Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Sunday, 4 January 2015

My five days without a phone...






Hi pretty people!


      If anyone follows me on twitter or instagram, first of all thank you, and second of all, you will of noticed that on Christmas eve I turned off my phone until new years eve. Five full days. 

     There are countless studies done and articles written about how checking your e-mails less will make you happier, how we are addicted to our phones, how we need to ‘detox from technology’ and cut back on how much we use and depend on it for the benefit of our mental health.  


 During my first stay in St Pats Hospital there was no wi-fi, and I thought I’d become totally detached from the world. But it turned out to be a huge eye opener. Yes it was odd for the first while, I didn’t know what to do with my newly discovered free time, and I swear, the repetitive strain injury in my thumb from ‘sliding to unlock’ healed right up!

    But it also gave me a huge sense of freedom and peace. There was no panic when it came to replying to emails or texts, I didn’t jump every time it beeped, I even noticed I stopped bringing it to the table at meal times. I also began to notice how everyone else was, more often than not on their phone, and how stressed people were as a result. 

    Fast forward a year, and I’m feeling the stress in college at the moment and notice I’m reaching for my phone as a reflex, an outlet for my nervous energy. The irony of it is though is its probably making it worse.  Ironically enough I realised how much I depended on my phone as one evening I couldn't think of anything to do when my mam was using my phone to watch a movie. I was reading an article in Vogue, which I'd had for a few weeks, but had never gotten around to looking at it. The article was about people who were becoming socially unbearable from over use of their phones, and were so busy recording their lives and tweeting their every move they forgot to actually live life.

    I wanted to do some good (how cliche!) for other people's mental health, as well as my own. I'm connected with a charity Walk in my Shoes, which raises awareness of  the issues surrounding young people's mental health. I asked people to make a donation as a sort of 'sponsorship' and to help raise funds and awareness. 



     For the first day, I kept thinking in terms of tweets rather than thoughts, which simply reinforced how much I needed the detox in my mind!I didn't actually miss it much, but I was sick with a kidney infection and panned on the couch, so I'm not sure if that counts. On Christmas Day, I was thinking about how I would fashion my photos of my presents, rather than taking the time to appreciate what I'd gotten and the wonderful family around me. It continued to strike me how much my life, even though I thought I didn't buy into social media, revolved around it. I usually sleep with my phone under my pillow to use the app Sleep Cycle, and listen to rain or something to put me to sleep, but I actually found I slept better in the silence, and don't need anything to help me drift off. Now my phone is at the other side of my room on silent with a regular alarm; and I never use it while in bed.

    I was noticing other things too. My eyes didn't burn, and my folks commented on how they looked brighter. I also noticed I'd more time to, well do stuff. I read a book that I bought and left sitting on my shelf for months. I watched movies properly instead of half watching them, half watching my phone. After two days I found my concentration improved and I didn't have such stiff neck. I was more inclined to take an interest in things around me, and bought loads of books for the first time in ages:) 

    By the time day five was coming up, I wasn't actually looking forward to switching on my phone again. I missed my Yoga Studio app and my Head Space app, but now I don't take them for granted and use them every day. 

 Turning your phone off is good for your mental health!!
End of.



I have found myself slipping back to old habits, but I'm more aware of it now. I try to avoid bringing the phone around the house with me and will not bring it to the dinner table. 

I would definitely definitely recommend that everyone, even just for a few evenings a week, put the phone on flight mode, or just turn it off. With more hotels, such as The Westin in Dublin, doing technology free Wellbeing Weekends, technology detoxing will become more popular and fashionable than ever! I do feel it's inevitable that you have to interact with technology and social media, but I think there's a balancing act to be done. That's something I'll be continuing to work on in 2015.

If you decide to give it a try, I'd love to know how people get on. Does anyone think they have a good balance between technology and life? 

Look after yourself and each other:)

xxxx

www.walkinmyshoes.ie  Link to the charity 'Walk in my Shoes' where you can find out more and make a donation. 
   

    




Wednesday, 31 December 2014

To Do List for 2015......(Because resolution is THE most over used word!)





So this isn't the most thought over post, it's more an accumulation of thoughts from the past year all thrown together in the one place...

So without further a due, as I'm sure you're DYING to know what I intend to be doing over 2015.....

In no particular order....


