A reflection on 2018

Wow, 2018. What a year it’s been! It’s been a roller coaster that’s for sure, but the one thing that’s remained consistent is my love for beauty and my little space to blog about it. And for that I am very thankful.

I’m thankful you are still here after I’ve taken many unplanned breaks and grateful to those who still read and comment on my sporadic posts and press the little heart on my Instagram posts. So before I go any further, I want to say thank you. Thank you for still being here and for all your support in 2018.

My career in 2018

This year I decided I wanted to change careers. I am a qualified solicitor who doesn’t want to do law. Go figure. I decided that I might enjoy marketing, so I went about persuing that. I was offered a marketing role at a law firm, which I thought combined my new passion with my experience so fit quite perfectly. So I was offered the job that will be my stepping stone into my new chosen career path, and for that I am very thankful.

Adjustments in 2018

The past year has seen many adjustments. Moving back from being abroad and adjusting to life at home after living away from home for so long. Finally finding a new home to move into with Jay (again) and adjusting to that (a good adjustment, don’t get me wrong.) Adjusting to a new job and working full time again. Adjusting back to juggling my blog alongside a full time job, running a house and trying to make time for spending time with others. Adjusting to changes in friendships and families and coming to terms with the changes. The list goes on.

My blog in 2018

This year I’ve had many doubts and breakdowns about the state of my blog. I’ve had back and fourth tennis match style arguments with myself about whether I should sack the whole thing off. I don’t always have time to take photos and write posts and sometimes I’ve had to allow myself some rest and put my mental and physical health first. Every time I have this conversation with myself, I come to the conclusion that this is just a hobby. And I’m doing it for fun. And that it’s okay not to post sometimes.

I’ve had a lot of wonderful opportunities from my blog and I’ve met some amazing friends. So for those I am very grateful. Of course the conversation always veers to the same “well if I want to grow my blog and social media I need to post every day and take lots of photos but how am I ever going to do this when I can only take photos at weekends and my full time job prevents me from growing it but I can’t give up my job as I don’t have a big enough following to make an income out of it” and so on and so fourth. You see the struggle.

Mental Health in 2018

There have been some bad days and some worse days and some good days over the last year. Thankfully my anxiety hasn’t been consistently bad enough for me to warrant a trip to the doctors, but this year has presented itself with new hurdles for which I never discussed how to overcome. I had my first ever panic attack this year, which was not a nice experience. I also feel that people still don’t “get” mental health and if plans are cancelled as a result of it, they don’t quite understand and think you’re being a nuisance. But maybe with time, this will change. Who knows.

Resolutions for 2019

In short, I’m not going to make any. Every year I vow to read more, take more baths, lose weight, but it never usually pans out. So instead, I’m just going to take every day as it comes and make sure I look after myself.

Overall

If you’re still here, you deserve a medal. Ramming this mish mash of thoughts down into a blog post was quite therapeutic actually. Writing everything down in front of me like this made me realise just how much of a roller coaster ride 2018 has been and it has made me see that I have many things to be thankful for. So if you’re still reading this, and you’ve been feeling any of the things or have experienced any of the struggles I have, I want you to know you’re not alone.

So here’s to a happy and prosperous 2019 and may it bring everything you wish for. Happy new year! Thanks for reading!