Wednesday, 11 October 2017
WHY I NO LONGER HATE AUTUMN
As the autumn air creeps upon us and we start preparing for the festivities that are soon approaching us. There is always a voice in my head that likes to associate this season with the end of the year and previously that thought used to make me sad. It used to reinstate the fact that summer had well and truly ended, my period of carefree living was over. I was forced to focus on the events that had occurred during the year, whether I had reached my goals and was often a season that gave me a reality check which frankly, I was never after.
However as the years have gone by, I now see Autumn as a time to reflect, a time of change and a season of letting go. It instead encourages me to check-in on myself, evaluate and analyse my emotions in order to move forward with myself and finish strong. With less than 100 days left of the year, we need to reflect on ourselves and refuse to let the feeling of being comfortable in ways we may have slipped become a habit.
What I believe Autumn represents:
Reflection
A time of reflection on your year so far, a time for you to be grateful of your achievements. To be grateful for where you currently are and to appreciate how far you've come from the beginning of the year to now. Achieving gratitude allows you to shift your focus , and whatever we focus on we move towards.
Change
Autumn is a season where we see evidence of real change in the environment. The leaves are falling and the climate is adjusting. It is a physical manifestation of things changing and also represents a chance of letting go. As the leaves change colour and eventually strip themselves bare, the trees remind of us of how beautiful it is to let go. Allow this autumn to give you a chance to release the dead things in your life that are no longer fruitful.
"Some people believe that holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However there are times when to know when it takes much more strength to let go and know when to do it."
Harvest
To me Autumn is also a time of harvest, its a time of grinding now when it matters. A time of planting seeds in order to be fruitful at the end of the year or to make the start of your year great. It can also be a time to invest in something new for yourself, let it motivate you to experiment with new activities or ideas in your life.
The shorter days and darker nights can create a dull atmosphere but I challenge everyone reading to continue to be intentional with themselves especially when it gets harder this season.
"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Kuro x
Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Who Defines Beauty - GUEST POST by Tobi Sobowale
Who Defines
Beauty?
To put it very simply, you do. Not anyone
else. After all, they do say, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. And
as cliche as it may sound, it is definitely correct. Who is anyone to tell you
that you are not beautiful, who are they? They are definitely not God. So why
do we care so much about the opinion of others?
The other day my friend complimented a girl
saying “she does not need makeup”. He then went on to make a statement
that "well ... no girl needs make up”. I
didn't say anything but in my head I thought, he only made the second statement
because he realised how off the first statement sounded. I understand that he
was just complimenting the girl, suggesting she is a natural beauty. However,
why couldn't he just have just said that? It really does annoy me that people
have this idea that some girls need to wear makeup. A lot of us girls
will say, ‘I don't care what people think,' ‘who cares about their opinion,' ‘I
know I’m beautiful’. But let’s be honest, many of us may feel like we have to wear makeup to feel
beautiful and conceal ourselves due to not recognising our own natural beauty.
I’ve had acne for the past 10 years and now at the
age of 21, my skin has started to clear up. However over the past 5 years, I
used makeup to conceal this and it became a mask for me. I didn't feel
comfortable without it and wouldn't leave my house without it. I’m at a stage
now where this is no longer the case, thank God. But at the time when my friend
made his comment, my confidence without the use of make up was something I was
struggling with. So maybe you understand why I was annoyed by the comment this
guy had made. My dream for us all is that we will get to a stage where, if
anyone tells you that you don't need make up, tell them ‘thanks but no girl
needs make up’. We can’t let other people dictate their opinions or give their words power
over us. It is imperative that we uplift ourselves.
You are beautiful. I am beautiful. And we
need to truly start believing this. Whether we have acne, hyper pigmentation,
whatever it may be. As women we need to support each other and we have to truly
uplift each other so others will truly understand that their opinions do not
matter. The only opinion that truly matters is God’s.
‘I am wonderfully and fearfully made’ Psalm 139:14.
Tobi Sobowale
Founder of the YAB Campaign
For more information about the YAB - You Are
Beautiful - Campaign
Instagram: yab_campaign
Youtube: YAB Campaign
Wednesday, 30 August 2017
The Transition - life update
So I've been away for a little while getting used to this world called "Adulthood" and I'll tell you what.. not all that glitters is gold. My experience of "adulting" and becoming a young adult has been a major roller coaster of emotions and has also felt like I've been on a high speed train going at 100 mph.
