Thoughts on growing up

Hey everyone!

I hope you are doing well. I've seen this sign all over London recently and wanted to share a few thoughts with you :)

When I was little - about six or seven maybe - I REALLY wanted to be an adult. I thought that it was the best thing ever: not being told when to go to bed, eating as much chocolate as possible and buying ALL the toys without my mum reminding me that my birthday or Christmas wasn't for another 3 months.
I wouldn't exactly describe myself as a "proper" adult yet, in that I don't have to support a family or get an actual full time job, but as a uni student I'm probably only a few steps away. And yes, no one is telling me to go to bed (apart from myself because I know that I will be knackered the next day) and I could theoretically buy all the toys six year old me wanted (if I also had all the money mini me thought every adult would automatically have). And whilst I enjoy being fairly independent, a lot of responsibility comes with it: bank appointments, living away from home, all of which sometimes makes me wish I could be the six year old version of myself who thought that her biggest problem was that spelling test.

I think that especially after leaving school, whether you are at university, doing an apprenticeship or something completely different, everyone is trying to find their place in the world, what type of person to become and what kind of career would suit them best. With all the deadlines and serious business career talks going on it's SO easy to feel lost in the whirlwind that is growing up.

The other day, I chatted to someone at uni and somehow we ended up talking about what we wanted to do in the future. He told me that he had accepted that he would end up doing a job that he wouldn't enjoy but would pay him well, and that this was okay for him as this was "just what it means to be an actual adult". 

This really shocked me and I honestly didn't know how to respond. I still have that idea in my head, stemming from when I was little, that I will one day have a job that will pay the bills AND be enjoyable and I had not once second guessed that. Maybe it will turn out to be unrealistic, and maybe he will be right and having to "accept" doing a job will be the inevitable consequence of me growing up, but I don't KNOW that this will be the case. Life goes its own way, so it might well be - but I still cannot understand that someone would, at this very early stage, already accept something he knows he won't enjoy.

To me, THAT is the trap of becoming an adult. Not really the responsibilities, because they cannot be changed and we get to experience independence and all the nice things that come with it in return. The real trap is settling for something we don't enjoy. No matter how old we are, I don't think it can ever be wrong to keep that positive and hopeful attitude we had as children. 

I would love to know what your thoughts are on this. Let me know in the comments :)

Have a great day xx

Small things in life appreciation post & the good in exams

Hi everyone!! :)

and another Regents Park picture - also from last year

First of all, I would just like to say a big thank you for the positive feedback on my last blog post. I've never had that many comments before and it made me feel very happy. 

I also figured that my blog posts looked a bit boring without any pictures, so in the name of continued anonymity, today's post has another Regents Park picture! I took a lot last year, and not many (nice ones) this year, so I should definitely find some time and make my way to Regents Park again to take some more!

Today I had my second exam and I think it went okay. A lot of people are doing exams and it's so easy to feel down and negative about this time of the year. But here are a few things that exams have made me appreciate: 

1. Taking a break - as I had my exam in the afternoon, I decided to take the evening off. This essentially means watching youtube videos, listening to music, just being on the Internet (and now writing a blog post) and wow, it's the best thing ever. When I don't have exams, taking evenings off is something that I do most days, and I never appreciated it the way I do right now. That is something I would like to remember post-exams.

2. Friendly people - this morning I was feeling very nervous about this exam (having an exam in the afternoon doesn't help because I basically sat around doing nothing all morning waiting for this exam to happen). When I left my halls, I saw one of the maintenance men, had a very quick chat with him (VERY brief…like - 'you're alright?', 'yeah, you?'), and as he was standing near the door he opened it for me. These are the small things in life that just make you feel 100 times better and I think that I appreciated it so much more at that moment in time.

3. Food - so the thing about exams is that they can be quite long and you are not allowed to take any food with you. Partly, I think that's completely understandable: imagine the person next to you loudly devouring a burger - that wouldn't be very nice. But sometimes I wish we could at least take some chocolate in, just to help with concentration. Most of the time, I will get halfway through the exam when all of a sudden my stomach starts rumbling (I can't eat much when I'm nervous so breakfast is never big on exam days) and I would do ANYTHING - well almost - to have something sweet. Right now, I'm sitting on my bed with cake next to me and I'm appreciating it so much more than I've ever done before. 

Is there anything you appreciate more when you're doing exams? 

Let me know in the comments to make everyone feel a bit more positive about this time of the year xx

Things I want to do this summer

Regents Park last summer

Hello everyone!

The weather is FINALLY getting a bit warmer and this makes me very excited for a life after exams. This post is my version of Tanya Burr's latest blog post and I think it's such a nice idea to write down a list of things I want to do this summer, so thank you very much for the inspiration, Tanya! :) Here we go...

1. Go outside more
I've always preferred being inside. Even as a kid, I would stay inside reading with the sun shining through my window because a) it was the perfect temperature in my room and b) I wouldn't get blinded by the sun and c) no bugs would land on my page (or worse: my back! (once a bee decided to sunbathe on my back and when my friend told me, all I could do was nervously whisper 'get it off me, please' - it was terrifying). At the same time, I want to tan a bit because I'm naturally very pale, so this summer I definitely want to make more of an effort to go outside and enjoy the sunshine! 

2. Do some DIY
Today, I was browsing pinterest for a while (procrastination) and saw some really cute DIY projects that I would love to try. I'm also determined to paint my room, so that's definitely something I want to do this summer when I have time. It will be such a nice change from studying. 

3. Do some exercise
I probably say that for every single 'What I want to do' list I ever created - but it's true. I tried going running last summer but failed miserably, mainly because all sorts of dogs seemed to think I wanted to play and ran after me, which isn't the best thing if you are slightly scared of them like me. 

4. Eat ice cream
This is something I will definitely not fail to do. For me, no summer is complete without eating tons and tons of ice cream (chocolate, preferably) so that HAS to be on the list. 

5. Picnics
I would love to go on picnics with some friends. I think true picnic weather is extremely rare and I would love to make the most of the warm, dry summer days we are (hopefully) going to have. 

Those were the five things that I want to do this summer. Let me know what yours are xx