Tag: Life

Song of the month: How Far I’ll Go by Alessia Cara

(And October Retrospect!)

A double whammy retrospective, aren’t you in for a treat. Been a while hasn’t it?

How are you guys? I don’t know about you but I feel like I’m running on empty and charging ahead to 2017 already.

First of all Laryngitis sucks. Even as a person who doesn’t like face to face contact too much and works primarily all in the digital realm, not being able to talk to physically speak to people is goddamn hard. This stupid cold in general also set be back about two weeks. Which means two weeks of being stuck feeling sickly during October (i.e. one of my favourite months of the year *cries*)

Aside from that I’ve been nesting (or Hygge-ing?…if that’s a thing). I’ve been spending evenings inside my house, or nestled in pubs after work. I’ve been lapping up TV Shows (Gilmore Girls – obvs -, as well as current addiction ‘The Crown’ with my housemates and the regular churn of OUAT and Quantico). I’ve been working crazy hard at my actual job. All of this has mean, once again the blog has been slightly neglected over the past few weeks.

It also doesn’t help that I, like the rest of the World, seemed to get knocked back from the news of the US Election. Racism, bigotry, homophobia, xenophobia and sexism are not new things to deal with but they have been given validation now, even more so than when Brexit happened.

So I, like many others, have been trying to take the opportunity to fall back, re-group and work out what I can do next as a social justice warrior, as a feminist, as someone who wants to make a pin prick of a different in this seemingly Dystopian situation we’ve all found ourselves in.

In light of this I’ve been eyeing up changes on the blog. Nothing major, mainly types of content. You may have noticed my ‘provocative’ International Men’s Day post which garnered some colourful responses on Twitter. Despite this it’s not deterred me from posting more stuff like this, if anything it lit a fire in my stomach to try and write more content like it. That’s your teaser for the new year.

But as the festive season looms, right now I’m more in the mood to reflect on the past year and really want to enjoy this generous time of year with friends and family, just for a little bit before the real work kick starts again for 2017. So apologies if I’m a little bit absent on the blog – I already realise this post is late (sorry!).

Ria

This month in blogs:

On TMM
The issues that matter on #InternationalMensDay // What Comes Next? A look back on the US Election // Autumnal Snapshots // Self Care Tips for Social Justice Warriors // Music: Loving Lately #1

Song of the month: No Time For Lonely by LOLO

September is a start. A reboot. A change in the weather and the seasons. A chance to reassess and potentially begin again before the year is out. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this month but here’s three I wanted to share.

A cathartic haircut, the physical shedding of emotional baggage, always seems to work wonders on my mentality. Especially when you have a one-on-one Little Mix ‘Hair’ moment with a new hairdresser in a salon.

The company of friends who have known you since you were taking your first dive into clubs when you were 18 is sometimes what you need right now. They will pass judgement both with and without laughter and it will be ok because they’ve seen you do dumber stuff when you were younger and dumber than you are now.

A small lick of paint on your blog can make you want to join a community again. I know I sound like a broken record whenever I say I want to jump back in (hiya this post is 5 days late) but I really want to try. So be patient with me please.

Ria

This month in blogs:

On TMM

My Inner Adventurer // Revisiting Bridget // Not A-Typical: My Filipino Identity // The September Reboot

Song of the month: Dandelion Hair by Joe Brooks

Whoops, Ria took another blogging break (*cough* did anyone actually notice? *cough*)

Another month of busy-ness, another month of lovely just as Summer is drawing to a close.

I’d be lying if I said that Summer was my favourite time of year. I usually dread it. It’s hot and stuffy and I never know what to wear and I feel like a lumpy, sweaty, hayfever-y mess most of the time. Everyone’s off doing more exciting things, so plans fall through, or I end up heading off somewhere else to escape life. It’s nothing personal, I just don’t get as excited for Summer as I do for other seasons.

This Summer though? This Summer has probably been one of the best I’ve had in a longest time and one of the very few I’ve truly enjoyed. I’ve be out and social and lapping up the sunshine. In lieu of an actual holiday I’ve been heading off to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, then off to BBQs in the late afternoon, strolling through parks, or sitting in pub gardens after work or taking advantage of the long daylight hours on nights out with friends. I’ve played tour guide to family I haven’t seen for over 10 years, revisiting places that felt so much like home through a fresh set of eyes has been a revelation.

In short I’ve been busy af. And despite my usual introverted nature I’ve kind of loved it. Blame it on the Vitamin D, blame it on my lovely extroverted housemates, colleagues and friends but this is the first Summer I’ve well and truly felt comfortable with life as it is right now.

As I mentioned in last month’s post there’s been bumps in the road, that’s inevitable – can’t all be punting bants and Pimms 24/7 y’know. But as cheesy as it sounds I’m coming out the other end with a better idea of who I am, what I want/need out of life, and what actually makes me happy.

Autumn is incoming though. It’s my absolute favourite time of year and I am so excited. It’s busy, yes, but there’s a brisk air of change that makes me want to just get sh*t done. So this year I bid a bittersweet farewell to Summer, let’s hope Autumn doesn’t let me down.

Ria

p.s. on a totally unrelated note. I’ve joined the masses on Snapchat (late to the game I know). I’m r_cagz on there – seeing as some bugger stole RCagz first. Follow for awful selfies.

This month in blogs:

On TMM
What Harry Potter Means To Me

Elsewhere
Green Girl Review, Blogger’s Bookshelf