Thought of the week #28

When things aren't going exactly to plan it's easy to find yourself in a negative head space. When you're stressed, not enjoying something anymore, or just generally having a bad time, it can be hard to see the positive side of things and look for the good in situations. Although it's hard, it's best to remember it hasn't always been that way and therefore it won't continue to be that way forever. Life can be shitty sometimes but if you keep in mind good things are just around the corner you'll see things start to feel better. 

Until next time,

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Hello September

Autumn is officially here and it is, as it seems with everyone, my favourite month. There's something about the in-between seasons of Autumn and Spring that I just love. It feels a lot like the calm before the storm, the build up to the excitement before Christmas and Summer. 

Having said that, it doesn't feel like Autumn is here yet in the UK. We're still being graced with lovely sunny, toasty warm days and I've worn sandals for a whole week now, which is a long time for the UK. It's nice to have a few days of sun though, hopefully it will hold out as Jack and I are thinking of taking another camping break at the end of the month. Though this one won't be followed by a month long hiatus.

I am sorry about that. I don't really like taking blogging breaks because I love blogging and more to the point, I like my blog to feature consistent and well put together posts. That was half the problem in itself. The blog posts weren't the high quality, planned and polished posts I like to feature. 

As soon as I'd taken the first week off from blogging three times a week I realised I need longer than a week. I felt the most stressed and the most anxious I've ever felt. It came from nowhere and it felt pretty uncontrollable. August felt a lot like a long tumble down a mostly downwards hill with a couple of points where I could stand up and enjoy the sun for a little whole before I'd start rolling down the hill again.

That all sounds overly dramatic but at the time that's how it felt. 

I don't know how or why but something at some point shouted 'STOP'. And slowly but surely, in the last 7-10 days of August I did. I looked for positivity in everything I could, I enjoyed the company, love and laughter of friends and family and I looked for inspiration and motivation actively rather than waiting for it to suddenly appear on my door stop again.

There were lots of contributing factors as to why I felt so down, some of them still ongoing which maybe I'll talk about another time. But there are only a few factors that made me feel better again and it made me realise it doesn't take much to feel happy and inspired. Enjoying life, seeing the positivity in it all and being grateful for all the wonderful things you have around you is almost all it takes. 

I'm not shunning depression or anxiety and saying all you need to do is look at the positive and all your problems will disappear because that's clearly not the case and it's different for everyone. But for me, those things and few other (which again I might talk about another time - probably will) really helped. 

This month I want to keep focusing on that. Everyone has down days that's part of human life. But this month I don't want to dwell on them and be consumed by them and let them go on and on all month long. Instead accept them, realise the anxiety is there and accept that but look at the positive and focus on that and focus on all the good, happy things around me. 

I hope you all had an absolutely fantastic August and have a brilliant September ahead,

Until next time,

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Time to take a break

Credit

As you're reading this I'm somewhere in the Woolacombe area of Devon. 

Jack and I haven't had a proper relaxing trip since we've been back from Australia and we thought it was about time we had one. 

We've both been quite tried and stressed recently and I've had a bad time with anxiety and panic attacks so we decided it was the right time to have a break away from everything for a few days.

I've decided that means a blogging break as well. Just a couple of weeks away, a mini blogging holiday, to re-inspire and get some blog ideas down on paper because with everything else that's been on my mind blogging has taken bit of a back seat and I'd rather step away for a little while and get some inspiration and motivation to blog something actually worth reading than to just post something rubbish that no one wants to read.

I'll be back soon. I hope you understand. Until next time.

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Me Before You | Review

I finished me before you on the bus to work this morning and it hasn't quite left my mind yet. I loved it so much, it was by far the best book I've read in a long time. I felt so connected to it and I can tell already that it will be one that will stick with me and I will genuinely miss reading the characters that Jojo Moyes created here. 

When Louisa Clarke looses her job at The Buttered Bun, the only cafe in her small town, she'll do anything to ensure she can continue to help support her family. After a few failed attempts at finding a job she reluctantly goes for a job as a carer. Will Traynor doesn't see the point in life following a motorbike accident that left him paralysed from the torso down meaning he needs constant care and can no longer lead the high flying adventurous life he was used to. He hates not being in control of his life and is ready to end it all. When Louisa discovers this she makes it her mission to change Will's mind and make him see that life is still worth living. As their relationship develops both their lives take a course that neither of them had anticipated. 

