A Fresh Start For September
Happy September! And apologies for being a little bit quiet over on this part of the internet, I wanted to take a small break before summer came to an end to regroup and find my focus again. I don’t know about anybody else but August is always a difficult month for me, I think all those years in the traditional school system are permanently etched on my body clock and I slow down a lot as the summer haze takes over. That being said it means that September always signifies a fresh start for me and this is what I’m changing up for the last quarter of the year.
letting go of the past 9 months
I’ve struggled a lot with my mental health this year (I mentioned it in this post too), and I’ve found it increasingly hard to deal with. As much as I’ve tried to push it away and pretend like it’s not an issue it’s affected my work a lot, my relationship and well just about everything. Because when I’m not feeling so hot mentally then I like to hide away from the world and once that happens it can be incredibly hard to get back into the rhythm of my day to day life. I’m in such a fortunate position to be able to be in control of my workday and how little or how much I work, but the nature of my job is a very personal one. Over the years I’ve underestimated just how much of myself is put into every single post I write, whether it’s a beauty review or something more in-depth I pour myself into these pages and if I’m not feeling too good mentally then those words don’t come so easily. Being a blogger for a living is something that comes with huge benefits and I feel so incredibly lucky that I’ve been able to make it work for this long but that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be smooth sailing. When your job is very dependant on who you are as a person then it can be an emotional career path. I’ve seen so many people share a post on Instagram about letting go what has already happened this year and it’s been the push I’ve needed. I’m very much guilty of clinging onto the past even though I know that doesn’t ever change the future. I want the next few months to be as awesome as I can make them and September seems the perfect chance to have a fresh start.
a new work flow
For so long I had the same blogging schedule and it worked wonderfully because I was able to give all my time to it. But now, my time has to be stretched a lot further than ever before but I still like to tell myself I can keep up with a schedule that I used to have and I’ve found it difficult to find something that truly works for me and everything that I want to do. I feel like I’ve got a lot of plates to spin and I cannot quite do it all without something suffering. I always used to think it was me and my time management skills were terrible, turns out it’s a little bit of both. It’s truly impossible to do it all and to do it well and the only person ultimately we’re letting down with month-long daily to-do lists is ourselves as no-one else cares if we get everything ticked off. As well as not expecting the world from myself because it’s physically impossible to do it all I do need to work on my time management skills a little, they’re not terrible but they could do with some work and that's going to be a journey in itself.
new posting schedule:
monday, tuesday, thursday, friday: posts on From Roses
Wednesday: Post on The Adventures of Josie & Edie
taking pride in myself
My love for beauty is the whole reason that this blog exists but within the past couple of years I’ve noticed a real shift with my relationship with beauty products and there has been somewhat of a negative shift. Feeling like I don’t need makeup or to do my hair to leave the house has been revolutionary for me and I’m so glad I do feel that way. But, I’ve got myself in a little bit of a rut with not wearing clothes that I feel good in and opting for the purely sensible option instead and I truly believe that you can do both it might just not the obvious option. And the same goes for beauty, if I’m walking the dogs, going to the gym and then working for the rest of the day then I often feel like there’s no point in applying makeup but there is and that’s because it makes me feel good. Something small I did the other day was invest in some new loungewear pieces as that is what I wear to work in and that’s made me feel so much better when being sat at my desk. I worry a lot about striking the balance between being sustainable and kind to the world and buying things. Because I can’t deny I do enjoy shopping and I love having nice, comfortable and confidence-boosting pieces in my wardrobe but I also don’t want to mindlessly shop either. Having a list of things I want to purchase I find helps a lot as it stops any impulse buys but also gives me the chance to scour the likes of eBay and Depop to see if I can find a bargain on there first as shopping second hand is so much better for the planet than constantly buying new.
welcoming autumn
I’m a summer lover, always have and always will be. And being the summer baby that I am it means I’ve always somewhat dreaded the cooler months and for a long time, I struggled with them. Since getting Josie & Edie I’ve had the chance to get up close and personal with all the seasons and even though sometimes it feels far too cold to even leave the house I’ve started to find solace in autumn and winter. Summer always feels like quite a busy time of year in the world but it’s when work is always the quietest whereas I find things to be the complete opposite when the weather turns cold. It’s always when I’m the busiest with work and I love it and the world is a little quieter too, especially on dog walks which is what I prefer. With a new camera in tow this year I'm so excited for our visits up to the Peak District to truly capture how beautiful the colours are.
connecting with others online
Something that I’ve struggled with for as long as I can remember is reaching out to other content creators that I admire, even something as small as leaving a comment on a Instagram photo riddles me fear. I’ve always classed myself as a little bit of a wallflower in the blogging world as I get so nervous and anxious about talking to people just incase I say the wrong thing but to use social media properly you have to be social, it’s in the title really. I’ve eased myself in slowly by leaving comments on the profiles of those that I somewhat know and it’s helping me gain my confidence a lot. And I think that is something that I was lacking a lot with Instagram especially, I never quite felt as confident as I wanted to be and felt like it would be annoying to others so getting out of that thought pattern hasn’t been easy but it’s been so mentally fulfilling.
