What year is it again?

Write a blog they said. Well here we go, I wrote a blog, it’s been a while. I mean don’t ask me why, you would think after half the year in lock down and working from home you would have more time to contemplate the world when your locked in doors, if we can even begin to contemplate what the hell has happened in 2020 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Yet here we are September and 9 month into what can only be the oddest year in the 32 of that I’ve lived. There is a difference between living on the edge and wondering what the hell is coming next. Memories of Spanish sun 7 months behind us and what I would give for a boarding pass, wing seat and a jug of sangria in my hand. I guess yorkshire tea and the wonderful British weather will have to suffice, pass me an aldi cookie and well I’m on a roll. Would I relive 2020?Hell no…Have I learnt anything from it? One hundred and one percent.

I have learnt to appreciate things close to home, I’ve learnt to make the best of bad situations and I’ve been reminded once again who is always there even if it’s via a zoom screen. I’ve learnt things can change in a heart beat and what you love and know is never permanent and that I’m good at giving advice but not listening to it myself. I’ve acquired a bike and learnt my cake baking has still got it, I have a new passion for gardening, planting, watering and watching things come to life with a bit tender love and care. Watching and waiting, sound familiar? After all with an adventurous nature it is always envitable to be looking for new things to learn. Did i think I’d be an over protective tomato tenderer at the ripe old age of 32, erm did you expect a pandemic?

So whilst adventures have had to take a break for a short while and the fco is probably more checked then your scrolling insta feed we watch and wait for what the last 4 months of the year hold. Heaven help us.

Its been a tough year so far for sure, everyone has there own battles, adapting to our new lives and working habitats, David Attenborough I am not but I have befriended the garden frog. I avoid the news like the plaque and my heart aches to travel, chuck in a unprecedented house move and what could possibly go wrong. Thankfully my addictive personality never allows me to give up on my own challenges, I dont need someone to chase my tail or push me along and for that I will be forever grateful to myself, helping people goes a long way with me but a little support is always welcome especially from those close to home.

My fitness pal is my new best friend, I am constantly chucking out packets I’m not meant too, ending,up head first in the recycle bin and trying to remember to track the kit kat that I needed before bed, in between hanging the washing out and cooking the tea on my lunch break, go figure. My swimming is my forte, it’s my punch bag and my therapy setting me up everyday one stroke at a time. I have learned a lot this year about self goals, your own strength and what you can achieve if you put your mind to it even if you don’t always believe in yourself.

In a nutshell. Whatever the situation, kick your own arse and manage your own mind it will go a long way in the long run and when normality returns (when) you will Thank yourself ❤

It’s a bad day, not a bad life..

We all have bad days right? Those days were we feeling like putting our coats on walking away from it all. We have days were we feel like standing up and screaming, sobbing quietly out of our shot, under the desk or maybe like a banshee in the middle of the office. Probably all of which I’ve done at sometime, if not at the same time. So 2016 started with a bang, there’s plenty good in the pipe line, things that fell apart are in the process of finding the glue that sticks the jigsaw back together, new things on the horizon and adventures and plans galore. So what’s wrong you ask? I’m alive and well and kicking, something at least to be thankful for considering the amount of hideous bad news of late. My mind kicked off with my perfectionist ocd went into melt down last week. When I’m striving and being challenged I’m at my peak, when I feel like I’m losing a battle or not succeeding it hits my world like a freight train. All of my life in could never imagined myself in a sales environment, and yet here I am. My life through a lens the last week I’ve felt like I’ve not been happy unless I’ve got something to worry About. My organised nature frustrated at things that can’t just be done there and then, my impatient nature mixed with my need to get things done there and then. Anxiety is a strange thing and before you know it you’ve mentally created a scenario in your head before even giving it a second thought, in the midst of 5 minutes I’d gone travelling all over again, found a new job and moved to the other side of the world..So things can be tough, what can’t, so as i sit in my midst of a work out after a heavy weekend of glorious food, cocktails and laughter, I find myself thinking, so fuck. Things break, things fix, you eat a burger, work that 5 minutes longer, your late for work, leave that 10 minutes earlier, you don’t hit that target that would have paid for next months debauchery, do that over time and grin and bear it. So goes the saying you get out what you put in, true and utter believer. So it’s February already, I love my job, I hate sitting however at a desk, my goals for 2016?Same as every year, give it my all, continue to work hard at the weight loss and ultimately getting my passion for photography work in the form of my own business off the ground and running. So it’s a long way off?But not totally out of site and that’s the top positive, and I’m still a stone lighter than this time last year so that’s always good..right.?Maybe I spend too much of my time worrying about everyone else and what everyone else wants, what people want to hear or see. This year is about me, it’s about putting myself to the test and pushing boundaries, having confidence in myself to believe in what I want to succeed in and enjoying it all costs, not every day is good, not every day is bad, but each day forward is a footstep forward in this wonderful, chaotic, off track journey of life, making fresh new footprints in the sand along the way..