It sounds like chick lit right? Girl meets boy, they fall in love, there's some miracle and then a happy ever after. That's where you'd be wrong. This is so much more than that. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me so many emotions and the overarching question of does someone have the right to end their own life was dealt with sensitively but without reservation. 

Jojo Moyes has created wonderful characters in Me Before You. Every character within the book has a valid role to play and they're all perfectly rounded. However, in Louisa and Will, Moyes has created characters that I am sure I will go back to in a few years time. They are both so loveable, even Will with his cynical view and sarcastic, sometimes mean, comments. Louisa is beautifully charming, quirky, bright and funny but without direction. 

The romance that is played up in promotion for this book (and it's movie adaptation) is actually quite minimal in this book. Although there is a love story what really pushes through is the freedom to make your own choices and live your own life and how that can be effected, or not, by who we meet. 

Everything felt so real in this book and it comes down to the normalcy of Moyes' storytelling. There's no lofty language or over fictionalisation of anything. The conversations are normal, the setting is normal and it all works to make the book poignant and moving. It's a reminder that real people are going through what Will is going through and others have the same anxieties and concerns as Louisa. 

When I finished this book all I wanted to do was go back to page one and start again. I wanted to devour Will and Louisa's story again and again. It's a must read, definitely before the movie is released on DVD. 

Until next time,

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Thought of the week #27

It can often feel like you're not getting anywhere with things. It feels like you've been at it for ages and you're not much further than where you started, right? Wrong. For every second you put into whatever it is you want to achieve, you're getting somewhere. You're a step closer than you were yesterday, a might be a big step it might be a small one, but it's a step. That's what you should focus on.

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#CurrentlyReading #2

Remember when I said I was going to read 20 books before I bought any new ones? Ha! Clearly I don't know myself very well. I've bought a few a couple of books this month and I have been loving reading. I don't feel so bad because I've been racing through books at the moment so none of them have been sitting on my nightstand gathering dust while I get lost in YouTube videos or boxsets. 

In my last #CurrentlyReading post I'd just picked up Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. After finishing it I had very mixed emotions. I enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed the travelling side of it and experience new places and it really made me want to go to all of them - Italy, India and Indonesia. But I found Gilbert to be self absorbed and unaware of her own privileged that allowed her to go off travelling to all these places. I also felt that although she travelled to all these places she didn't dive head first into them and really discover all they have to offer, which personally, really bugged me. I felt like I was constantly waiting for her to show me something of the beaten track. 

When you get away from the self indulgent, annoying side of her monologue the book is enjoyable and fun. The travelling element is really fun, her writing is really good and enjoyable and the ultimate point of 'what do you want?' is really motivational and inspirational. 

I've just picked up 'Me Before You' by Jojo Moyes. Yep jumping on that bandwagon. The movie has just been in the cinema but I didn't get around to seeing it. I'm a massive book before movie believer so I figured I'd read the book before it comes out on DVD.

I'm really enjoying it so far. It's one of those books that you just lose yourself in and find yourself thinking about even when you're not reading it. The story is beautiful, the characters are beautiful and the writing is beautiful. Unless things take a dramatic turn for the worst I would definitely recommend.

However, in between picking up Me Before You and putting down Eat, Pray, Love, I also read Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. It's about a teenage girl, Maddy, who is allergic to the world, she hasn't left the house in seventeen years. Olly, a teenage boy, moves in next door and everything changes. I loved the premise of this book, there were twists and turns and I couldn't put it down. I read it in the space of two days which is saying something considering I work 9-5 and normally can't be bothered to do anything other than veg once I get in. I'm not going to say too much more because I'm planning on doing a full review before the end of the month, so keep your eyes open for that if you're interested but unsure.

What have you been reading recently?

Until next time,


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Thought of the week #26

We're always busy making sure everyone else is ok, and happy and doing well that we often forget about ourselves. We end up feeling exhausted and down. Every now and again, why not one evening every week? Take some time to yourself to focus on you and your head space. Just sit an enjoy a cuppa, read a few pages of a book, have a bath, do a workout. Just something that takes you away from focusing on anything other than you. 

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