Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 August 2016

Life: Why I Blog

Life: Why I Blog
Thursday, 18 August 2016
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Not a lot of my friends outside of blogging are aware that I have this little haven to call my own. It’s not that I’m embarrassed to call myself a blogger- in fact, I’m very much the opposite; I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved in such short a time period and have no issues discussing my hobby with people who I care about. There are, however, a small group of people who I know (and undoubtedly, every blogger has this small group of people in their lives!) who get great satisfaction out of mocking other people’s achievements and livelihoods for no reason whatsoever. For this reason alone, I have been quite secretive about my blogging and the writing I do alongside it. I’m not ashamed, I’m not embarrassed, I just don’t feel like baiting the nasty, closed-minded individuals who will likely feel the need to express their opinions about something that I feel so passionately about and have worked so hard to achieve.

But none of that answers the question of why it is exactly that I blog.

I blog for myself, I blog for the future and I blog for the memories. I love writing. I always have done and I probably always will. I can honestly say that, with the exception of reading of course, there is nothing hobby-wise that I love more than writing. I love sharing my opinions on books and it’s nice to know that people read my reviews and get something from them. I like to look back on what I’ve been doing in my life and blogging allows for a platform where all of that is possible. I like to remember the books I’ve loved and pass on my recommendations. It’s nice to share amazing experiences like eating out at a fabulous restaurant or visiting a cool tourist attraction.

Humans are instinctively nosy. It’s nice to have a nose into other people’s lives and see how the other side lives, so to speak. It’s nice to see if people have the same opinions as you do on certain topics. It’s a way for my family, who don’t live all that close to me, to check in with me without having to ring me up every five minutes. It’s a way for my writing skills to further develop now that I’ve finished university and the dreaded essays have ceased.

Blogging gives me something to do when I’m off work and don’t want to lounge around doing nothing. Blogging has helped me make a lot of friends, most of whom are likeminded and amazing individuals. I’ve worked with countless brands, publishing houses and organisations that I would never have had the opportunity to work with if not for blogging and I am a whole other level of grateful for this. Blogging has helped me advance my career, to quite a large extent, and allowed me to get freelance writing gigs that I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.


If you want to mock, then feel free but I wouldn’t be the person I am now without this fabulous and exciting hobby.


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Friday, 3 July 2015

List: Summer Bucket List

List: Summer Bucket List
Friday, 3 July 2015
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After leaving my posts in 2 schools in France, I’m now teaching French at a primary school here in England. The summer holidays start pretty soon (less than 3 weeks now!) so I thought I’d put together a little list of the ten things I want to achieve over the holidays before I go back to university. 

1. Visit 5 new places in the UK - I have a few places in mind in both England and Wales so I think this one is pretty achievable. (3/5 - Morecambe, Abersoch, Pwllheli)
2. Read a book a week. (3/10)
3. Go to gigs. There are SO many free gigs around Liverpool so I’m going to go to as many as I can this summer! (1 gig- Lauren Aquilina live in Liverpool)
4. Keep up to date with vocabulary and try and speak French at least once a day.
5. Take as many photographs as I can.
6. Start going to the gym to gain muscle mass.
7. Review as I read. 
8. Be more body confident and stop being such a pushover!! 
9, Go on date days! 
10. Have days where I just relax and do nothing! 
11. Finish watching Game of Thrones (30/50)

Are there any things you guys want to do in particular over summer? Let me know in the comments! 
Friday, 12 June 2015

List: 3 things I'm grateful for..

List: 3 things I'm grateful for..
Friday, 12 June 2015
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1. FRIENDS 
I was able to see some of my friends from university this weekend and it was really lovely to catchup. I hadn’t seen them properly since the last time I visited the UK, which was at the beginning of March. I went out for dinner and drinks with one friend, and then breakfast the following morning, and then lunch and a night out with my old flatmates. It made me feel so blessed to have lovely, thoughtful friends who still care enough to spend time with me, even though I’ve been away for a year and, quite frankly, have been pretty much off the radar. I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends.

2. LITERATURE
Sometimes when I’m feeling down in the dumps, there’s absolutely nothing in the world except a good book that can get me out of that hole. I’ve been pretty down about being back in the UK after an amazing year, but I’ve read some amazing books recently that have definitely had a positive effect on my mood. 

3. INDIAN FOOD
Going back to my first point on this list, I went out for dinner with my best friend last week and we decided to go to a lovely little Indian street food restaurant in Liverpool. The food was to die for, especially the curried chickpeas and they catered to our every need. I ate a predominantly dairy free diet because I suffer from lactose intolerance (I say predominantly because sometimes pizza is the question and hell yes is the answer, regardless of my stomach and digestive abilities) and they were very happy to make sure that all of my dishes were dairy free so I didn’t fall ill. They also stocked my favourite wine, an Alsatian one, which reminded me of home, and it’s very uncommon to find it outside of France so that made me very happy. This is obviously a little more lighthearted than my other two choices but if you can’t be grateful for Indian food once in a while, what can you be grateful for?