Halfway Through the Year: 6 Things I've Learned in (Almost) 6 Months

Okay, so it's not exactly halfway through the year yet, but still...we're in June. That doesn't really seem possible. It only feels like last week I was regretting downing a pint of wine on New Year's Eve. This year has already been quite a whirlwind, and no doubt it'll continue to be that way, what with starting an even more intense year of uni, moving to a new house in Southampton and celebrating my 19th Birthday next month (please, Ellie, no more pints of wine this time, okay?). There have already been some brilliant and memorable moments this year, but also some pretty horrible ones, and throughout all these experiences, there have been some life lessons well and truly learned or reminded of. So here's some Ellie insight for you (with some monthly highlights to illustrate), kicking things off with...

DO MORE OF WHAT YOU LOVE AND BE PROUD OF IT

January: this was taken during my first week back in Southampton, while I was snapping some edgy street art. Obviously Emma and I had done a bit of shopping (photo creds to Emma for this one too), and I believe that day we bought new holes in our ears, and a house for second year

So I've had this blog now for nearly four years. And when I tell people I've known for a fairly long time that I've been putting all this up for that length of time, they're reaction is usually something like: "WELL YOU KEPT THAT QUIET." Yup, I did. The reason being is because I didn't really want anyone to see it, that I was kind of keeping all my posts for me. To put it simply, I was a bit embarrassed. Over the years my content has become a whole lot better, and I've started become more confident in what I can write and produce. So I decided to promote myself a little more, and here we are today, with some semi-successful posts and some really lovely comments from people that read them. Studying a creative course has really drilled the idea of focusing on what you enjoy. Making things you're passionate about the centre of what you do can inspire you to create so much good stuff; I hope that when you read these posts, you can tell that I love writing them. And since I procured the mindset of "who cares if people don't enjoy it? You do", I've become a lot happier sharing my lil blog with you lot. And this life lesson doesn't just go for my blog, it also goes for finally picking my guitar up again recently and learning songs I want to learn, and recording them when I'm happy with them. Or actually telling people I got good grades at uni and not just shrugging it off like its no big deal because we should all be proud of what we can do and not be embarrassed about it. Ok? Ok.

HOW TO BE A BIT MORE OF A MORNING PERSON?????

February: definitely a February highlight was one of my best friends, Hannah, coming from home to visit me in Southampton. Obviously Stakks pancakes were a must.

I know, I didn't think it was possible either. Waking up at 11am, having breakfast way past lunch time and completely wasting the day was becoming pretty routine for weekends and days off at uni. It made me quite grouchy for the rest of the afternoon and messed up my schedules. So, ladies and gents, I present Ellie's way of being a bit more of a morning person in a few simple steps:

1. EXERCISE: the thought makes me shudder too. But, a year or two ago I discovered YouTube workouts, and for someone too self-conscious/lazy/poor to go the gym, they're a God-send. Popping just a ten minute workout on in the morning - or even an at-home yoga workout, I've really started to enjoy yoga recently too - makes you feel a lot more prepped and motivated for the day. 
2. HAVE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE MORNING: I love food, which is why step 1. is necessary. In the mornings recently I've made a bit more of an effort to make a nicer and healthier breakfast to encourage me to get up. My brekkie of choice at the moment is porridge with honey and banana, with a mug of green tea. So good. 
3. GOOD TUNES: the first thing I do in the morning is check my phone, usually scrolling through Instagram endlessly and simply not moving from my cocoon of bed sheets. Instead of doing this, I try to make a bee-line for Spotify and put on a playlist with some good, happy songs to make me actually want to move. 

 IT'S OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY

March: a very excited Ellie & Emma on the tube on the way to the O2 Arena ready to see Fall Out Boy. My eyeliner looked good that day, nice job gal.

This is hella important to realise and to talk about. Uni has provided me with some of my lowest moments. At the start of uni I felt like there was almost a pressure to enjoy myself; I was paying all this money to go, and everyone would always say "oh, you'll love uni, it'll be the time of your life." And usually, it's so much fun, but there are times when it does get a bit too much (I go into a lot more detail about the whole uni shabang here if you wanna go give that a read). I get stressed out easily, and being a first year uni student, I was finding entirely new situations to freak me out that I didn't know how to handle. I really had to drum the idea into myself that no one would find this a complete breeze. No matter someone's situation, whatever they're doing, there will be things that'll get them down, and sometimes it's impossible for all people to just carry on and wear a smile all the time. If you need to take a break...take that break. I've learned that I'll feel worse if I don't acknowledge that I'm not feeling great and just keep pushing forward, cos chances are I'll snap eventually. Taking care of yourself and your mental health is so, so vital. Talk to people, take time out for yourself, write your feelings down - do whatever you feel is going to make things better. It's okay to focus on you if that's what you need to do. It's okay.

TOP UP ON YOUR SUNSCREEN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

April: another month, another visitor. My gal Rachel and I had a good sing-song to the cheesy classics at Oceana. 

Ellie, how are you 18 and only just learned this? Yes, I know, ha ha ha. I'm usually very good when it comes to protecting my skin against the sun but over the recent, sunny weeks, I got a bit lax and I ended up looking like a drumstick lolly, with half my back red and half my back white. Not a good look. So, yeah, in comparison to my others, this is short and sweet but also pretty important. Factor 50 from now on, Ellie, it's not like you tan anyway sis.

PEOPLE WILL COME AND GO AND THAT'S ALRIGHT

May: my last month in Southampton for a while, spent trying to cram as much time in with this wonderful bunch as I could.

I'm not sure how to go about this one. It kind of divides up into two points: 1.) sometimes you have to cut people out of your life, and 2.) sometimes people will just leave it. Okay so point numero uno: kind of relating to the 'it's okay not be be okay' life lesson, sometimes to make yourself happier, you need to stop surrounding yourself with the people bringing you down. It seems harsh, but it works. Whether that's stopping following the people on social media that make you feel worse about yourself (even though you need to remember that social media feeds are just constructed by people who want to make their lives look as impossibly good as they can and it's all lies but anyway) or physically just staying away from people that have a negative impact on your mood. The latter I haven't necessarily done by choice, but that brings us to point numero dos. Some people kind of drifted when I went to uni, and some people cut me out of their lives, and if that's something they needed to do then good on them. It can hurt when people sideline you, I know that, but it also does make you realise who your true friends are, and also makes room for new people to come into your life and make a difference. Everyone's a lesson.

LIFE'S TOO SHORT 

June: so as I write this we're only two days into June, but I'm in one of my fave t-shirts with The 1975 blasting out my speakers, and I have a giant mug of tea. It's a good day.

"Life's too short" is something I hear people say all the time, but I kind of brush it off. This year it has hit home more than ever. I mean, we're in June fgs. This is why I need to start getting up before 11, start making myself happy as well as trying to make other people happy and start doing more of what I love. I mean, I've pretty much said in other points everything I'd say here, but sometimes I just need reminding to stop focusing on the negative, look on the bright side and live my life. I think we all do.

That felt like a bit of a magical mystery tour of a post to write. I realise it's quite long too, soz. But I hope you enjoyed it, and here's to the next six months. 

From, 

Eleanor