Auld Lang Syne

So, it’s almost the end of December. Where did that go? Your guess is as good as mine. I live by the philosophy that life is too short as well as many other good people however I feel like I’m meeting myself coming backwards at the minute like a revolving carousel. In the run up to Christmas, my usual favourite festive month I didn’t have my eye on the ball this year, not as organised as usual and felt like the days were taking weeks to pass  Truthfully I wasn’t looking forward to it, it saddens me to say that but I wasn’t. It’s been a long two month but the last couple of weeks things are starting to look up,  I feel myself creeping back, my inner strength more reinforced than ever and my guard higher than the current flood gates. Christmas time is a time for reflection and to share with the special people in your life, Thankfully I have plenty of those, I might only have a small family but my friends make up the remainder. I can’t be more Thankful to the support each and every one of them have shown, both male and female, now I find a slight role reversal with the shoe on the other foot, being strong for not only myself but helping them through hard times and heart ache too. You see, words mean a lot to me, they define people and the world we live in and the fact that few words so little can turn someones day around in the space of a sentence blows me away. Making people feel better is something I love, it gives me a sense of encouragement and reward in life and the thought that someone isn’t battling something alone makes me sleep easier at night. Me? I was the girl that stressed, past tense. Who battles slight anxiety and as she’s writing in the space of a day has managed to remove half the inside of her lip at her own doing. She does things out of principle and learns in her own ways. Christmas has kept my mind busy and It was so nice to spend time with those who keep me afloat. Christmas day as always was a knock out, I never take it for granted that I’m so lucky, the other night I was passing through Newcastle and my heart broke at the sight of people in doorways and with eyes wide at the slight site of a soup kitchen and a meer duvet to keep them warm, no love, no heartfelt home and no festivity just sheer gratitude for something so small. Having had my mind occupied with various events over the yuletide celebrations it hasn’t given me much chance to reflect, in hindsight a godsend. But here the new year descends and the last day or so I’ve felt unsettled, reflected on memories and replayed words, tossing and turning wishing she had a chance to rewind and give 2015 another bash with everything she’s learnt in tow. When someone has been part of your life I guess it’s natural, a bit like a mourning, they aren’t there but the memories are, do they ever think about you? Do they remember everything like you do, do they miss the fun and the laughter and the company on the cold nights, she doesn’t ask cause what does it matter?I find myself awake at night asking questions I may never no, you could ask and not reply, that appears to be the general consensus of late. 2015 has been one hell of a year and despite anything bar recent events I would change nothing else, I learnt how to share and embrace life and learnt to love again, but all the same it’s a lesson learnt. I intend to see the new year in how I intend to continue it, as always making the most of life as i have since the day I arrived and if 2016 means going solo then so be it, anyone whose meant to be in your life will find there way, be your own hero, that way when things go wrong your the only one to blame. So at midnight on Thursday I’ll be raising a toast to all the memories made and the moments shared more than likely with a tearful sparkle in my eye to the people who have loved us and left us behind along the way for more reason than one, looking forward into the future with my eyes wide open and my heart tucked away ready to be the warrior she’s always been and maybe just maybe in time she will find someone who will restore her faith and trust in spoken words and Love. She has been and always will be the girl that can’t say she never tried. So whatever you are and whatever you do on NYE take a minute to reflect on those in your life and how much they mean, you never know when things might change 💛