A couple of months ago I finished my degree at university. This was one of the best feelings as I was finally able to accomplish everything I've dreamt off in my education life and see it manifest. However, even though the past three years contributed heavily to my life and gave me the opportunity to meet the most incredible people. I was very eager to close that chapter as I drew closer to the end of my final year. I was extremely excited to move on to my new life, the new glamorous young professional lifestyle which I had imagined it to be.
However even though I was filled with so much excitement and joy about the next phase of my life, I didn't anticipate that I would find the transitioning process extremely difficult. I definitely underestimated that I was undergoing a major life change as I went straight into work only a few days after graduating. This transition process has been challenging and I think being in a new routine also contributed to it. The sound of my alarm greeted me every morning in the early hours, then going to face the hustle and bustle of the London underground , being in an intense environment for about 9 hours a day then going back home wondering where all your time has gone because its time to start getting ready for bed and begin the cycle again. Its safe to say when you have a few of those days repeatedly and being a fresh graduate it can get slightly overwhelming. Anyone else who understands what I am talking about can agree with me that moving into a new routine and moving back into your old home with your parents which is supposed to feel familiar but can feel more alien in some ways.
It's only been two months since I started work and around the third week I felt I was loosing a lot of zeal and found that I was living life but letting it pass me by. I'm not sure if anyone can relate to when you are extremely busy, you forget about actually enjoying life and I was starting to place my happiness on the second shelf. We can often feel frustrated with the process of change in our lives and our body goes into resistance mode in order to protect us from going through it. I recognised the importance of slowing down and validating my feelings in order to become more present and susceptible to my change .
Here are a few things that I changed in order to feel more present.
Being more aware
Being aware of your self and of what was going on is really helpful. Understanding how you feel and what emotions you are going through are really important to help you deal with the situation.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Take things one step at a time with yourself. I know I am very self critical of myself and beat myself up because of the pressure I put on myself to succeed and do things well. But during this time of change it's so important to allow yourself to be apart of the process , you are learning and growing everyday and it's okay to make mistakes.
Talking to people in similar situations.
I found it really useful to speak to people who
were going through similar life changes as well as me. Only after speaking to someone who was in a simmilar situation as myself did I realise it was totally normal to feel different when undergoing new life transitions.
I hope that anyone experiencing any new life changes in any form, perhaps at work or moving to university is encouraged by this post in some way. Remember to be grateful for the change in your life because it will be a lesson which is always a blessing.
"The secret to change is to focus all your energy on not fighting the old but building the new"
A couple of months ago I finished my degree at university. This was one of the best feelings as I was finally able to accomplish everything I've dreamt off in my education life and see it manifest. However, even though the past three years contributed heavily to my life and gave me the opportunity to meet the most incredible people. I was very eager to close that chapter as I drew closer to the end of my final year. I was extremely excited to move on to my new life, the new glamorous young professional lifestyle which I had imagined it to be.
However even though I was filled with so much excitement and joy about the next phase of my life, I didn't anticipate that I would find the transitioning process extremely difficult. I definitely underestimated that I was undergoing a major life change as I went straight into work only a few days after graduating. This transition process has been challenging and I think being in a new routine also contributed to it. The sound of my alarm greeted me every morning in the early hours, then going to face the hustle and bustle of the London underground , being in an intense environment for about 9 hours a day then going back home wondering where all your time has gone because its time to start getting ready for bed and begin the cycle again. Its safe to say when you have a few of those days repeatedly and being a fresh graduate it can get slightly overwhelming. Anyone else who understands what I am talking about can agree with me that moving into a new routine and moving back into your old home with your parents which is supposed to feel familiar but can feel more alien in some ways.
It's only been two months since I started work and around the third week I felt I was loosing a lot of zeal and found that I was living life but letting it pass me by. I'm not sure if anyone can relate to when you are extremely busy, you forget about actually enjoying life and I was starting to place my happiness on the second shelf. We can often feel frustrated with the process of change in our lives and our body goes into resistance mode in order to protect us from going through it. I recognised the importance of slowing down and validating my feelings in order to become more present and susceptible to my change .
Here are a few things that I changed in order to feel more present.
