47: Intentional Indulgences For February- Curating A More Delicious Midlife

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When life starts to feel like a loop, we don’t need a bigger alarm clock—we need smaller moments that change the rhythm of our days. I’m kicking off a new monthly ritual called Intentional Indulgences, a simple, soulful practice of choosing tiny joys on purpose so your nervous system learns that rest, beauty, and play are safe and essential. Think comfort drawers stocked with small delights, cozy sacred spaces that cue your body to exhale, and creative excursions that reconnect you with your inner voice.

We talk about the subtle power of the season’s midpoint—the quiet return of light—and how to use that energy to spark steady change. You’ll hear practical ideas you can try today: a twelve-gift stash to brighten hard days, forcing bulbs like amaryllis or paperwhites to bring color into winter, scattering single stems across rooms for a lift, and browsing seed catalogs to plant hope before spring. We also explore the heart work: writing a love letter to your authentic self, or mailing gratitude to someone who shaped you, plus gathering friends for a joyful Galentine’s that celebrates connection without comparison.

This is midlife with agency: no waiting for a new year, no earning joy after burnout, no apologizing for wanting more. Pick one indulgence, practice it weekly, and let small choices compound into a life that feels present, grounded, and delicious. If this conversation sparks something for you, subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend who could use a little light today.

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Transcript

A New Monthly Segment Begins

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey beautiful friend, it's Marnie. Welcome back to Life is Delicious. I hope you had a great weekend. Today is Monday, and I'm adding this in as a like a bonus episode because it is Monday, February the second, and I wanted to introduce a new segment on the podcast that'll come out at the beginning of every month for 2026. And coincidentally, today is also Groundhog Day, which in North America is the symbol of doing the same thing over and over again, and maybe quietly wondering if something will finally change someday. But just because it's Groundhog Day, it doesn't mean that you're meant to keep waking up and living your life on repeat. And that's precisely what this actual new segment is all about. Now, coincidentally, although it is Groundhog Day in North America, what's also interesting about this is that even though it's Groundhog Day in North America, long before Groundhog Day ever existed, cultures all over the world marked this exact moment of the year. February 2nd was known as candlemass, a day that falls right at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was believed to be the moment when the light truly begins to return. Not all at once, not dramatically, but subtly, day by day, little by little, with a quiet promise that change is already underway, even if you can't fully see it yet. So whether you're listening to this somewhere that celebrates Groundhog Day, or you've found this episode months from now, in maybe June or July, stay with me because the meaning really does still hold. Because this episode really isn't about a date on the calendar. It's about honoring you right where you are and recognizing that you don't need to wait for a new season, a new year, or a new version of yourself to begin living differently. And that's why I've decided to introduce this new recurring segment here on Life is Delicious called Intentional Indulgences. So every single month at the beginning, we will revisit this idea together with different indulgences and seasonal indulgences that you can sprinkle into your everyday life. Not as rewards or escapes, but as intentional moments of pleasure, presence, and permission designed to add more joy, vitality, and aliveness to your days, no matter what season of life you're in. And just like candle muss, slowly, over time, crack the door open just a little bit and let more light in. That's the whole point. I want to be very clear about what this is and what it's not. This is not about numbing out, it's not about escaping your life. It's not even about rewarding yourself only when you're exhausted, overwhelmed, or have earned it. This is about learning how to inhabit your life more fully every day on purpose. For many women, especially in midlife, pleasure has become conditional. We're taught that we have to earn it, postpone it, justify it, or apologize for it. And over time, that teaches our nervous system that rest, joy, and play are unsafe or are optional, or maybe indulgent in the worst sense of the word. But these intentional indulgences are the opposite of that. It is the practice of choosing small, tangible moments of pleasure on purpose to begin to teach yourself that these practices matter to our sanity and our mental health, and they deeply matter to our sense of self-worth. Because when we consistently deny ourselves pleasure, rest and beauty, the message we internalize is subtle but really powerful. I come last. So what we want with these intentional indulgences is we want to interrupt that message. We want these indulgences to teach us that joy does not have to be earned, and that celebration can coexist with responsibility. And attending to ourselves is not selfish, it's stabilizing and necessary. So each month I'll offer you a menu of indulgences, not a to-do list, and you don't have to do all of them, and you certainly don't have to do any of them perfectly. Just choose one or two that feel nourishing to you and try and incorporate them into your life once a week. Think of it as a practice of agency, a way of saying I get to choose how I meet my days, how I create my days, and ultimately how I create my life. And over time, these small choices add up to something so much bigger. A life that feels more intentional, more present, and hopefully more delicious. So if you're