Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lifestyle. Show all posts
You've been working away at those applications on your computer trying to find your next adventure. That job that you've been searching for all along, as the unemployment label hangs over your shoulders. Regardless of what people tell you, there are actually some great benefits that come from being in unemployment, though it may not seem it at the time. Make the most of the time you have alongside the job hunt, by keeping busy and using this time to better yourself. Trust me when you have a full-time job that takes up all of your time, you'll be thanking yourself later!
1) Learning a new skill
Weather it's HTML coding, filming, painting or even baking, this is the time to try to learn something new for yourself. Not only will you learn another skill and gain experience that may potentially become beneficial for you in the future, but it'll help with you own personal growth and development during this time. Future employers will recognise this as a use of your own initiative and willingness to learn, and create opportunities for yourself.
2) Travel
If you have the money and the opportunity, go global. If not, stay local. Discover the environment around you, and appreciate the quiet atmosphere of nature and places yet undiscovered by you. Especially while the kids are still in school, and the adults are working away. Appreciate the slow time before rush hour kicks in, and before you become one of those working people. There are hidden treasures around the city you love, why not discover them?
3) Working on your Bucket List
Is there something that you've been wanting to do for a while now? Maybe learning how to ride horses? Watching all the academy classics? Now's the time to get to it. Maybe they'll inspire you in some shape or form as well! Most of the brilliant ideas in life come to us when our minds are preoccupied with another task. How many jaw-dropping ideas have you had shampooing while in the shower?
4) Spend time with friends and family
Once you're working it'll be harder to keep in touch, especially if you have to move to another city or even country. So make the most of the time you have, and create memories along the way that can cheer you up when you're feeling the blues as well. Friends and family can also provide perspective and be our sense of hope in our darkest hours, so treasure them.
5) Start a blog
Blogging is one of the most underrated fulfilling hobbies one can have. It'll give you a platform to discuss all the times you love, meet people who share similar interests and also teach you invaluable skills that you may not have learnt otherwise. The blogging community is one of the most friendliest of all on the interwebs, so why not join?
Do you have any job hunting or tips that may be helpful for the job search? Sharing is what makes the world go round!
It's that time of year again - where graduation caps fill Instagram feeds, and universities get busy with preparing graduation memorabilia. I remember graduation day pretty vividly. Walking up those steps onto that grand stage and claiming my degree, was a feeling unlike no other. I remember feeling like I has truly conquered education, and I was on top of the world. Seriously, I wouldn't stop jumping up and down that day with such excitement. Embrace that moment, and remember that feeling as you take your first steps into adulthood.
When I was younger, I was never really fond of reading. That may surprise you considering how I regularly post about novels and book signings. Believe me, I tried. I just could never find the right book that peeked my interest. My parents tried hard too - taking me to the library every Saturday, and asking the librarian to help find books of interest. But no matter what I read, I did not care of the stories I was reading, or the characters in these books.
In hindsight this lack of interest probably had more to do with the fact that, all the books I read were written in third person narrative. I've always preferred an much more intimate personal connection to others - a first person narrative, which is probably why those books I read never appealed to me. Somewhere along the way I just gave up. It just wasn't for me. Well ... just then anyway.
To constantly put down your efforts, it is time-consuming, and often not even necessary. You need to relax. Stop that brain of yours and take a second to breathe. Ask yourself, in very that moment, did I do everything I could - with the resources available to me in that time - to the best of my ability? Think carefully with no buts. Then take a second and breathe. If the answer is no, then you have something to work on in future, which is great! More room for improvement and expansion. But if the answer is yes, then take the time to just appreciate the job you've done. No matter the outcome.
Often we are too harsh on ourselves. We need to give each other a break. You are not defined by this project you're working on. You are not defined by your mistakes either. You are defined by your essence, your soul and your personality. So take some time out of your everyday route and be kind to yourself. Treat yourself to something you love once in a while. Tell yourself even when things don't feel like they're okay, that they will be someday soon. If you aren't already, become your best friend. The world can be a cruel place, and sometimes break you in ways that aren't even imaginable. So why are you being so hard on you? Be good to you. If you don't, who will be?
