Sunday, 6 August 2017

New blogging routine and home truths



Hi guys,

So it's been a little sparse on here for the last few months. I've been trying to give myself some time away from blogging with the hopes that I can get some of my mojo back. I have been successful in sorting a lot of things out in my head that have been causing me worry lately (but not everything because I seem to never sort it all!). One of the big things I shared with you all in my previous post and it reminded me how much I love to just write chatty blog posts.

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Wednesday, 26 July 2017

Life changes



This post isn't something that I actually planned on writing but it something that has become quite a bit of a problem for me lately. As some of you might know, I have recently finished my second year of University. I only have one year left before everything changes. The who notion of that is super scary for me. Added to that, the one thing I though I wanted to do for my career... I now don't. It's something I had been planning for years now and I've come to the realisation through all of the work that I do at the moment, that it wouldn't be a good career choice.

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Sunday, 11 June 2017

Only time will tell

So since the start of this year, I have been pretty bad at getting blog posts up, whether its on here or over on PerksofNeverland where I co-write with Emily. The thing is, a lot of stuff has happened so far this year and some of it I haven't dealt with very well. A lot of things that I used to love (i.e. blogging) have now become things that I have to try and force myself to do, just because I know that I should be enjoying it.

Blogging right now has become a bit of a chore and when I started this blog 4 years ago I used to have so much passion for it. I used to sit there in class and write my blog posts whenever the whim hit me. In just 4 days, it marks the 4 year anniversary of PerksofRecovery beginning (for those of you who haven't been here since the beginning, Empty Journal came to be after the blog underwent a name and branding change 2 years ago). So while I might put out a blog post to mark that day, for a while at least I will be taking a little bit of a break. I might put up posts every now and then but there will definitely be no schedule that I will be forcing myself to keep. I miss my chatty blog posts that I used to just throw together and feel so much better after writing. I'm trying to get back to that but until then...bare with me.

This blog has always been a safe space for me to put out whatever feelings I have, with the knowledge that it will be met with kindness and support, and with the hopes that it helps someone else on their journey too. For now, I need to work on my own mind and figure out just what it is that isn't quite right and deal with it.

You have all been so supportive of every endeavor I have decided upon and I hope that you stick around until then.

I love you all.


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Monday, 5 June 2017

Summer reading list




Summer is coming up so fast and now that I have finished my second year of uni (how crazy does that sound), I have a little more time to be able to do some of the things that I enjoy doing. As a huge lover of books, I always give in to the urge to buy a new one (or few) to add to my bookcases and I wanted to share with you just a few of the new books I have purchased (to the dismay of my bank account) that I'm looking forward to delving into!

(Some of these books are YA but both Nora Roberts books are adult fiction, there are links to the books embedded in the image)

Every Day by David Levithan


 

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.


It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

 

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart. 


A court of wings and ruin by Sarah J. Maas

 

A nightmare, I’d told Tamlin. I was the nightmare.
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit—and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well. As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords—and hunt for allies in unexpected places. 


Bay of sighs by Nora Roberts

 

To celebrate the rise of their new queen, three goddesses of the moon created three stars, one of fire, one of ice, one of water. But then they fell from the sky, putting the fate of all worlds in danger. And now three women and three men join forces to pick up the pieces…

Mermaid Annika is from the sea, and it is there she must return after her quest to find the stars. New to this world, her purity and beauty are nothing less than breathtaking, along with her graceful athleticism, as her five new friends discovered when they retrieved the fire star.

Now, through space and time, traveler Sawyer King has brought the guardians to the island of Capri, where the water star is hidden. And as he watches Annika in her element, he finds himself drawn to her joyful spirit. But Sawyer knows that if he allows her into his heart, no compass could ever guide him back to solid ground...

And in the darkness, their enemy broods. She lost one star to the guardians, but there is still time for blood to be spilled—the mermaid’s in the water and the traveler’s on the land. For she has forged a dangerous new weapon. Something deadly and unpredictable. Something human. 