ready to step into your life in a bigger way, then pop in those earbuds because you're not going to want to miss this. Welcome to this episode of Life is Delicious. I'm Marnie Martin, and I'm so glad you're here. And if this is your first time here, welcome to the Life is Delicious family. This podcast isn't about surviving midlife, it's about crafting your next chapter life, overflowing with purpose, joy, and delicious possibilities. Listen, midlife doesn't have to be a crisis, it can be a beautiful invitation to remember who we are, to rediscover a new version of ourselves, or to completely reinvent our life to reflect who we are becoming now. So if you're tired of being exhausted, living life on autopilot and putting everyone else first, then you are in the right place. Each week we'll bring you thought-provoking ideas and practical strategies as well as inspiration to help you prioritize yourself again. It's time to take back your joie de viv. So grab a notebook and pen and pop in those earbuds and let's go get it. As we all know, life isn't always delicious. And one of the only constants we have in life is that things are always changing. Life can be a beautiful mess of twists and turns. And as we grow through each unique season of life, our needs change, our goals change, our priorities change, and our responsibilities change. And sometimes, when the really hard stuff shows up, as it inevitably will, we can find ourselves lost and without a clear direction. Sometimes that can happen when we've had a huge life transition, like a divorce or a diagnosis, or we realize that our babies are all grown up and ready to be out on their own. And sometimes it can be a subtle or not so subtle restlessness that tells us we're ready to step into a bigger, bolder, more authentic version of ourselves. But one thing is for sure, we can't transition into what's next happily until we get really clear about what's weighing us down, what lights us up, and what we truly want when our soul whispers its truth. Happy is not an accident is a guided journal created to bring you back home to your truest self, to remember who you are, and to give you a safe place to explore and reflect on where you've been, where you really want to go, and who you want to become now. With deep inspiring prompts, thought-provoking questions, and powerful exercises to help you excavate your most authentic self, happy is not an accident will be the daily ritual that you look forward to as you step into this next awesome chapter of life. Give yourself the gift of self-reflection and create this beautiful life of yours on purpose and with intention. Get your copy or one for somebody that you love at lifeisdelicious.ca forward slash happy. So normally I start these practices in January, and uh because I didn't get organized to get that done at the beginning of the year, we're gonna incorporate a few of the January ideas into the month of February. And again, these are all just suggestions. Some of them are seasonal and some of them are just timeless, so you can incorporate them any time of the year that feels good to you. And my hope is by the time we get to the end of all of these intentional indulgences, that you will have like a checklist of things that you can use as a go-to to just tap into some joy anytime you like. So number one is outfit a comfort drawer. So the whole idea behind the comfort drawer is it could be in a bathroom, your bedside table, it could be a little drawer in your desk. Whatever it is for you. It could even be a beautiful box that you have tucked up into the top of your closet that you can pull down whenever you need it. But the whole idea is to fill it with things that you love. So maybe it's um a favorite tea that you love, maybe there's some chocolate in there, maybe you have a particular candy that when you pop one into your mouth it makes you feel like summer. Maybe um there's a book that you love to read, or maybe there's a Sudoku or crossword puzzle book in there. Maybe there's some blank pages for you to journal in, anything that brings you joy, maybe some essential oils that you can spray on your pillow that's just gonna put you into a state of zen. It's just a place for you to have that is specifically for you and to create a little space in your week somewhere to be able to open up your comfort drawer and just take a minute and enjoy something inside the box, whether it's a cup of tea by the fireplace, it could be anything at all. But it's just there to remind you that you matter. So number two, and this kind of goes along with the comfort drawer, but it's a little bit bigger, and you can take this if you have the space and time to incorporate it. And this one is creating a sacred space. So very similar to the comfort drawer, but this is a place that you can use as a meditation of sorts. Not that you have to meditate there, but creating a sacred space, whether it's a cozy chair in the corner where you have a nice blanket and you can just sit and and be quiet or journal there. Maybe it's a favorite bench under a tree in your backyard, and you can have more than one sacred space, let me tell you. And especially with the seasonal ways that we have to work with the weather. Maybe you have an indoor sacred space and maybe you have an outdoor sacred space. Maybe it's a little part of the garage where you get to go out there and create something wonderful and use your hands, that's good too. There's no rules and there's no way to get this wrong. It's just finding a little place, it could be a window sill, where you can sit down, get quiet, get centered, and hear the little voice inside you that knows what this woman you're creating needs. And often there's a lot of science around this. When we create a ritual, uh a place that we go to regularly, it's so much easier to get into the space of that Zen moment because we've trained ourselves that this is a safe place for us to relax, it's a safe place for us to be. And we go to that sacred space with the intention of connecting with our inner voice. And when we do that on a