  • Continue to build, and actually read books from my 'Books to Read' List. I seem to like lists don't I? I have books like 'The Secret' and 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' you know, glorified self help books,  but I'd also love to read some classics, and feel educated. Recently bought loads of good books including 'Quiet' which is all about being introverted, which I think I'm becoming more! All literary recommendations welcome, though no romance or sic fi please!
  • Practise mindfulness and yoga on a regular basis. It never ceases to amaze me how good I feel after either of these practises, but for some reason I don't practise them regularly enough. Or regularly at all. For anyone looking to get started I'd recommend the 'Yoga Studio' app, and of course the legendary 'Headpsace' app or anything by Jon Kabbat-Zinn for mindfulness.
  • Drink more water and green tea. I'm still looking for a green tea I actually like, but I swear if I can find one that doesn't taste like dirt I'll drink five cups a day! 
  • Do most of the 'Couch to5k App'. I'm not sure what most of it is, but I'd like to get past week 3...Oh the shame....
  • Stick with Slimming World, and loose two stone. Oh yeah, I'm now at a I-hate-what-I-see-in-the-mirror-I've-never-EVER-been-this-big-before (deep breath) tenstone. Ten Stone. But now is not the time to get emotional, tomorrow I start a fresh and I know I can do this. END OF.
  • Complete the Compassion based Focus Therapy programme. This is an out patient psychiatric programme which runs for about six months and helps you learn to love yourself and be a bit more compassionate towards yourself, and to help with low self esteem and lack of confidence. I'm hoping to start it over the summer after college. It's a very personal piece of work but I'm really looking forward to doing it.
  • Blog and Vlog more. This is something I say I want to do every year. In fairness, I finally set up a blog this year, so I'm getting somewhere! I really want to buy a decent camera, as at the moment I'm using my iphone4 and the picture quality is dreadful, and there's not much hope of recording a decent video on it! But I will definitely try to sort this out this year and learn how to edit video and pictures as well.
  • Enjoy life more. This seems a simple enough one, but I really want to live a bit more and get to know good people. And laugh. And make friends.

GRADUATE. 

Yeah, this is kinda a big one. Maybe that should be graduate in one piece, considering how stressful I'm finding college and it's only the end of semester one! But fingers crossed this year in September I'll finally be going up to college my degree. Getting a bit teary thinking about it already!

So that's some of my list of things I want to do in 2015. I'd love to hear what other people are planning and hoping for this coming year!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year:)xxxx



Tuesday, 19 August 2014

20 Things About Me Tag:)



Hi Pretty people!

   This tag needs no introduction, and instead of just having it as a quick post, I decided to extend it a little bit. Not, mind you because I am in anyway more interesting than the next person, but because I was afraid the blog was becoming a bit too much about reviews, and I didn't really want to go down that route too much.

   So without further a due!





      1: I'm studying for a degree modern sociology in university. I did a month of my final year last        year, but had to defer due to hospital. Really looking forward to going back this September, I love college and find some of the stuff I study really interesting:)

       2: I adore animals! I have three cats, blackie, pete and felix; who's the only female, who, ahem, relocated from our neighbour's several years ago, cough! I also foster cats, and at the moment I have the wonderful Molly. At one point there was six cats and three kittens in our garden! I seem to spend my life covered in cat hair and scratches! I also have a dog, she's a Japanese Spitz and her name is Sama (the Japanese for lady), but she also goes by sam, samwise, sandwich, samy, baby, oi you and my favourite, fluffy arse. She's totally the baby of the house, is very much always in the middle of things and loves going for a walk!




         3: I like piercings, but love tattoos! I have my navel, tongue, snakebites, septum, micro dermal in my neck, tragus, cartilage and ears pierced. I have my ears stretched to 6mm or 2 gauge, which I know a lot of people disagree with, but I am sensitive to cheap metal in my ears and hated not wearing earring so I stretched my ears up and don't intend to go any bigger. I have about 12/13 tattoos, and my next session will be finishing off my half sleeve, hopefully this week, it was supposed to be last week but was sick with the flu last week:( I'm planning to do a blog post on tattoos with the help of my tattoo artist Eric, from Freedom Ink, and Gentleman Jay a very good friend of mine who's also a tattoo artist, so if anyone has any questions they'd like me to ask just comment below or on my Instagram! I have to say I think piercings and tattoos on the opposite sex extremely attractive too!:)

                                               
   
         4: I left school just as I was about to turn 16 due to a terrible bout of anxiety and depression. Eventually I started to work and have worked in a pizza place, hairdressers, retail, call centre, clothes boutique and eventually decided to go back and do my final exams before college and happily moved on to college:) The crappy jobs that I did before I went back to education are the drive behind me working at college when I really don't want to be there. Sometimes half the battle behind figuring out what you want to do, is finding what you really don't want to do. Even though everyone I knew from school has moved on, and I'm older than a lot of students I study with, I'm glad I waited to go to college, I know a lot more about myself and what I want out of life than I did when I was 18.

