Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: 2015

  • Insta-round up | June

    6 June InstaLife

    Soundtrack: Hurricane by Halsey

    You’d never be able to tell from these Instagram photos, but it has been a tempestuous month to say the least. It may have been partially down to the goddamn horrific bout of hay fever/cold I’ve managed to get this year, but I also feel like my brain gave up on me and I lost my enthusiasm to do anything really. It probably didn’t help that I freaked out a little bit that I’ve basically been living independently for 6 months without realising and got a little homesick and felt a bit isolated for the first time. After promising to make June a month I ‘get up and do’ I didn’t really ‘do’ anything, which in turn kinda made me feel a bit bleh.

    This past week I took some time out, got back into reading, spent some time just writing – both blog related content and working on my writing projects, also decided to go off the grid every so often (I went and hid away in cafes a lot the past few weeks). I seem to have come out of the end of this ‘funk’ relatively unscathed this time. I’ve tried being a bit more introspective, reconnected with some friends, got Jo Rowling to give me a pep talk, and did a bit of evening yoga/meditation/breathing exercises (I may expand on this part of my ‘relaxation’ routine in a future post). I also wrote a post that had been stirring up inside me for a while about the blogging community. In a way it was that post that gave me a bit of perspective and I’m ready to delve back into the community again.

    July is shaping up to be much better with visits from friends, the start of Camp NaNoWriMo (which I’m a so ready, excited and not dreading for once!) and YALC toward the end of the month. Then of course August has me leaving UK shores for Rome with the famalam, before the promise of my favourite season of all Autumn! (Can you tell I’m already so over Summer already? LoL).

    I also have to remember that some really great stuff did actually happen this month – hello, I got to go to a preview screening for Paper Towns, saw John, Cara and Nat in le flesh and met E. Lockhart. And now? Well, I guess now I’m back and feeling fresher than I have before, the good stuff I mentioned should certainly serve as a reminder I need to remember the good times instead of focusing on the negative, right?

    R.xoxo

    [twitter][tumblr][IFB][instagram][BlogLovin]

  • Blogging 2.0 | The community in 2015

    There’s a been a gear shift in blogging recently.

    It’s been quiet and unassuming but it’s also been a powerful one. Up to this point I’ve been enjoying watching the small changes from the sidelines but off the back of some brilliant posts by Gem, Becky, and Victoira – among so many others – I felt it’s about time I throw my proverbial hat into the arena.

    The shift I’m talking about is less to do with the content – though it obviously plays a big part in all our lives – and more to do with the attitude to blogging itself and what ‘we’ as bloggers ‘do’. Again, I’m gonna sound like a broken record when I talk about how blogging used to be a few years ago.

    (more…)

  • ‘Very Good Lives’ | a.k.a the best pep talk from Ms. Rowling

    verygoodlives-coververygoodlives-fly-quote

    This isn’t so much of a review, but a much needed bit of word vomit about ‘Very Good Lives‘.

    The book is pretty much the word for word transcript of J.K. Rowling’s frankly awe-inspiring Harvard commencement speech back in 2011. In it she talks about fear and failure, as well as the importance of imagination and how we all have the ability to touch and influence each others lives in fantastical ways. The speech still resonates today as quite possibly the best pep talk ever. It’s wonderful and moving and so very Jo – within the first few sentences she talks about squinting at the red banners to convince herself that she’s at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion (honestly I love this woman).

    As an FYI, I’m doing this impromptu post on the fly after what has not been a great week for me mentally. I’ve not been feeling very motivated to write or blog or even socialise (IRL or online recently) but I gave the book a skim read again having bought it a few weeks ago and as cheesy as it sounds reading this – alongside a an additional pep talk email from the ol’ bestie Kath – made me feel instantly a little bit better. Isn’t it weird how powerful words can be.

    Even if you’ve watched the speech or are able to read the transcript online, I still encourage you to pick up the book. Sometimes it’s good to get away from your computer/phone screen and have a physical printed entity to flick through. The illustrations are gorgeous, plus the proceeds from the sale of it are all going to her charity, Lumos, too.

    (more…)