Give yourself a break

 Things I beat myself up for on a near daily basis:

• I don’t write enough
• I didn’t write a blog post
• I didn’t send enough emails for networking
• I look at my phone too much
• I don’t eat enough fruit and veg
• I’ve eaten too much
• I drink too much
• I don’t exercise enough 
• I didn’t exercise today
• I am too lazy to recycle products that require more than just putting them into my own bin collection
• I buy too many products with unnecessary plastic packaging 
• I wasted food 
• I wasted water
• I didn’t write today
• I don’t do enough yoga
• I am not flexible enough
• I am wasting my time 
• I am wasting my time
• I am wasting my time
• I am too lazy
• I don’t do enough
• I am far behind the arbitrary goal I have set myself whatever that may be
• Everyone else is doing better than me
• Everyone else is better than me 
• I am too self centred 
• I am selfish
• I don’t recognise my privilege enough
• I am too tired
• I am so tired
• I am so, so tired.

Things I should beat myself up for on a near daily basis:

Tiny things.

My dad always says that you can't change the world, but you can change yourself, and in doing so you might positively impact others who then change themselves and so on and so on so that ultimately, in a microscopic way, you have changed the world. 

And I think I might have said something similar before, but it's on my mind a lot right now, so it's always worth repeating. 

I have noticed recently that after moments of anger or frustration I might have taken out on those around me, I instantly feel really, really guilty about it. I feel guilty for not having more compassion for the other person, for not being more mindful, for not having more patience. I feel guilty for impacting others in a negative way. This doesn't mean that my anger is never justified, but when I can look at it afterwards and feel a lot less empowered by my actions, it leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth. 

When I have a positive interaction with another person, or even if I witness someone's positivity, I feel instantly transformed. I relax, I smile, I have a skip in my step. I then take this positive energy and pass it on to the next person, thus creating (hopefully) a chain of something to feel good about. In this moment I am thinking of the TFL platform worker who welcomed customers to the station like they were entering some sort of show. Or the train driver who sings little songs about the journey on the Northern Line over the tannoy. I think of Big Issue sellers who have chatted to me, telling me about their day, wishing me the best. Or the lady who turned her car around to give me a plaster for my hand when I fell off my bike at uni all those years ago. 

These seem like tiny things, and they are, but the more compassion we have for each other, the more positive energy we share, the easier life is. When you're not holding tension and projecting everything you are stressed about onto that wanker who just knocked into you during rush hour, life is easier. You let go more. You roll your shoulders back and breathe. 

And this is isn't the primary solution for the utter mess that the government is in, or the cost of living crisis, or climate change but maybe it makes the living part of it all a tiny bit less shit. And if it's a tiny bit less shit, maybe we start making better decisions that positively impact both our own and others' lives. Either way, it does me the world of good. 

Wisteria

The wisteria on the wall in my garden is starting to bloom. I had barely noticed its green buds before it started to drip with purple flowers. But that's the thing about wisteria, it creeps up on you. It spends the majority of the year with its twisting skeleton bare against the bricks, and then all of a sudden it shouts "IT IS SPRING" as if you hadn't already noticed. 

With wisteria comes a sense of calm. Warmer, longer days ahead. A promise of sunny days spent on hot grass. The perfume of the flower is intoxicating. Sweet, hot days of May. 

Some day soon the tree will be laden heavily with its dripping, scented bloom. Huge bunches of flowers like grapes on the vine exploding out of their buds. 

And then, not long after, the purple will begin to rain onto the patio, and the life cycle will begin again. A fleeting, hopeful moment of exquisite beauty. 

An honour, it is, to witness it all. 

Happy 10th Birthday.

I missed the 10th anniversary of this blog by 3 days. I was the tender age of 14 when I wrote my first ever post. 10 years. 10 years of writing, growing, learning, becoming the woman I am today. I would like to think that I have improved my writing somewhat. Here is the first ever post (typos and all): 

"Oh hai there! It's nice to meet you!

 I've made this blog to write about issues I believe to be important and my views on the world and its current happenings. I also intend to write about me, growing up and being a teenager. To hopefully encourage or amuse those who choose to read my blogs posts. I love to write so this should be more than a delight to keep up and should hopefully help me develop my skills as a writer and help me become the writer and desire to be. To sum it up I want to share with the world what I think and my life and my interests and dislikes to be a part of this fast growing culture we have created on our friend the internet. 

So there it was my first blog post on my first ever blog! Don't worry they won't always be as short or as boring as this but we all have to start somewhere, right?" 

Bless her (my) little soul. I wonder what she'd say if she saw herself now. I think she'd be proud, and excited, and perhaps a little scared of all that was to come. 

To the next 10 years, whatever they may hold. 