       5: I have a very negative body image. I don't like looking at my face and body and thats why I hardly ever put pictures up here of my full face or body, this is also why I find it hard to post face of the day or outfit of the day pictures. It mostly comes back to a very low self esteem due to incidents from my past, and I'll be working through that now my team have identified it. I'm also trying to loose the stone I put on on hospital and finally get in control of my weight, once and for all. But I'll be doing another post on that exclusively. I also photograph very badly and don't turn to in pictures like I actually look like! So please bare with me if I don't a lot of face of the day makeup! 


     6: I love reading. I have hardly any time during the college year to read books, so I don't read half as much as I should anymore. I love the way you can loose yourself in a good book, figure out how the characters look in your head and become totally absorbed in the story and their lives. Two of the best books I have read over the summer are 'The Adulteress' and 'Unravelling Oliver', they are definitely worth a read, because they're human stories. I suppose what I mean by that is they deal with ordinary people and how what happens to their lives makes them into different people. Also you have a preconceived idea of what you instantly think of the main character, but you find yourself challenging that when you read their stories, or at the least partially understanding their actions. 


                                 

       7: I love to write! Ok I don't know if you can count that as a fact, since you probably already know that by the fact I'm writing a blog. When I was younger though I wrote short stories and poems (yes I was that sort of teenager!) and through out most of my life have kept a written journal. I don't write stories or poetry any more, but I love writing my journal as its a great outlet for me and helps me to de stress and get things off my chest. I have to have my diaries in an A5 size, spiral bound, lined and have something cool on the cover, like hello kitty or something!  I think the blog is a great way to connect with people who  are like you and interested in the same things, and I have met some lovely people through it:) I suppose it's my way of putting my life out there too, and I do love writing about beauty, especially about affordable products, as I think some blogs are very high end product focus, and not everyone has the money for it:/ The mental health side of the blog is my way of accepting my own mental health, help other people to understand what the reality of struggling with your mental health is like, especially when you're in your 20's and reminding people whom have their own issues that they're not alone. A big part of it as well is I want to show that people who suffer with their mental health have everyday lives, problems and interests too. 


                                      


     8: I am really short with tiny hands and feet! I am 4'11, with a size UK2 foot or E.U. 34/35.  I hate trying to find trousers that fit or shoes for going out, its impossible! I have a bit of weight on me and a lot of the petite ranges don't seem to have size 10/12 left:( People think it's great because I can buy kids shoes, but when it comes to going out shoes I wind up having to look in specialists shops which means spending a fortune.  My mam and dad are quite short, though both over 5 foot, but my brother is very tall so he clearly got all the height! It has its uses and generally makes people think I'm younger than I am!


   9: From the ages of 12-14 I lived in Budapest in Hungary. My dad works with aircraft so he travels a lot, but this time we all moved with him. We went to an english speaking private school, as there was no way we could of learnt Hungarian! While we were there we visited Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Budapest is beautiful city and the Christmas markets are well worth a visit. 

                                                   

    10: I am terrified, terrified of flying! If there was a word that was 'more frightened' than terrified I'd used that word too. I was always quite scared of flying, which was a pain when we lived abroad, but in the last ten years I haven't flown and I feel sick with fear if I go near the airport! Having previously been in a long distance relationship, it is very restrictive and I am determined to do something about it after college. EasyJet have a programme for people who are terrified of flying which I am hoping to complete, has anyone else every done this programme or any other one? I think its the idea of being in an enclosed space and if someone got air sick around me, but I'm not fully sure what I'm frightened of, but I am determined to beat it!

                                         

    11: I have had my teddy, aptly named Teddy, since Santa brought him when I was seven and he still sleeps in my bed every night. I bring him everywhere I am going to be staying for a while, including college, holidays and hospital! He came from Pennys I discovered later, and is looking a bit worse for wear after several washes and many many years of cuddles! He's the only soft toy I won't let my pets play with and he always sits near my pillows. So sad I know, but it's a comfort thing and he reminds me of home. I love ya teddy!
    
                                                            


      12: Since I've been in hospital I really believe in the saying 'Clean room, clean mind' which basically means that if you're in a neat environment that it will help with how you deal with things when you're having problems. Maybe it's to do with having your room or home in order when you're mind isn't, or being in control of your surroundings when you're not really in control of whats going on in your head. I was never really too pushed before about having things neat, but since I have been home from hospital I find I sleep and think better in a clean tidy room. Or maybe I'm getting old. Actually its probably that! 
      
