Firstly I've realised how totally rubbish I have been at blogging recently! Sorry about that for anyone who might have been eagerly awaiting my next blogging instalment.... not that it's all that likely haha!
Today I attended the York Body Confidence day at the Coppergate Centre. I was invited along as a Body Gossip Ambassador and did a workshop with the lovely 'Miss York' Maryann. Now... it's the first body confidence style workshop I've ever done, so it was a little nerve wracking at first. I had a really lovely time and felt really privileged to meet the girls from Joseph Rowntree School and talk positive bodies with them.
Here are a selection of pictures from the event! What a YAY kind of day <3
One day I'd like to be able to write something really inspirational, to have that effect on people and make them really stop and think about what they've just read. I want to be able to make a difference or raise awareness through my words. The trouble is I'm not really sure how to get to that stage, or even if my writing is good enough. It seems to me, to be a commonplace among writers to show doubts about their abilities. I don't think I'm anywhere near a point in my life where I can self-define as being a writer yet, I like to think of myself as a baby writer or a writer in training perhaps.
On the subject of something inspirational and in an attempt to break up my inane ramblings of the morning a little. Here is a video for you. I think it is perhaps my second favourite Body Gossip video. My favourite of course being the original 'This one's for you'. This video however speaks volumes about society right now; what is it that makes us so scared of the real human body? Inspirational YAH!
Now back to my writing saga... I recently started a part-time job as a Copy Editor. It was something that came as a surprise around a time (during exam and assignment hell!) where it was really lovely to have the confidence boost of being approached and told I'd be perfect for the job and that they really wanted me/had thought of me! From now on this is how I wish to receive all of my job offers, thank-you! The idea of being hand picked in a kind of headhunted type of way is enough to brighten anyone's day or week! But anyway... I digress... so being offered this Copyediting job, I guess, was a sign that I must be an ok writer. I'm one for evidence that is quite based in proof and during my miniature 'I'll never be a proper grown up writer ever' style crisis, this was a definite boost to the old confidence!
I think it all harks back to my natural fall back of assuming I won't be able to do something to prevent the disappointment of failing at it. It's much easier for something to go wrong and for me to be able to say... ah yes but I did say it would go wrong. I think it must be some sort of face saving tactic (ah yeah get in there identity revision!!) that prevents having a demonstrate having failed something.
At the moment I'm trying to make a really conscious effort to celebrate and acknowledge when I do great stuff and not beat myself up if something doesn't go too well. Now I'm going to sound completely big headed and I don't mean to. But last week the shortlisted nominations for our student union awards were released. Again there was 400 nominations and by some sort of miracle I've been shortlisted for two awards again!! The lovely thing is that one of the awards 'RAG volunteer of the year' is an award I have now been shortlisted for every year I've been at Uni. Last year I was also shortlisted for 'Outstanding contribution to student support' and this year I've been shortlisted for 'Outstanding contribution to student life'. Now what I'm trying to do here to be proud of what I've done and think.... wow I must be doing something pretty freaking good right now! Yay!
I suppose what I'm trying to say in this post today is that it's ok to feel proud about the things you do, and there's no need to doubt yourself. I mean what's the use of wasting time doubting your ability when you could use that time to work on it?
This video made me think. We throw around the #firstworldproblems line way to much and I don't like it anymore. I think this video was quite poignant to me and made me think about it and what a yucky phrase it really is.
I found an interesting article the other day. Baileys surveyed 4000 women to ask them who inspired them. The results were quite astonishing as most of the women picked fictional characters rather than real women!! It made me think about who inspires me.
My mum and the women in my family- ok... it's a broad group here! But my mum, sister, aunties, cousin, grandma and my lovely Nannie who is no longer with us are all wonderful in their own rights. I love them dearly and I think that makes them all the more important!
My friends- I have some really wonderful friends. I don't really want to bore you by going through and naming every one of them. But they're wonderful and each and every one is special to me!!
Now actresses are an interesting one- again in the Independent article, many of the inspirational women were actresses. I have actress heroines such as Judy Dench, Julie Walters, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith and Julie Andrews who are all women I admire for their talent. But again, I wonder how much of my admiration is for their characters rather than precisely for them as individuals. Julie Walters and Helen Mirren particularly inspire me in Calendar Girls, my favourite film. I think this therefore means that I'm actually inspired by Angela Baker; the original calendar girl who raised money in memory of her husband.
Now many people know I'm a huge fan of the Bodygossip; through being an ambassador for the campaign I have met the wonderful Tash Devon, Ruth Rogers, Sarah Fullager and Charlotte Gatherer. Now this lot are all pretty incredible too! They inspire me to love my body in all of its real glory!
Now the reality is... I could go on for a long time thinking of all the women who inspire me in life. It heartens me to know there are so many fabulous ladies out there who I hope one day to be even a fraction as great as they are.
I wanted to write something quickly to acknowledge the amazing things a couple of my friends are doing right now! It has to be a quick post as I should be working haha! I'm not saying that all my friends aren't wonderful but I wanted to mention Gerry and Jazz today.
Today Gerry is walking 13km in aid of a really lovely charity that's fairly new in charity terms! Associação Livro Aberto is an organisation that provides books and literacy training to children in Mozambique. It's a really lovely idea that by teaching these children to read, they can then go on to change their own lives and the lives of their families. Jazz, my other fabulous friend, comes across as being one of the strongest most determined people I know! She's walking 10 miles in aid of the Children's Chronic Arthritis Association. Now for Jazz 10 miles is a lot as she has arthritis herself. Jazz is a bit of a hero for me... not that I tell her as I don't want to inflate her ego too much!! She doesn't complain about her arthritis and just gets on with life in such an awesome and determined way. For her to completing this walk is going to take a lot of strength and energy and I think she's being totally amazing doing it. She deserves tons of sponsorship!!! So yeah... my friends are pretty damn fabulous! xx
So tonight is just going to be a really quick post. I feel the need to blog but don't have the energy for a long one! This week I have realised the importance of sleep. Arguably I have the ability to go rather nutty without it. So I'm going to try hard to get myself into a bit more of a good sleeping routine. I've had a read of the national sleep foundation website and they have some pretty useful information about sleep hygiene.. something which sounds a bit random! Sleep hygiene is what's needed for you to have good sleep. Simple enough! I thought I would share some of their tips about ways to get better sleep. My aim is to adopt these to try and improve my own sleep quality!
Avoid stimulants during the day... now as I don't drink caffeine this should be easy enough.
Avoid napping in the day- again this is something I rarely do... so hopefully not something I need to worry about too much!
Do some vigorous exercise during the day, then something relaxing close to bed. I'm a massive fan of pre-bedtime yoga!
Eat earlier on in the evening, late night meals can cause wakefullness.
Sort out a good nighttime routine! This is something I need to sort out! I'm going to give myself a bedtime again... like off of when I was 5!
Create a pleasant sleep environment. Now this is tricky as a student as my room often doubles as a working area. I guess avoiding the temptation to work from bed will be a good start!
To finish, here are some pictures of some really cute sleeping animals.
