How Losing My Bullet Journal Was the Best Thing to Happen

I know, I know. It sounds awful, practically unliveable, for my fellow bullet journalers to hear. But it’s a true statement (kind of). I didn’t exactly lose my bullet journal, it was more that I misplaced it for just over a week. I went on holiday to the Peak District and left my beloved notebook behind at home – a sad realisation, but not totally catastrophic.

People from outside the bujo community may not understand this intense panic-upon-realisation feeling evoked from simply leaving a journal somewhere unexpected. You see, this isn’t just a place for doodles – this is where I organise my life and develop my thoughts. The following week was a journey of emotions, not wholly negative, regarding the missing nature of my little orange Leuctturm1917. Allow me to explain.

Advertisement

Am I Good Enough For University?

Around this time a year ago, I was not considering applying for physical university. (For those of you who don’t know, I was studying with the Open University, a distance learning institution, at the time). I didn’t see it like this in the moment, but looking back I think I had almost written the whole idea of attending university off. It seemed so inconceivable to me, for many reasons, and that led to a total dismissal of it all.

Now, heading into my second term at uni, I thought it might be a good moment to reflect on that experience, and those feelings, in the hope that it might reach someone else going through something similar… So what was the main issue then?

Bullet Journal Stationery Haul 2019

One of the great things about Christmas is the fact that it falls right before January – the time in which I usually feel motivated to rekindle creative projects. This year, I knew I wanted to step up my bullet journal game; this, of course, required a little renovation of my art supplies and a haul of stationery as a Christmas present. Here is what I got and have had a chance to experiment with over the last few weeks…

Is Veganism Hard? Is it Expensive? And Other Questions…

It’s that time of year again – Veganuary has rolled around, and with more people signing up than ever before, I want to chip in a little. Help out, in whatever way I can. I’ve been vegan for nearly four years now (you can read my full vegan story here) and so I think I have a wise word or two to spill on the topic.

In this post, I thought I’d answer some common questions asked when people first hear about veganism and want to give it a go. This is all based on my personal experience, being vegan in the UK, so my situation may be different to other people’s. I wanted to focus on subjective questions here, so you won’t find health and environment stats in this post. There are plenty of wonderful sources to learn about these things, so I will highlight some of my favourites at the end of the post – if you want to know more about the facts then I advise you give those a browse!

Wtf is a Bujo?! A Beginner’s Guide to Bullet Journaling Basics

The first tentative steps into a new hobby can be uncertain and daunting, sort of like walking down a muddy hill: either your feet might slip and things become a little tedious and overwhelming, or things turn out to be fine and, dare I say, enjoyable. This uncertainty over how things might turn out is a pretty good summary of how I felt entering the crazy and obsessive world of bullet journaling a year ago. January is definitely a time in which many people contemplate trying new things; one such thing you may be considering is bullet journaling. So to make things easier for those of you wondering whether the bujo is that new hobby or not, here’s a condensed beginner’s guide.

Lessons from a Year of Street Photography

There is something powerful about street photography: it captures delicate, tacit moments and immortalises them. It satisfies a bit of that curiosity for the world that sits deep within me. When I think about street photography, it is the connections between people and other people, and people and the world which motivates me to shoot. I love seeing how life happens; how the small, everyday things people do keep the societal cogs turning. I thought it might be interesting to look back over my street photography sessions from 2018 and think about how my approach to snapping photos changed over that time…

Are You Having an Instagram Identity Crisis?

I have a confession to make. I seem to have commitment issues. You know when you have a love for one thing but then something else catches your eye? Yeah, that’s me with Instagram. I am being utterly genuine when I write that I have actually lost count of the number of accounts I have had in the last few years on Instagram.

My Instagram History

I started off like any other teenager out there: one little space online where I posted the odd sunset, food or family holiday photo. Then I became vegan and yearned to feel a part of a community after what felt like such a huge lifestyle change at the time. And so I created a foodie account. This lasted a while but was cut off once I completed school and started travelling. Once you’re relying on cheap food eaten in poorly-lit hostels to survive it is practically impossible to maintain a beautiful food account. And so I did the only sensible thing and started a travel photography one instead. This somehow died a slow death though. I’m sure there have been other, more temporary ones too – like the black and white minimalist profile I had somewhere along the way – but they have mostly faded into insignificance now.

Should You Start a Bullet Journal in 2019?

One of the things I’m enjoying the most in my everyday life at the moment is bullet journaling. Coincidently, it is also the most popular topic on my blog. Knowing that January is a month of trying new things, I thought it would be fitting to delve into the world of bujos a little more deeply over the next few weeks in the hope that it could help out some of you wanting to start one this year.

Today, I thought I’d kick things off with the big, obvious question: why bullet journal? Why not just use a diary with the ready-made calendars or an app on your phone? What is the point of all of this? What is the hype all about? If these are the questions you’re currently facing in your struggle to unearth an organisational method that will work for you this year, then you’ve come to the right place. This blog post isn’t about ‘converting’ people to the bujo way of life, it’s more a source of information – giving you the tools to decide whether this is for you or not.

My Goals for 2019

Happy New Year everyone! I thought I’d kick things off on an incredibly predictable note: a list of my goals for the coming year. I felt a need to set the tone for the next 12 months in some way, and this post seemed like a good way to do so. I don’t really set resolutions in January – I’m not sure the pressure is particularly helpful and I find it causes me to feel more negative emotions than positive. I do, however, like to contemplate the general direction I’d like to move in over the coming year in the form of a few vague goals.

Last year, I got a little swept up in a blogging trend in which people outlined 18 goals for 2018; looking back, that seems like a lot of things to hold in mind at any one time. Granted, I did keep most of them small, and many of them related to one another, yet I think the sheer quantity could perhaps have put me off a little. This year, in a pure act of rebellion, I will be listing a number of goals which does not necessarily adhere to the year we happen to be entering, or even a round number that could make for a satisfying blog post title. I know, 2019 already seems to be the year of stretching boundaries…

Goodbye 2018 – December Reflections

December, as it usually is, has been an exhalation: of stress, work, chaos. I spent the first week up at university, catching up on lectures and bits of reading I missed throughout the term, before enjoying a couple of days in London with some friends. From there, I headed back home to be with my family for Christmas.

We did the typical yuletide activities – making a wreath for the door, going on cold woodland walks, shopping for and wrapping presents, baking festive-flavoured things – and ate lots of yummy comfort food. It was a blessing to be able to use a proper food processor to make vegan nicecream again – I miss it so badly when I’m up at uni with just my cheap smoothie blender to rely on.