                                        

     13: I have no interests in brands. I'm much happier to get two items cheaply with no brand name, then get one with a brand name on it. I prefer to judge something on the basis of weather it does the job its supposed to. My Micheal Korres watch was €20 from a stall and the most brand like bag I have ever owned if from River Island. Saying that, I do have a Pandora with only real charms, and I'd love a Chanel quilted handbag! When it comes to makeup though, I can be a bit more of a brand snob, so far the best eye shadows I've found are M.A.C. but I have no objection to buying cheaper stuff if I find it works! The most expensive item in my make up collection is the Benefit Oxygen Wow foundation, which was €35 approx. As a rule I'm not a fan of Benefit, I think it's waaay over priced!


     14: I am surgically attached to my i-phone and I must change! I actually sleep with it charging under my pillow, but I have a good reason for that! I suffer with tinitus, which means I have a ringing or buzzing in my ears all the time, and it's particularly noticeable when there is no other noise around, so I use the rain apps or youtube videos to help me sleep. But I am terrible for always having my head in my phone, I hardly ever use it for calls, but I text a lot and live on instagram. I really have to stop!!
              
                                       


  15: I have incredibly pale skin,my body is pure white and I don't tan I burn. My skin is so pale that when I wear fake tan, which is seriously rare, I just look weird and dirty! It's very difficult to find a pale foundation pale enough unless you go for something higher end, but I have found recently that brands are getting better, I have two different formulations from Rimmel in Ivory and I have to say they're very good colour wise. I might do a blog post on paler foundations if anyone is interested? I recently purchased a white foundation to mix with mine from Makeup Revolution so I'll let you know how I get on with that. A good white foundation that isn't high end can be difficult to find but this cost me about €4! 

   16: I suffer really badly with home sickness, and miss my family tons! In the first year of college I decided I couldn't cope with the home sickness and was going home! I think in college it's something everyone goes through, even if they don't admit it. But in general I am not great at being away from home, and I have to text or talk to my mom every day, I still miss my dad and brother, but they drive me mad! I used to try get the dog on Skype and the phone, which didn't really work out!

                                    

    17: I hate Christmas. I know, I know, people are going to be like 'You're such a scrooge', but Christmas is a very hard time for me. For the last few years its been fairly crap, people were sick, my dad was away working in Abu Dhabi, family arguments, stupid stuff like that, but it affects how I feel about Christmas. I used to think I was a minority until I was in hospital last year, and a lot of people seem to hate Christmas! I came home Christmas eve from the hospital and had Christmas eve and day with my family and had to go back to hospital St Steven's day, the whole thing was a bit of a blur. I remember my mam making this special tree especially for me (I'll post a picture below), and watching Despicable Me 2. I was still going through withdrawals at that stage so dinner was not a big thing for me. But I dislike Christmas because it starts now before Halloween in the shops and by the time December comes around I just feel meh! I dislike it as well because I don't get that Christmassy feeling anymore, and I wish I could get it back, and it sucks so badly that I can't, and I feel I'm missing out on something wonderful that everyone else gets but me. In my home house my mom loves Christmas and goes to so much trouble, but she's the only person like that in our house. I don't know, maybe Christmas will improve for me and I'll develop happier memories.  In the mean time the wonderful tree my mom made, even though this picture makes me quite emotional..

                                      


  18: Moving on! I'm quite good at interior design. I can't do the drawings or room plans but I know what looks good together, I have a good eye for things like colour and pattern and I can visualise a room quite well before its even put together. I seriously thought about studying it at college but I wouldn't of enjoyed having to draw up room plans and mood boards and work with fussy people with no taste!


   19: I have had four operations in my life time. One to remove a growth from my wrist, one to remove a really large absess from my right jaw, one to sew up fissures and one to cut the nerves that cause period pains! After the one on my jaw they didn't sew the face up properly so the right side of my face looks a little slanted I think, especially around my mouth:( I have scars from all the operations, but luckily none of them are majorly visible.

   20: I'm not afraid of needles, but every time I get my blood taken I get really weak and pass out! The first time it happened to me was outside the doctor's office and a really nice old man told me it was a sign of being a really nice person:)


                                           



  So there is my 20 things about me! I hope it was a bit fun to read and learn more about me as a person. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read it as I know it's a bit long, if anyone has any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below! 

  xxxxx