regular basis, it just becomes easier and easier and easier. So number three is one of my favorites, and I have been doing this since I was a young woman as well. I don't do it as often as I used to anymore, but I think that's because through taking this exercise, I've gotten much more in tune with myself over the years. And this one is called Taking Yourself on a Creative Excursion. And we have talked about this on previous episodes, but the creative excursion is just one step above the comfort drawer in the sacred space. It's making time once a week is ideal. If you can't seem to find that, once a month is fine. But this doesn't have to be an all-day affair. It can certainly be a half an hour if that's all you have. It could be an hour, it could be an afternoon, maybe it's an evening. So what we're talking about is taking yourself somewhere with the intention of reconnecting with yourself. Some of the ones that I have gone on, and I quite regularly did a journal and a glass of wine, or a journal and a cup of tea, so I would find a little restaurant or a cafe or a waterside little nook that I could go to and take my journal and just sit for an hour or two and just be with myself and reconnect with my inner voice and think through my life and dream and envision what it is that I want to create. And not it's not a time for worry or any of those things. It's really a time where you have like a date with yourself. And just like any intimate relationship, the best thing you can give yourself is the gift of time with you. And that's how you begin to excavate that authenticity that's inside you by getting to know the woman who's in there. And what we need in order to do that is time. So the creative excursion is a super fun thing to do. Now maybe it's just you take yourself to your favorite bookstore and you just allow yourself the indulgence of taking a nice, relaxing afternoon. Maybe you go to a thrift store or a few thrift stores and spend the afternoon just seeing what kind of beautiful treasures you can find. Maybe it's a walk on a trail that you've never been on before. Maybe you take yourself to the beach, and maybe you grab a cup of coffee and go and watch the sunrise somewhere. Sometimes my creative excursions have not even needed to be outside of my own house. Sometimes a creative excursion to me is to shut all the distractions off, turn off my phone, turn off the TV, put on some beautiful, relaxing music, some spa music, and to have a spa night with myself. Make a bubble bath, put on a mask, just to luxuriate in the peace and quiet and with no distractions. That's the most important thing, is to be able to just give that gift to yourself. So I hope you'll try it. And even if some of the ideas that I've come up with may not fit your lifestyle, take a few minutes and sit down and figure out what a creative excursion would look like for you. It certainly can be time with a girlfriend if that's something you really need. But ideally, it's time with just yourself. So you might have a very uh different idea about what a creative excursion might look like for you, and that's just fine too. Like I say, there's no way to get this wrong. This is all about joy. So because I didn't get this organized to have it started in January, I want to give you the very first intentional indulgence, which normally I do in January, just because it's a kind of a neat way to begin the year. I first heard about this concept back when I was probably in my mid-20s and had two little tiny babies at home. And of course, still going through my period and moments in the month, of course, where I would be blue or be very emotional and kind of needing some major self-care. But we can do that in midlife too. So this exercise is about taking a day to do some looking around after Christmas when all the sales are on and picking up intentionally twelve small gifts. They don't have to be expensive, they can actually be something very inexpensive. But what the idea is is to buy these little gifts and to bring them home and to get one beautiful thing of wrapping paper and wrap them all up in the exact same paper, so it's really hard for you to remember what's in each box. And then put it away, either in a a bin in the closet or in a drawer somewhere. And when you're just having a moment and you're just having a really bad day, you can go into the closet and pull something out and just give yourself a little treat, a little gift that says, Hey, I know today is hard, but let's make it better. And what's really great about this is like I say, it doesn't have to be expensive. So similar to your comfort drawer, uh, a lot of the gifts that I would have wrapped up for myself would have been maybe a new shade of nail polish. Maybe it was a beautiful bubble bath. Maybe it was something yummy that I love to eat that I don't really allow myself very often. Maybe it's some beautiful note cards that I can write letters to my friends or to say thank you to people. Um, whatever it is for you, it could be a just a beautiful lacy pair of panties if that's something that floats your boat and would just feel like super indulgent, go for that. It could also be just a nice little pair of earrings or just a bracelet or it could be anything. So that's where this could be really fun, and you can just play with it a little bit and see what lights you up and what would really make for a beautiful day if you're having a bad day. And the objective of this is just to surprise yourself. And what's fun about it is as you go through the latter parts of the year, you actually do forget what's in every box. And so it really truly is like this lovely surprise. I know for myself I was always like, oh my gosh, I totally forgot I bought that. That's awesome. And it just, you know, made my day. And why not? So this next one is also something I probably would put into January if you wanted to get a good deal on it, but if that's not always the case, or the most important thing, you can also do this in February, and it's awesome. So you go to a garden shop and try and find some bulbs