Cat Tee & Thoughts.

Tassel Choker* – Regalrose
Faux Fur Coat* – MissguidedΒ (Sold out – similar)
Vintage Cat Tee – Similar
Vintage Tartan Skirt – SimilarΒ &Β Similar
Studded Backpack – Rebecca MinkoffΒ (Sold out – similar)
Dedi Boots – UNIF

Happy 2016 you lovely people! Here are some pictures of me in an adorable vintage cat tee that are generally unrelated to the post below (oops!)

With the arrival of the new year I have – as I’m sure that you also have – seen countless blog posts with people writing resolutions, and their achievements of the past year… such a lovely idea – it makes me so happy that people are unafraid of celebrating their successes and what makes them happy! But I was scared to. Everyone seems to be what the want to be, to know where they’re going. Yet, in all honesty… I do not.

After sitting around, reading countless blog posts and feeling sorry for myself, I realised:

While maybe I’m not quite as accomplished/ happy/ balanced/ environmentally-friendly/ ethical/ healthy as others are (and as I’d like to be), all I can do is try to better myself and do more. Not for anyone else, or to measure up, but for myself and my own happiness.

And not only that, I have so much to be grateful for – happy and healthy loved ones, a roof over my head, food on my plate! I also have a job that I love, as well as this little side hobby, that does seem to be growing! I really shouldn’t allow myself to get wrapped up in such comparatively lesser worries, but sometimes my brain just runs off with itself and doesn’t allow for rational thought…

Things like anxiety have held me back for a long time, and often I feel like I have a handle on it but then (more often than not) I’ll inexplicably end up back at square one, which is incredibly frustrating. I adore blogging, but that makes it hurt even more when I’m too afraid to take photos, or to even open up a page and write anything. It feel like it’s trying to take away my passions, and make me scared of them. I guess that explains my struggle with frequent posting over the past year (so sorry about that, and the fact I’ve always just kind of tried gloss over it). But finding balance through eating right, yoga, meditation, colouring and other calming methods is helping me push back. All I can do is keep trying, and more importantly keep looking after myself.

In terms of other resolutions, I will continue with upping my ethical game – I’m fairly sure now that all of my make-up & beauty regime are cruelty free and I will be keeping that up, and further extending this mentality to my diet. So I’ll be trying to ensure that all meat and animal produce that I’ll be consuming will be from high-welfare animals (currently researching small farms/butchers that specialise in this, as well as services like Abel & Cole). This is looking like it will be an expensive decision (wah), so will probably mean that I’ll be cutting down on the animal product that I do eat!

I’ll also be make more time for my loved ones, so that they know they are loved, and also trying to push through things that initially seem scary, to prove to myself that I can do them!

As I write this it is terrifying as I feel like I’m sharing a silly amount, but it does feel like I’ve taken such a weight off and that I can go into this year less afraid. Start as you mean to go on and all that, eh!

I’m sorry for being such a massive rambler above, but it did help. Have any of you written like this and found the same? What are your thoughts/ resolutions for the year ahead?

I hope you will have the most fantastic year, and that you’ll be truly happy with everything that you achieve :3

Take care, you beautiful people!xxxx

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15 Comments

  1. 3rd January 2016 / 6:13 pm

    I think your new years resolutions is a great idea! Thank you for sharing. Also, having "meatless mondays" or something like that is a good alternative to going completely vegetarian/vegan if you are looking to have a more ethical diet. Good luck with your goal! I think it's awesome πŸ™‚

    Pay with Polka Dots

  2. 3rd January 2016 / 6:46 pm

    Firstly, I want to express how forever envious I am of the way you can pull off literally any item of clothing. I tried on a fluffy coat just like that recently because I love them but it looked absolutely ridiculous on me (I blame my shortness) haha.

    I haven't done one of those resolution/reflection posts either because I feel like I don't have much of anything to reflect back on, but I probably do. So I definitely feel you on that point. I love what you do so I'm grateful that you post content at all, if you don't feel up to doing it regularly then you shouldn't feel pressured into doing so.

    Also I'm sure a lot of people, myself included, would be interested in the cruelty free products that you use! πŸ™‚ x

  3. 3rd January 2016 / 7:20 pm

    Sigh… all of what you said is exactly what I struggle with on a day to day basis. This post helped me so much.. I'm so glad you shared. I am very new to the blogging world and I often want to give up.. but I know that is my anxiety and fear taking over and I cannot let that control my life.. or what I love to do. Thank you for always being a wonderful inspiration, and for being real. <3

    http://www.susannicorn.com

  4. 3rd January 2016 / 8:51 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this! You seem like such a wise person. To me, it has always helped to write, and I've kept a diary for ~15 years, and I think it has helped me a lot in getting to know who I am and what I want (good and bad). I recommend it to everyone ^^ But only as long as you enjoy it, because I've heard people feel like they are forced to write every day and get anxious, and then there really is no reason to do it. We all have our own ways πŸ™‚ I wish you all the best!!

  5. 3rd January 2016 / 10:33 pm

    Funny, I just wrote an resolutions post! (Not sure why that is funny, pretty much everyone is doing it but hey). Girl, no worry about sharing your personal life!! If there is any place to be able to let it out, this should be it. Congratulations on your amazing resolutions, that's so inspiring! I'm sending you all the good vibes to help with your anxiety! πŸ™‚

  6. 4th January 2016 / 3:42 am

    I think your resolutions are great! I know how it feels to be afraid of opening up and sharing too much. I've received nothing but support when I do. I love your style and am very inspired by you to be braver with my outfits. Thanks for blogging!

  7. 4th January 2016 / 10:23 am

    Beautiful! For me I just want to keep growing and I think it's great you're doing these things for yourself. For me my insecurities have stopped me doing youtube because whenever I do I delete the video and think no one will ever want to watch it, that's something I think I want to change <3

    The Quirky Queer

  8. 4th January 2016 / 12:32 pm

    I really admire you for sharing your thoughts on this, I find New Years resolutions quite personal and find it difficult to share them! Hope you have a lovely Christmas season! Love the outfit too, the top is so cute and I love the fur coat! x

    Summer, The Twins Wardrobe

  9. 6th January 2016 / 5:53 pm

    Whenever I try to type up something personal about my fears or unhappiness, I always end up deleting it because it feels like no stranger on the internet would care, which is silly because I always care when people I follow post their thoughts and feelings. I think it's very strong of you to post this, and I'm glad writing it out has helped you! I've also found anxiety has held me back from moving forward on my projects, so I spent all of last year just watching movies and feeling sorry for myself. But interestingly, all the movies I watched helped me refocus my goals and see what I really want to do! I think sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is take a break, because even if it's something you really want to do, the pressure you put on yourself to get it done will make doing it seem impossible and take all the fun out of it. I'm glad you're feeling more grounded abut yourself!

  10. 8th January 2016 / 12:38 pm

    Hi Olivia! Your style is awesome. Go ahead! ;D

  11. 8th January 2016 / 5:44 pm

    A vegetarian diet is not as hard to keep up as you think! You could become mainly meet free, but only eat food on holidays like christmas or birthdays/family BBQ's. It's a great idea and i'm so happy to hear it πŸ™‚

    elitealien.blogspot.ie