Strangers

We think we know it all, right? We think it will never happen to us, we think we know the reasons, the logic, we wonder why us, or where it went wrong, what did we do that caused so much uproar and heart ache. For the last few weeks I’ve had countless scenarios in my head, replayed words spoken a thousand times over and revisited memories that despite everything will never change. So this week I finally had to come face to face with the one person that only a month ago I would have stopped the world to spend 5 minutes with. Fronts are great until the tears show and the cracks appear and everything comes flooding back. All my life I’ve been this girl who would fight for who and what she loves, the warrior who wears her heart on her sleeve just to get it torn off time and time again. There’s many things I like to believe I can fix, make better or simply aid, sadly people’s pasts or state of minds is not one of them,. 6 month ago if you said I would be sat on a park bench like a complete stranger with the one person I thought I’d be sharing my forever with I would have laughed. Guess what, here I am. I’ve hurt, cried, shed tears, lost Sleep, lost the ability to eat, blamed myself for countless things and lost interest in the surrounding world and everything in it. The reality Is there are some things we can’t change in Life, no matter how hard we fight or try, sometimes there are things that can’t be erased or tippexed out. I’ve spent the last few weeks convincing myself I can do this, all the while crumbling a little at the thought of every memory and broken promise. The worst thing about drifting apart from someone you love is when you can’t do anything, nothing, zilch, jack shit. The person you once shared everything with becomes a shadow in the night, a face in the crowd,no other than a stranger. I guess that’s what I struggle with, not being to help people with things that are beyond your control is one thing, watching them become someone you never imagined they would is a whole new story. I grant myself lucky that I shared the time and memories i did with the person I once knew, but hate the fact that the loving, heartfelt charamistic gentleman I fell in love with appears to be now a figment of my imagination. How does that happen? Where does someone go? What are they thinking?That same person that made your soul ache with laughter now makes your heart ache with pain out of sheer frustration that you know They are so much Stronger and better than they anticipate. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that this is life and there isn’t a second chance or a get of jail card waiting at the next corner, it’s hard, what’s not in Life, I’m the first to admit I’m a bit of a ‘Get up and get on with it’ kinda girl. I’ve had heartbreaks, hell have I not, this one? Totally different league, I couldn’t even begin to explain the past or the hurt I’ve gone through when it comes to relationships in the past, unlucky is an understatement but they have made me the Young woman I am today. After a rough ride and 4 years single doing my own thing, travelling the world and researching my soul I finally found I was ready to face the world and look for love, scared and nervous of where to start. What lay next was 10 month, probably one of the, if not the best relationship I’ve ever shared, polar opposites in some aspects and best friends in everything else, sharing our world’s and learning new things every day.
We’ve been apart almost a month now and every day i still pick my phone up for my favourite morning messages, I still go to my speed dial on my breaks hoping to hear his voice and hear everything’s going to be OK, it’s a hard realisation when you figure the one person you shared everything with is no longer a part of you and even harder when you feel your now just another number in there phone book. Heartbreak is tiring and mentally draining, it sends your mind into over drive and your heart into melt down, it’s a long process and I know I’ve got a while before the forest clears and I can see the path again. There comes a time, however painful when you realise if someone wants you in their life they will try, if they need you they will make the effort, there might come a day when they even realise the carnage they caused. But that day might never come, you might never hear the words you want or make sense of everything that has happened, strength comes with time and time comes with life, so like every other time before she will pick up pace, keep her head on her shoulders and focus back into the game whilst surrounding herself with the beautiful people in her life that help make her life what it is, she will look back one day and realise how far she’s come, she will reflect on the memories and remember the person she once knew and the things she learnt along the way, making track on her own and trying to make sense of life along the way, you were strangers once before and here you are again. But you can’t help someone who refuses to let you in. What will be will be, and what’s meant to be will always find its way. Until then being strong is the only way she knows.

Memories and Memoirs

Memories. That little world. So much meaning and so much thought. They are the best and worst thing that can happen to us in a pretty similar way to love. The last two weeks my heart has ached a whole mix of emotions, tears, hurt, Frustration, blame, anger. Feelings are something we can’t switch off however hard we try, there’s only so many times people can tell you your strong and will get through something, when someone has been a part of your life they etch a part of your heart that’s never taken away. Everywhere you look there’s a reminder of a memory you made or a moment you shared, the dreams you promised each other and the daft moments that you know know one else would understand, you scroll through photos, messages and anything you can find trying to make sense of whatever you can, trying to get answers and understanding and wishing you still woke up to those messages and feeling their kiss on your nose . Truth is I am probably stronger than I know but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it when the world’s crashing around you. Like many I’ve been here before, this time I swore it was different and I’d never see those days again, oh how wrong I could be. A song on the radio, a soft toy a simple photo they all bring that pain to the surface and although you know beating yourself up won’t help, yup we do it anyway. Truth is I’m tired of pain and tears and I’m tired of analysing everything that should or could have been, I’ll never get tired of fighting cause I was born with it in my blood, so tonight for the long time in a while she’s drying her eyes and putting on her favourite mac and digging her heels into her knee high boots she will share love and stories with her best friend on a dance floor that cannot judge. She’s facing the world for herself and nobody else, because people who love us will always truly try and she knows this best friend will never break her heart.