When the world is burning, act with compassion.

When I was younger, and I'm talking the ages of 14 to 20, I may have tried to make sense of the conflict in Ukraine by writing some misguided post on the matter. As I have got older, I have learnt that sharing poorly informed, outraged responses to various current affairs helps precisely no one. And I say this for posts and articles not written by myself as well (I have in mind the shocking but unsurprising "It's easier to relate to because they're European and white" sentiments from our biggest news outlets at this moment in time). 

I say this because I genuinely believe that consuming outrage and fear and anxiety and regurgitating outrage and fear and anxiety is a damaging and pointless cycle that we constantly find ourselves in. If you can keep up to date with the current events and not feel anxious and tense and unable to get on with the rest of your day, good for you. If, like the majority of people, this is not the case, I advise that you switch off the news and stop opening Twitter every five minutes. 

The average individual is not going to stop this conflict by sharing images of suffering, by giving their two cents on Putin's mental state, by sharing the sentiment that if you aren't thinking about this 24/7 you are a heartless monster. This is not to say that discussing this with others and sharing your feelings about this in order to feel less alone in your fear is wrong or the same thing as the above, but being mindful of contributing to the online cycle of anxiety is helpful too. 

I do not need to constantly consume images and news about refugees or those staying in Ukraine to understand fully that they need support from anywhere and anyone that can give it. This entire conflict and all of its fall out are very obviously completely out of my control. I serve no one by giving into anxiety and letting the news and social media suck me in to a constant narrative of doom. I do, however, have control over small and personal actions such as donating to refugee charities with money or spare clothing or food. I can, in that respect, offer support and solidarity. I can also continue to live my every day in the UK being compassionate towards others. I can be more helpful, more impactful to others if I take care of myself and I am able to be calm and mindful and kind. 

This might sound wishy washy, or even dismissive of the suffering going on, but I personally don't think it is. Falling deeper and deeper into a hole of worrying about something you have no control over serves absolutely no purpose. Acting with kindness, compassion and generosity towards others and yourself is something that you do control and will genuinely make the world a better place. You have no idea who your actions of compassion are going to touch, but you can absolutely guarantee that the response will be positive. Even if you don't see it, even though the reaction itself is out of your control. 

People can be and are brilliant. They are brave and responsible and accountable. They see another human in distress and they offer their help and support. This is what you can focus on and contribute to. Turn off the news, stop doom scrolling. Act with compassion. It's all you can do. 

Resilience

Resilience is the word of the day (well, in my head it is). Resilient being to 'withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions'. Resilience need not always be necessary, and it can sometimes find its way into areas of toxic positivity, but, for the most part, it is good to be resilient. Not least because, at the end of the day, you're going to have to pick yourself up and brush it off in order to carry on, whatever "it" might be. The world doesn't stop and you have to keep going. 

You have to keep going for what you want after two rejection emails on the Monday, and then one on a Friday evening when you're out for drinks with friends. You have to have a little cry, acknowledge that it's all a bit shit and a bit sad, and move on. Tomorrow is another day, etc, etc. 

Resilience is trying again. And again. And again. And again. It is getting back up despite that very overwhelming feeling that it might just be safer and better to get into your bed, pull the cover over your head, and pretend its all gone away. Resilience is finding new paths, inventing new ways, moving forward through whatever horrible obstacle is in the way. Resilience is 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. "We can't go over it, we can't go under it, we have to go through it!"

And you will almost always find that having made it all the way through to the other end, that some other obstacle is there, or some other challenge, or some other thing you must be resilient to. Because the world doesn't stop and you have to keep going. You have to get up, eat your breakfast, and exist through each day. Slowly, calmly, softly, madly, going through each day.

Resilience is a gift, and it is the randomness of life, and it is the only way forward. Wherever forward may be. 

Exactly where I am meant to be.

It seems that occasionally in life you will find yourself doing exactly what you want to do. It might come after a long period of hard work without reward, only to be happening kind of randomly and in a way that has nothing to do with your hard work. It might be fleeting. In fact, it will almost always be fleeting. It will feel like a dream, a dream that you are trying to remember all the details of, a dream that will revisit you in the future and make you ask "gosh, did that really happen?"

The best piece of advice I ever got about acting was that every job you ever do is the most important job you will ever do. I have come to believe that is true. Mostly because each job can be short and after a long time of absolutely nothing. But also because it is so precious, even as the smallest parts, the lowest pay, the smallest productions. 

I am so lucky. When I stand on a stage, or in front of a camera, all I can think is "God, this is it. This is exactly what I am meant to be doing." And it is wonderful, and it is like a dream, and I hope I can keep doing it for a long time to come in any form or shape that it might take.