Running 100k for Mental Health

Nope, this is not my grand return to blogging I’m sorry to say. Buuut, this felt too important, and topical, to not put a brief post up about it. So here goes, I’m oiling the rusty cogs and remembering what it’s like to create a post again all in the name of raising a lil bit of money…

This month I am going to run 100 kilometres for a mental health charity. Yep, one hundred. And I’m fundraising for it. If that’s all you need to hear and you would like to contribute (thank you thank you thank you) then please head on over to my JustGiving page.

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Why I’m Quitting Blogging

I know, I know. Only a few posts ago I was announcing my love for, and return to, the blogging world. However, it turns out I’m actually quitting. At least for a bit. I love it, I really do but I just can’t find any meaningful gravity in it right now; my blogging journey has turned into a fight against an addiction to instant gratification and I’ve decided I’m not here for that anymore. Allow me to explain.

I can’t just create to create. Writing for the sake of having posts go live every week isn’t working for me right now. It feels somehow empty and draining. Like repetitively serving coffees as a barista. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore creating, particularly through writing. But each metaphorical coffee I make seems to take away a little more of my purpose as I hand it over the metaphorical counter (the internet). I’ll put it this way: I still feel compelled to make pretty latte art for others but when I get home from work, I’d rather go to bed than make a coffee for myself. Paradoxically, although a hugely creative hobby, blogging seems to be hindering my creative process in general.

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.

12 Things I’ve Learnt in the Past 12 Months: 2019 Edition

Around this time last year, I wrote a list of the 12 biggest lessons I’d learnt in the previous 12 months. I thought it would be interesting to compile another one without reading the first and then look back and see how they compare. A lot has happened since August 2018, from starting university and completing two internships to travelling to six countries. So what have these experiences taught me?

I love learning

My course has pushed me in some ways (such as clashing deadlines), but the actual content I’ve found enjoyable to engage with. Spending a couple of years away from the intensity of education before university has made me really appreciate this.

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).

The Year I Didn’t Eat

I am always looking out for new ways to spread mental health awareness and I think fiction is an area I often glaze over. However, I’m starting to see just how beneficial reading fiction can really be. Recently, I was invited to take part in the book tour for ‘The Year I Didn’t Eat’ by Samuel Pollen – my interest was sparked by both the focus on mental health and the fact that the target audience is young teens…

How to Actually Stick to Your Goals

As we make our first tentative steps into the second month of the year, talk of New Year resolutions is starting to simmer down. The flurry of people proclaiming they will have more of some things (motivation, exercise, books on the read shelf) and less of other things (drunken nights, weight, empty cigarette packets) has subsided. And here we are, a month into the year: have all those commitments stuck? The likelihood is probably not.

We all do it, whether we like to admit it or not. All of us set goals we don’t ever reach. This is frustrating, disheartening even. In today’s pressurising world it can feel like we fail because there’s something wrong with us. Perhaps if we just try harder we’ll find success.

Finding a House – January Reflections

I feel like January normally drags a little, the cold days and endless greyness of the sky stretch out and we all find ourselves wondering if February is ever going to turn up. I haven’t found that this year though. The bleak weather is certainly hanging around as usual, but the actual days have been tripping over themselves in a hurry to get to spring.

My month started in the Peak District, hiking around in the hills and eating bakewell tart. On one of my favourite walks, it started snowing for a couple of minutes which was magical. The whole week was wonderful actually (apart from losing my bullet journal…).

I headed straight back to university from the rugged hills and had a hectic first week back on a compulsory course workshop. It was pretty tiring and a lot of people didn’t show up, but I’m glad I went. If I hadn’t, I would be wondering what I’d missed out on. I really can’t complain, most people had exams that week which I thankfully didn’t have to do.

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?

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…