This year, I’m setting out on one big adventure. Ahead of my 40th Birthday in December, I thought I’d set myself a little challenge. There’s some stuff that I’ve wanted to do for a while. So I thought, why not make it into a ‘thing’ in the lead-up to my BIG 40? It’s common for…
Tag: Mental Health
Hello Anxiety My Dear Friend
“I hope it really does help you to write it all down Bex.” read the message I received on Whatsapp from my Mum two weeks ago. “It certainly helps a great deal.” was my response. Whilst there was a great deal of truth in my reply, as writing has long been a source of therapy…
The Aftermath of Being Made Redundant
Last August, a week before I was due to move, my boss gathered the senior management team on a call and told us we were all at risk of redundancy. Or in official terms, our jobs were at risk. I had two choices: To stay and fight for a new role Leave an organisation I…
How To Overcome Loneliness
I recently found myself sitting in a small room in central London being interviewed for a local radio show (click here to check out my guest appearance on Shoreditch Radio. You’ll find me from 36:18!). Not my average day by any means! During the interview, the radio host asked me if I thought London was…
Moving House Whilst Going Through Redundancy
Five weeks ago I moved from Battersea to Kingston Upon Thames. For those of you who are not too familiar with London, that equates to moving from the city centre to the suburbs. City life had driven me and my boyfriend (who spent most of his time keeping me company during lockdown) crazy during the…
Kicking Imposters Butt
This post was originally published on 21st September 2018 and updated on 19th July 2020. Last night, I managed to stop the little blighters from attack! Who are the little blighters? I hear you ask. That would be the ‘imposters’. Before you think I’ve gone completely nuts, the ‘imposters’ are the little nagging voices in…
Crash and Burn
Why is it that I always crash and burn by the time my annual leave arrives? Over time, I’ve come to realise that if I don’t take a significant break from work every 12 weeks, I struggle to function. Yet, despite knowing that, I still end up feeling burnt out by the time my leave…
My Top 5 Essentials to Surviving Lockdown
Whilst we sit here eagerly awaiting the Government’s next big announcement on Sunday, which will hopefully mean at least starting to understand what the Governments plans are for loosening social distancing restrictions, I wanted to share with you my Top 5 things which are currently helping me to get through lockdown. I’m not talking about…
Tips for Working from Home during a Pandemic
Tuesday 17th March 2020 will remain in my mind for a long time to come. My boss had scheduled a company wide ‘test’ working from home day. As the spread rate of Coronavirus started to increase in the UK, our ‘test’ day had been brought forward by a couple of weeks. Little did we know…
The Return of Self Care Sunday
With the tragic death of tv presenter Caroline Flack this weekend, I felt it was time to have some ‘me’ time today. Not only is her death a reminder to be kind to each other, it’s also a reminder that we need to remember to be kind to ourselves. I’ve neglected my self care regime…
Turning 35
This post was originally published on 3rd December 2018 and updated on 28th November 2019. This weekend, I turned 35. Birthday’s normally create moments of reflection for me. What have I accomplished in the last year, what do I hope to accomplish in the next? So far this year, I’ve been too lost in other…
Reflections
When I decided to book my trip to India earlier this year, I knew it was a life changing decision. I still find it hard to explain the feeling I had at the time. It was a mixture of excitment and overwhleming emotion, just knowing that this was absolutely something I had to do. I…
Why do we exercise?
Ok, so a large part of exercising is about us looking after our physical fitness. Keeping in shape, improving our health, as a way of letting go of our frustrations after a long, gruelling day in the office, to improve our mental well-being. All perfectly valid reasons to exercise. Whilst many people choose to join…
Self-Care Neglect
As I write this blog post, I’ve been trying to think of a suitable word to sum up how I’ve been feeling during the last couple of months. All I can think of is… ‘meh’. A pretty nondescript word, but sums up how I’ve been feeling. Life has been a little bit all over the…
Green Fingered Gingernut
I first fell in love with gardening when I moved into my first house. I was in my mid 20s, with my first mortgage, and my very own back garden. And it was awful. With the neighbours conifer trees blocking out all signs of sunlight, and the stickiest clay soil I had ever tried to…
Mental Health Awareness Week
I’ve been thinking about mental health a lot this week. Particularly apt due to it being mental health awareness week. Everywhere I’ve turned there have been reminders about looking after our mental health. Social media has been full of interesting quotes and articles, and celebrities as well as us ‘normal’ folk have been talking about…
Time to unsubscribe
Over the last few weeks my emails have been mounting up. Unusually, not my work ones, which finally seem to be under control after nearly 4 years into the job! My personal emails however, have become ridiculous. I have two email accounts. One which I’ve had for years, and one which I use for all…
Positivity
Have you ever stopped to consider why you attract negative people into your life? I have to admit, it’s something I have often made a habit of. Not on purpose of course. But time and time again, I would find myself attracting friends and partners who were negative and needy. No matter how hard I…
Knife crime, dirty laundry, and self care
The last couple of weeks have made me realise just how important it is to have a self care bank. If I hadn’t been able to cash in on some of my self care reserves, I definitely wouldn’t have got through it as well as I have. Most of the drama that has unfolded, has…
Praia Santa Eulália and Praia da Oura
I’m now back in gloomy, grey, England after a beautiful few days in Portugal. The flight into Gatwick yesterday was slightly unnerving, as we landed in high winds. There were gasps, followed by a few expletives from passengers as we made our descent, but thankfully, our pilot got us back safe and sound (and without…
Miss Explorer v Miss Relaxation
Since I arrived in Portugal, I’ve been feeling torn. My intention was to get away, relax, get some self-care points in the bag, and have some much-needed reflection time. However, my inner explorer keeps trying to lure me away from this. So, I’ve compromised, alternating each day. A day of exploring, followed by a day…
The Simple Act of Showering
It’s funny how sometimes it’s the smallest new tips or habits that can really change how we feel and deal with situations. For me, being quite newly aware of self-care and wellbeing, I’m constantly learning new methods to try and experiment with. Some stick, others don’t. But I know my self-care journey is all about…
Self-Care Sunday
After the wobbles of last week, it’s been a beautifully chilled weekend. Whilst some of the immediate work pressures have been lessened, there is a lot to do over the next few months, with lot’s of evening meetings coming up. I knew I needed to get some self-care bonus points in the bag to help…
New Year, New Goals
It’s that time of year again when we take time to look back at the last 12 months and to look forward to the next. I reflected on much of the last 12 months in a blog I wrote earlier this month called Turning 35, so now it’s time to focus on the next 12 months. I’m not…
Change – Part 2
In Change (Part 1), I wrote about the importance of living life. How life was too precious and too short to plod along, and how sometimes it takes a life-changing event to give us the wake-up call we so badly need. In Change (Part 2), I want to share with you, my readers, how a…
The Mindful Gingernut 