that you can force. And there are so many beautiful ones. There's hyacinth, there are paper whites. I personally have been growing amaryllis in my house, and they are absolutely they just brighten up the entire darkness of the winter in my house, and they're spectacular. The amaryllis are absolutely spectacular. I like to keep fresh flowers in my house all year long, and I don't do it as often in, you know, the darker winter months, but that's when we need it the most sometimes. So that's where also we lean into this next one, and it is buying flowers either for your kitchen, which can cost five to ten dollars. It doesn't have to be a big monstrosity of a bouquet. But what I have done for myself a few times is I'll go and get maybe five or seven beautiful Gerbera daisies, and I take one or two and put them in a vase in each room of my house. So maybe two are on my kitchen windowsill, and maybe I put two in the bathroom, and then maybe two beside my bed, or two or three beside my bed. And it just adds that little pop of color that lets you know that spring is coming. It's really not that far away, and it just adds a little bit of beauty to your space. Now, this is also the time of year where we can get pansies and primulas. So if that's something that floats your boat instead, maybe go and get some of those early, early spring flowers and plant them outside of your front door just to bring a little pop so when you're coming home you feel like the same thing. It's like, oh, spring is coming. If you can't get the flowers to go outside because you do live in a very cold wintry place, then the inside flowers are a perfect antidote to that. The other thing we can do, especially if you're in a mild climate, would be to order seeds from a seed catalog or pop into a garden shop and pick up some seeds that you can start indoors now to be ready to plant out after the last frost. Even just sitting with this seed catalog and perusing it while you're sitting with a cup of tea is just so much fun. And you can start to visualize what's going to happen in the garden, where you're gonna put things and what you want to rearrange. So that's one of my little personal indulgences for sure. And the last one for today is definitely not a seasonal indulgence. This one is particularly good for February because we are in the month of Valentine's Day and connections and friendships, and this one is to write a long love letter to yourself, to your authentic self. Tell her why you love her, acknowledge the things that she's done right in her life, and encourage her in the way that you would a special friend. And if you feel inspired, mail it to yourself for a time when maybe you're feeling discouraged and just need a little bit of reassurance. That can be a super fun one. And the other thing that you can do if you're not wanting to do that for yourself, is to do that exact same thing for somebody that you love. Maybe you write a love letter to somebody like a favorite aunt who's really had an impact in your life, or maybe it's your grandmother, or maybe it's just a really dear friend who's always had your back. Just expressing yourself in that way and putting it in an envelope and mailing it, it makes two things really powerful. It makes you feel super good and connected to the good things and the gratitude in your life, but it also sends all that positivity and love over to someone that you care about. So this last one is kind of a bonus indulgence, and this one is for all the single gals out there or the women who's maybe their husbands work away at camp or aren't home during Valentine's Day. And a lot of my girlfriends and I have done this in the past, and it's really a fun way to connect. And what we do is we host a Galantine's where we all get together on Valentine's Day or as close to it as we can, and we celebrate with confections and a beautiful dinner and maybe some nice wine, and we just enjoy each other's company and maybe we play some fun games, but we celebrate in a way that doesn't make us feel like anything in our life is lacking. And it can be a really beautiful exchange between your women friends, whether you're married or not. So that's it for this month's Intentional Indulgences, and I have a whole bunch of. More, which I'll be bringing to you again at the beginning of March. And I hope that this new segment is gonna inspire you to try something new in your own life. I'm so excited to see which one of these indulgences spoke to you and how it made you feel if you incorporated it into your life. Please drop me a DM on Facebook or on Instagram. All of my details are down in the show notes, and I can't wait to hear what you came up with. I read absolutely every response, and your input matters so much. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I hope it inspired you or motivated you in some way to keep going and to create your very best life. If you did, would you take five quick minutes to leave me a review on Apple Podcasts? It's the best way for me to know that you are enjoying the show, and it helps other listeners find me as well. And while you're at it, head over to lifeisdelicious.ca and sign up for my email newsletter. It's like a warm hug from me every week. And not only will you get first access to new episodes, I've also put together a free five-day email experience called the Midlife Boundary Reset, where you'll get five days of insights, mindset shifts, and daily journal prompts to help you gently start choosing yourself again and create better boundaries without guilt, drama, or burning bridges. I've put the link in the show notes as well, and I think you're gonna love it. One last thing, if you know someone who would enjoy an episode like this, please do them a favor and share it with them. It's the best gift you can give someone that you love. If no one has told you today, there is no one on this planet that is exactly like you. And this world is a better place because you're here. So thank you for being here. I'll be back next week, and I hope you'll join me right here on Life is Delicious.