Sometimes in life you find yourself with some free time on your hands, and just no real idea of how to fill the void. You just wish you had some kind of activity or subject to keep your mind entertained without having to break the bank. Especially all of you guys who are saving for some future plans of travel or fun. So without further ado, here are some ways of entertaining yourself for free.
Adulting // the transition from teenhood into adulthood. It's an interesting period of time, where you find yourself slowly maturing into the new and established version of your parents in the millennial form. Something you swore you would never do! It's inevitable, but it's also amazingly refreshing. This is the time where you're truly finding who you are, and who you want to be. It's miserable and magical at the same time, but that's part of its charm. How many of these factors can you relate to?
Whenever you flick through university catalogues, you'll always finds statistics of what graduates are up to six months down the line. When I was applying to university almost four and a half years ago now, I remember how important I thought league tables and graduation statistics were. I remember considering them to be the holy grail of life and success. I paid extra attention to those statistics of where my peers - years ahead of me - were going, and what they has achieved. I remember thinking clearly to myself that the people who weren't employed simply hadn't tried hard enough. After all if you went to a good university and worked hard during those years, it is impossible to not get a job straight after completing education. That is the end goal right? A job? But I was entirely wrong.
Friendships need to be nurtured, maintained especially over time - when distance is at play. They should be appreciated - not only on your dark days but happy ones too. It's important not to take them for granted, because time and lack of absolute contact can lead to their down fall. Over the years, I've picked up tips and ideas of how to keep friendships fresh and constant. So here are a few ways to help keep your friendship strong over the years ...
You've spent what seems like forever carrying out your university work, or working all day at the office, and you can't wait to come home and just unwind. A much well-deserved break, if you ask me. Life gets so busy sometimes, and it seems like a list of never ending chores. But it's so important to take some time out for yourself every once in a while, and give yourself some time to re-energise. It's been proven that taking a break and letting the mind wonder, helps increase productivity as well. Everyone has different ways of relaxing at the end of the day. Here are just a few tips to help you find yours!
I'm homesick for a place that just doesn't exist. My heart lies divided in two places. The place I grew up in, and the place I live in. They both hold memories dear to me. My childhood home holds my friends and my family. Those evenings we spent by the park, playing around the swings and talking about moments in our teenage lives. Those days spent watching movies around the dinner table, with a bowl of my mother's homemade chilli popcorn shared between my parents and I. Now my world holds the independence I always longed for, but never could find in that old hometown of mine. It comes with it's own structure and responsibilities - words my young teenage-self use to avoid like the plague. Instead of waiting for my mother's home made dinners, I create my own with recipes I've discovered on the internet. I make my own flavours with sauces and peppers from the local supermarket across the road. Life is different now. I love it. I do. But then ...
Then comes the feeling of nostalgia. Old friends and places I no longer can visit. Roads that use to be 10 minutes away - within the grasp of my feet - are now three hours away, down a long road which I can not follow. Going back wouldn't help - since people are scattered and following their own path miles away. So I look ahead and find unfamiliar but friendly faces to converse with and become companions on the journey ahead. We talk and we laugh - long hours into the night. With words spoken, and thoughts unsaid. Memories in the making, changing our statuses from acquaintances to friends over time. It does not replace, but it helps to erase, that lingering ghost that calls me to look upon my shoulder, at memories from years before. I still reminisce, but not as much as before. This place I'm living in is slowly becoming my home.
So torn between the world I live in and the world I grew up in. I'm missing a place that doesn't truly exist anymore. So I call up my friends in this new town I've been calling home, and decide to have a movie marathon till 2am to take away these home felt blues. And in those moments I know, it'll pass. As I look upon the faces of the people I have come to know, I feel a tenderness that can only be described as being home. And then I truly know. That one day, I no longer will be homesick. I'll just be content with this small little place I've come to live.
* * * * *
Inspired by my own university experience, I decided to create something that was poetically reminiscent of that time frame of when you're in transition. That period of time, when you've moved to a new town - far from your hometown - and are being to create a new life there. Even if you haven't experienced it just yet, you may do some day. Weather it's for university, a job in a foreign city, or maybe you'll be married and moved to a different country. It's human nature to look back over our shoulders at the past, whilst still trying to creating memories and moments in the present. Who knows maybe you can relate?
I hope you enjoy it! Any thoughts?
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