!
“It’s old school, simple stuff like that”
Remind yourself of the positive changes you are already making and celebrate that.
How Gill finds her little bit of Lagom
Trying to set realistic expectations with your decision making. It’s not trying to do and fix everything.
Conscious consumerism over mindless consumerism.
Celebrate the little wins, the changes you are making already because they all add up to making a bigger positive change 😊
I really appreciated Gill reaching out to me and expressing her interest to come on the podcast. I hope you found some of her advice and perspectives useful.
You can find out more about her work here:
@jamjargill
If you're listening to/following the podcast, I appreciate you so much. If you have any thoughts on any of the podcast episodes, I'd love to hear from you. You can message me on instagram @alittlebitoflagom or drop me an email to alittlebitoflagom@gmail.com
Sending my love x