Being more aware
Being aware of your self and of what was going on is really helpful. Understanding how you feel and what emotions you are going through are really important to help you deal with the situation.
Don't be so hard on yourself.
Take things one step at a time with yourself. I know I am very self critical of myself and beat myself up because of the pressure I put on myself to succeed and do things well. But during this time of change it's so important to allow yourself to be apart of the process , you are learning and growing everyday and it's okay to make mistakes.
Talking to people in similar situations.
I found it really useful to speak to people who
were going through similar life changes as well as me. Only after speaking to someone who was in a simmilar situation as myself did I realise it was totally normal to feel different when undergoing new life transitions.
I hope that anyone experiencing any new life changes in any form, perhaps at work or moving to university is encouraged by this post in some way. Remember to be grateful for the change in your life because it will be a lesson which is always a blessing.
"The secret to change is to focus all your energy on not fighting the old but building the new"
Thursday, 29 June 2017
Detox Time
Hello friends,
I deeply apologise for the disappearing acts that I have been pulling on you guys, but I also want to say thank you everyone for being forever patient with me. The month of June has been very hectic as you guys know from my previous post that I was completing my final exams for university, following from that I moved back home with my family, went on holiday and then turned 21. So I experienced a whirlwind of events one after the other. When I go through these busy times I feel like its very important to be able to detox.
Detoxing is eradicating yourself from any impurities and toxins within your body. As well as toxins formed in your body there may be toxicity within our life situations. For example, toxic relationships or thought patterns that may be disrupting your self - esteem or drive to make good choices. My decision to detox usually results from feeling overworked and when my body becomes physically tired.
Here are a few PHYSICAL ways to detox your body
Here are some mindful prompts to help detox your mind ( grab a piece of paper)
- Who/ What brings you joy?
- Who/What drags you down?
Well done you have identified what is toxic in your life and the positive aspects
-List what you find uplifting and how much time you are providing for it
-Now list what sucks your energy and how much time you are providing for it.
Evaluate where your energy is flowing to and reshape and revaluate where you would like it to go
Detoxing allows us to make space for other things that fulfil you, it is very important to make time for your mind and your body. Remember to make space in order to recreate. You are your own best friend so take charge of your life and personal well being,
Lots of love
K x
(p.s Thank you everyone for nearly 10k views on the blog)
I deeply apologise for the disappearing acts that I have been pulling on you guys, but I also want to say thank you everyone for being forever patient with me. The month of June has been very hectic as you guys know from my previous post that I was completing my final exams for university, following from that I moved back home with my family, went on holiday and then turned 21. So I experienced a whirlwind of events one after the other. When I go through these busy times I feel like its very important to be able to detox.
Detoxing is eradicating yourself from any impurities and toxins within your body. As well as toxins formed in your body there may be toxicity within our life situations. For example, toxic relationships or thought patterns that may be disrupting your self - esteem or drive to make good choices. My decision to detox usually results from feeling overworked and when my body becomes physically tired.
Here are a few PHYSICAL ways to detox your body
- Decluttering your space - Currently I am in phase 1 of completing this as I have things absolutely everywhere due to my move back home. I've found that having a cluttered environment affects the way I function and physically removing and getting rid of junk frees up not only my physical space but allows my mind to breathe and function better.
- Digestive cleanse - Eating the right things is so good for your body, making sure you have a balanced diet. Eating greens is a great way to remove cancer causing toxins from your body. Vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts help to clear out excess estrogens.
- Herbal teas - I think we all know the implications of herbal teas and the impact they have on detoxing and cleansing the body
- Disconnecting from social media - Its important to control what flows in and out of your mind and into your zone. Breaks from social media are encouraged to break away from a lot of craziness that these social media bubbles create.
Here are some mindful prompts to help detox your mind ( grab a piece of paper)
- Who/ What brings you joy?
- Who/What drags you down?
Well done you have identified what is toxic in your life and the positive aspects
-List what you find uplifting and how much time you are providing for it
-Now list what sucks your energy and how much time you are providing for it.
Evaluate where your energy is flowing to and reshape and revaluate where you would like it to go
Detoxing allows us to make space for other things that fulfil you, it is very important to make time for your mind and your body. Remember to make space in order to recreate. You are your own best friend so take charge of your life and personal well being,
Lots of love
K x
(p.s Thank you everyone for nearly 10k views on the blog)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
