Monthly mindscape – feline
It’s that time again, a chance for me to have a little fun with fiction and bring you along for the ride. And I’m particularly excited about this month’s because the picture I found involves a cat! Anyone who knows me will already know I’m a cat lover and while Dan and I can’t have one in our current flat, we have grand plans for a cat (and a dog)…
Seedling Ep 16. How to get out of a funk
This week I want to talk about what we can do to pull ourselves out of a funk. You know the feeling – when you have zero motivation, you’re stuck in a rut and you really just want to stay under a duvet. I experienced this pretty badly in autumn last year so I wanted to share my experience and the steps that really helped lift my mood and make…
How to find motivation for life again
Ooft, this is a bit of a dramatic title isn’t it? But I think all of us can have those moments when motivation for anything is lacking. Maybe work isn’t firing you up like it usually does, or life admin is getting on top of you. I’ve been there (pretty recently actually) and know how it feels when you want nothing more than to stay in bed and hide under…
When life doesn’t go to plan
I am a huuuuuge fan of planning. Having things organised and planned soothes me and list-making genuinely helps reduce my anxiety levels. I like to know what’s ahead and I’m sure I’m not alone with this. Unfortunately though, life doesn’t give a shit about your plans. In fact, if you sit down to make a five-year plan I can almost guarantee things will change. And that’s because we change. We’re…
Letting go
My first post of 2017 (and second post ever on Blue Jay of Happiness) was about goal setting. I listed some goals I wanted to achieve and ways I planned to do that. And while I of course still think it’s an *excellent* post… this year my mindset has definitely shifted. I still have goals and things I would like to achieve this year, but instead of listing them out…
Why you’re downplaying your dreams
What is your dream in life? It’s a big question I know. But every now and then it’s good to sit down and ask yourself big questions. Our priorities change over the years and so do our dreams. Mine have certainly changed from the days when I was determined to move to London and work as a fashion writer. That life doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever now. Really quickly, go…
Stepping out of my comfort zone and into what I really want with Blogtacular
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have spotted that I went to Blogtacular last weekend, a conference for bloggers and creatives in London. I wasn’t actually planning on going… I joined the Facebook group and Twitter chats after discovering Blogtacular’s podcast, but thought I would attend next year, when Blue Jay of Happiness was a bit more established. Then people started saying “looking forward to seeing…
Motivation to exercise – how to find it after you’ve lost it
My initial motivator for joining the gym in 2009 was an upcoming trip to Thailand. I wanted to be fit enough to endure the hikes and physical exertion. After that, while I did still exercise (I was always doing yoga and did some home workouts) it was pretty sporadic and I stopped going to the gym. I joined the gym again in 2015, inspired by my then-flatmate Emily and switched up my routine…
Overcoming complacency at work
I briefly touched on this subject in my post about stretching your comfort zone, but I wanted to delve a little deeper into the topic of complacency at work. It can be so easy to become complacent in the workplace. Once you’ve been somewhere a while, you’ve got your job down and you know your role like the back of your hand it’s hard not to get complacent. You start to…
How to become a morning exerciser
“Urghhh, you’re one of those people?” I hear you groan. Yeah I am (sorry about that) but I wasn’t always, I swear! In fact up until last year the thought of getting up before the crack of dawn to exercise would have me laughing, rolling around the floor saying ‘hellllllll no’. I love sleep. I love bed. Why on earth would I leave them? When I first joined the gym,…