Island of glass by Nora Roberts

 

As the hunt for the Star of Ice leads the six guardians to Ireland, Doyle, the immortal, must face his tragic past. Three centuries ago, he closed off his heart, yet his warrior spirit is still drawn to the wild. And there’s no one more familiar with the wild than Riley—and the wolf within her…


An archaeologist, Riley is no stranger to the coast of Clare, but now she finds herself on unsure footing, targeted by the dark goddess who wants more than the stars, more than the blood of the guardians. While searching through Irish history for clues that will lead them to the final star and the mysterious Island of Glass, Riley must fight her practical nature and admit her sudden attraction to Doyle is more than just a fling. For it is his strength that will sustain her and give her the power to run towards love—and save them all…

The girl of ink and stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella Riosse dreams of the faraway lands her father once mapped.

When her closest friend disappears into the island’s Forgotten Territories, she volunteers to guide the search. As a cartographer’s daughter, she’s equipped with elaborate ink maps and knowledge of the stars, and is eager to navigate the island’s forgotten heart.

But the world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland – and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a legendary fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.



Keep a look out for some book reviews when I finally get around to reading them and I will share my favourites with you all!


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Thursday, 25 May 2017

20 lifestyle post ideas



It's very easy for bloggers to get in a rut, and I have been stuck in one numerous times. If you're struggling to find the inspiration to write a post right now, I have just the thing for you. I have created a list of 20 lifestyle post ideas that I wanted to share with you!

  1. list of your favourite books/movies
  2. life lately posts
  3. share your favourite blogs to read
  4. top 10 products related to your niche
  5. share some of your tips for staying organised
  6. photo diary- share your day, week or month through pictures
  7. share your blogging journey
  8. share the best advice you have ever been given about a subject
  9. exam or stress coping tips
  10. share some facts about yourself
  11. what is one of your favourite hobbies? share some tips for beginners
  12. how to do something on a budget- cooking, decorating, fashion etc
  13. your everyday essentials
  14. whats in your bag?
  15. your favourite apps
  16. behind the scenes of your blog
  17. create a seasonal bucketlist
  18. review something you've purchased lately
  19. share pictures of your workspace or office area
  20. share how you get your blogging inspiration
If you have any more to share then please comment them below and keep the inspiration going!



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Sunday, 21 May 2017

20 things I've learned in 20 years




Last week I turned 20 years old! It feels so weird to know that I'm no longer a teenager...(even if I am still constantly asked for ID in the pub). I feel like through some of my earlier struggles in life and what I am going through right now, I have learned some very important life lessons which I want to share with you all.
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Wednesday, 10 May 2017

5K mud run for Cancer Research!




So on September 30th this year I will be taking part in the 5k mud run for Cancer Research. Like everyone else, I havent gone untouched by the devestating effects of cancer and I want to fo my part to help in the fight. I will be running in honour of some family members who are sadly no longer with us and for those currently battling or who have battled this disease.

Any help you can give me and my team with fundraising or spreading the word would be greatly appreciated!

My fundraising page

Thank you all



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Sunday, 30 April 2017

Office inspiration


There's nothing quite like an office space, it's somewhere that can look completely Pinterest worthy, and then for me makes me feel more motivated. I find it so much easier to get done if I sit at a desk. Although where I live right now, I have no room for a desk, let alone an office area, it doesn't stop me from dreaming. As usual, I have spent a large amount of time drooling over beautiful offices on Pinterest, when I should have been working but here are some of my favourite office areas. they look a dream to work on!

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Wednesday, 26 April 2017

How to take care of yourself during a bad body image day






So I thought I would go through our old tumblr posts to get some inspiration for new posts when I came across something that I had reblogged a while ago. While I'm not sure who initially wrote this, I figured it was best to keep where I had got this from as a link on the bottom so feel free to check this person out. I may be in recovery but there are still quite a few days where I am having a bad day for my body image. It's hard to learn to love yourself again and I appreciate it when I come across things that give me that extra boost to get me through the day. I just figured that you guys deserved to have something that you could come and look at if you needed that boost and I am going to find more things like this and make a collection of them to help all of us. 

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Sunday, 23 April 2017

27 things that make me happy


Sometimes when I'm finding it hard to stay positive during the day, I try to think about all of the little things in life that make me happy. If I surround myself with these things then it generally works wonders for turning my day around. We don't need huge flashy gifts and loads of money to feel loved and happy. In a world that often seems so full of negativity, I wanted to share with you all some of the small things that make me happy!

