> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://gardenofbutterflies.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Day 5: Embracing a new normal - URL: https://gardenofbutterflies.com/embracing-a-new-normal/ - Published: 2026-10-27T08:37:02.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-05T03:01:20.000Z - Author: Delilah As productive as I’ve been in some areas, I’ve certainly fallen behind in others. My new aversion to doom scrolling has made me pick my phone up less in general. I’ve been tempted to get lost in reels more than a few times. Instead, I just check my notifications, and exit the app. Simple as that. For the first time today, I took a long, hard look at the explore page. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/71/50/7150fda1-cc3a-445d-ace3-a7c60d6cd846/content/images/2026/10/IMG_8431.jpeg) My explore page when I checked today. Believe me, I was tempted to watch all of these! I totally get why I was clicking on reels all the time. I mean, look at how enticing this all is. At least for me. Delicious, creative food. Cute cats. Zara Larsson’s gorgeous blonde hair and bright spirit. Admittedly, I’ve lost many hours to these curated pages, in exchange for so much of my precious time. As much as clarity has returned, things have also been somewhat a blur. I’m trying so hard to pack so many tasks into my time. My husband and I are constantly strategizing and thinking of ways to improve the business. Most of all, our baby demands so much love and attention that things are always placed on the back burner. Then, there’s our two sweet, fluffy cats, who need their love too. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/71/50/7150fda1-cc3a-445d-ace3-a7c60d6cd846/content/images/2026/10/IMG_8402-1.jpeg) Bubby this morning, in the quiet morning sun. The backlog of housework has felt enormous. With the daily demands of life, I’m honestly surprised how I traded any of my time. But I do think it’s worthwhile reflecting on what I’ve accomplished so far. - Weeks and weeks of laundry that had completely piled up, because the closet wasn’t organized. So I did that too. - An absolute blistering deep clean of our laminate floors, which I am both in awe and shame of. How they can hold so much dirt, yet appear so clean? - Deep clean of the automatic cat litter box, which was unpleasant but necessary. - Organizing random piles of clutter. - Finally took it upon myself to purchase a new wardrobe that I saved for, which was about four years in the making. - Spending more quality time with my cats. - Lots of home cooking, though I did somehow find time for that before, too! - Advanced planning for our weekend trip, which I usually do *very* last minute while were either there, or on route. Perhaps the most important thing: spending so much more time with our baby. Being even more present for him. Noticing him smiling even more. No longer having the guilt lingering over me that he’s watching Mommy mentally drain away in front of him. I genuinely feel such a deep repair in our relationship that I’d been feeling so sad over. Isn’t it sad, how we can convince ourselves our efforts aren’t enough? When this.. was the entire point of *any of this*? One of the hardest parts of doom scrolling detox is realizing how much you traded for so little. I can still search for recipes and important information if I need to. In fact, I won’t have to spend hours watching other distractions to get the same information. I don’t *have* to be stuck on the merry go round of viral videos. I can spend 10 minutes, or less, using the search bar at the top of the page. But you can never get back those precious moments. It’s a very sobering reality when you step off. Some days are going to feel miserable, that’s for sure. I feel like I’m dragging myself to do things most days. But this smile, that’s somehow miraculously even brighter than before.. on our beautiful sweet baby’s face when Mommy just looks at him, and he can tell she’s fully there? That’s the most priceless thing in the *entire world.* People say it passes fast.. and it truly does. I want to soak in every moment. Are there many other projects, that I’d like to complete and finish as well? Tons. In fact, I almost talked myself out of this, because I told myself I’d start a blog specifically for our cats, too. I’d still like to. Because I’m not spending hours a day doom scrolling anymore, so I do believe that some way, somehow, *there is time*. Writing is therapeutic for me. It’s a way for me to make sense of the sea of emotions floating through me. I’m determined to complete this journey, and to show up whenever I can. Perhaps I’ll land somewhere between idealism and nonexistent, where most ideas that truly come to fruition tend to find themselves. Just like this project has found it’s place between it’s initial inspiration, it’s goal of writing every day for fourteen days.. and reality. It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t go exactly as planned. I didn’t entirely quit social media like I intended to the first day. I didn’t write every day for fourteen days. But it came to fruition. It actually happened, because I took action and persevered. When we step back to appreciate things really happening as they are, I think it’s easier to soak in the gratitude for how it all unfolded. Because the way it unfolded was *exactly* how it was supposed to unfold. Do we get angry at the flower for how it bloomed? Or do we appreciate instead its beauty? There are so many lessons to learn from nature. So, these are my seeds and thoughts for the garden today, as it blooms, grows, and becomes a home to more butterflies. I hope you too, find your own ways of blooming. Until next time, my friends. ## Sign up for Garden of Butterflies A presence project. 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