Dear Alys, you’ve changed…

Dear Alys,

Everything has changed; you’ve changed. Not in any linear way. There’s no visually-sensical brick wall of life events documenting a clear pattern of change. I couldn’t really tell you what’s fundamentally different because it isn’t a tangible thing. But I’m certain there has been a celestial shift of some kind over the last year; tides still rise and fall, but in new patterns.

Don’t get me wrong, you are still very much ‘you’, whatever that means. You still hold the same dream eight-year-old you had to put your writing out into the world. You still get anxious on the phone. You still love Marmite and hate icebreakers. Everything’s changed, yet nothing’s changed.

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Breakups, finishing first year and travels: 6 Month Review

If you’re thinking ‘who’s this on my timeline?’ then I wouldn’t blame you. It’s been a hot minute since I was last blogging regularly. Buuuuut I’m back! And (hopefully) here to stay for a while. So if you’re interested in reading about mental health, university life, bullet journaling, travelling and more, feel free to stick around (and hit the follow button if you’re feeling particularly kind) ❤

For my first post back, I thought I’d do a brief rundown of what’s been happening in my life in the last six months (not that anyone has been holding their breath waiting for an update, I just thought it would be a good way to slide back into blogging).

Why I Ditched My 1K Instagram Account

A few days ago, I decided to start a new Instagram account. If anyone reading this follows my old one, they might be thinking ‘why?!’ I had over 1k followers on there and a feed I quite liked. I’ve worked hard to get it to that point so why on earth would anyone in that position start from 0 again: especially when it is notoriously difficult to grow an audience on Instagram now. If you’re only here for the short answer then all you need to know is that I wanted a fresh start.

Not satisfied by that answer? Then stick around for the long story…

Mental Chaos and Low Productivity: Living With Time Anxiety in a Non-Stop World

My mind goes through periods in which it is vulnerable to feeling a little cluttered; it fills up with erratic thoughts competing to be the centre of attention, somehow fighting with each other but also working together to form a barrier between reality and clarity.

This means that when I’m going through one of these times, I find it hard to carry through thought processes or focus on one thing. I get irritable or emotional ten times faster and my patience cowers in a corner with rationality, overshadowed by an overflowing, overwhelming monster, trampling any sign of productivity or routine in a temper tantrum.

I lose sight of what I need to get done that week, or even that day. I catastrophise easily. Suddenly everything is Something with a capital S: a big deal, a hurtling train of thoughts, a problem that needs solving now.

From Distance Learning to Physical Uni: How My Mental Health Directs Change

A couple of days ago, I wrote about why I chose to study for a degree with the Open University, a distance learning institution. That post can be summed up simply in one sentence: I started Open Uni because I wanted to study for a degree but I didn’t know if I could mentally cope at physical university or if the subject I chose, Sociology, was definitely the right decision for me. (You should go check that post out if you’d like the full context behind what you’re about to read, though!)

I concluded that post by mentioning the fact that I decided to apply to physical universities for this autumn, despite having a list longer than a transatlantic flight detailing all of the reasons why uni wasn’t for me. Whaaaat? I know right, I’m so unreliable in my decision making.

My Vegan Story – Veganuary

Today is an exciting day, and not just because it’s January 1st. It is also the first day of Veganuary: a global, month-long challenge for people to change their eating habits by following a vegan diet. This means that a person’s food consumption is plant-based, and doesn’t include meat, fish, dairy, eggs or honey. That can sound extremely daunting to a lot of people, because ‘what am I going to eat?!’ and ‘how can I possibly be healthy?’.

But you shouldn’t worry, many vegans now living happy and healthy lives also experienced concern when facing these questions, amongst a catalogue of others, yet still managed to make the change. And if this is something you want to do, it is totally possible and plausible, it just takes a little education, experience and support.

18 Things I Want To Do In 2018

It’s the start of 2018: a new year and therefore the month in which, due to socially constructed values, we pressure ourselves to be ‘better’ and change who we are. I don’t necessarily think this mindset is productive or conducive to becoming the people we want to be – personally, I like to take this moment to reflect on what’s happened over the past 365 days and highlight bits from that which I’d like to carry over into the next year. I don’t just do this process in January though, I like to reflect most months, it just comes to the forefront of my mind when there’s such a strong culture around doing this at the start of the year.

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to share the things I’m looking to do more of in the coming year, especially as Lucy tagged me on Twitter to do something similar to this a few days ago. Her post is more about sports and other activities she wants to do in 2018 and is well worth a read, so go and have a look over there!

How I Consciously Chose Change in 2017 – Blogmas Day 12

2017 has been quite the tumultuous year, characterised I’d say by shifts: in my daily life, personal life, and ideas about the future. I guess when you take a biopsy of your situation, thoughts and feelings from any one month and compare it to one taken 11 months previous to this, you’ll notice change. Change is how progression takes place; like the leaves alternating green to yellow to orange to brown, it’s necessary for growth to occur.