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Wednesday, 19 April 2017

5 ways to practice self kindness



Self kindness is such a simple concept and yet very few of us actually take the time out of our day in which to actually share some positivity with ourselves. We value ourselves as 'good people' if we are kind towards other people and we take pride in making other people smile, so why is such a wild concept to do the same for ourselves. Everyone wants to be happy in life, and some days this emotion is easy to feel, sometimes it isn't. Simple little bits of kindness that we show ourselves can make or break these situations. If you're having a bad day then its easy to wallow rather than be empathetic with the situation you're in and how you are feeling. It's time to react to your own life situations the way we would if it were a loved ones issues.

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Sunday, 16 April 2017

How to Spring clean your blog


It's officially Spring now so that means that everything is looking fresh and new. Flowers are starting to bloom and (hopefully) the sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer. Whenever this hits, we always just want to throw open the windows and rid ourselves of the stuffiness of winter and so we begin our spring cleaning to give our homes the same kind of fresh feel. Something that is also great to do is giving your blog the same kind of treatment. Let's not forget that the longer you have been blogging for, the more posts you have piling up from back in the day which you now think are completely cringe worthy. Make your blog something that you're proud of from beginning to end!

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Wednesday, 12 April 2017

A-Z of Recovery: Loving yourself



When we talk about looking after ourselves, it's easy to only think about the physical. Everyone things about the food that they ate and whether it was "good" or not, then they think about the typical daily exercise and scrutinize that as well. Looking after yourself is a way of showing yourself love, and it's not just physical, you have to think about your emotional well-being as well. It's about accepting the good days with the bad, not feeling guilty if there are more bad days than you want. It's about making positive changes to help yourself get through the day.

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Sunday, 9 April 2017

Rainy days


One of the most stereotypical  (but true) things about Britain is that 90% of the time it's raining.  Luckily for me I love the rain so it never bothered me all that much. For some people it can be a pain, especially when you make plans or you want to do something fun but the weather gets in the way. Rainy days at home don't have to be boring thought, here are some of my favourite things to do when I have a free day in the rain.
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Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror: Messages to yourself

One of the most common things that we can do as human beings is look in the mirror and find faults. Lets be honest, we all have them... and that's okay. What's not okay is the amount of imaginary faults that we find within ourselves on a daily basis. We find issues with the choices that we have made, the people that are no longer in our lives and often place all of the blame onto ourselves.

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Friday, 24 March 2017

Photo Diary: Music & memories


So while I have been awol on here (I explained why in my previous post), I have been trying really hard to fill my days with really fun and inspiring things. Last week was a huge week in terms of getting out and socialising. Everything was super fun and I got to spend a huge amount of time with my bestie which made it even better! Here are some of the pictures that Emily took so check them out! 



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Friday, 10 March 2017

Where I've been...



So it's pretty obvious that since the beginning of the new year I have been really bad at keeping to a schedule when it comes to writing my blog posts. The truth of the matter is that right now, for personal reasons I have been very much unable to keep up with some of the things that I usually love doing. Sandy this is just one of the things that Depression does to you when you're going through a tough period.

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Sunday, 26 February 2017

A-Z of Recovery: Knowing you are enough



In today's society, whether you're struggling with any kind of Mental Health issues or not, we all constantly feel like we are not good enough. There are so many different kinds of social media accounts where, let be honest, we often only talk bout the best parts of our day (and that's okay- blog post coming soon about this!) We seldom feel comfortable enough to talk to other people about our problems so we pretend that they aren't there and get on with our day.

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Thursday, 23 February 2017

When music speaks


One of the things that I use everyday, that is a huge influencer of my mood is music. I have a playlists for every mood and listening tto the right one helps release any unspoken emotions. The lyrics of the songs in each playlist 100% portray my emotions on a specific life event, mood or person. Its a very creative way for me to feel like I have been through a session of therapy. 

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Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Self Esteem Tips



I know that saying that you are going to try to re-build your self esteem is a lot easier said than done, no one has a fool-proof self esteem. There are lots of different things that effect all people differently. there is no set way to help re-build your self esteem and it isn't easy or a quick fix which is what has often gotten us into our messes anyway. Quick fixes do not last long and they often cause more harm than good in the long run.
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