black and white photo filled with a crowd of people mainly turned away from the camera. There is one man at the bottom, front of the photo who is looking in a different direction and you can see half his face

Easing into the ‘new normal’

In England, as lockdown starts to ease, the pressure to go back to pre-pandemic life can cause heightened anxieties. We are now so used to a slower pace of life, social distancing and wearing face masks has become our ‘new normal’. With little still known about what will happen once restrictions have been lifted, it’s understandable that so many of us are starting to experience ‘return anxiety’.

outline of tops of forest trees being submerged in fog. The picture is in black and white and you are only able to see a few trees in the foreground before they are submerged in fog

Thoughts: Ghosting

Reading Ghosts by Dolly Alderton bought back the memories of my own experiences of being ghosted. An experience that has only come about in the last couple of decades with more communication moving from human interactions to the screen on our phones.

Here we go again

I have been looking at ways to be more gentle with myself and really identify what helps to ease my anxiety. With a global pandemic along for the ride, it has a been a great un-learn and re-learn situation. In the last few days I have been thinking about what I can use to help me through lockdown 2.0.

Learning how to look after myself again

Lately I have been getting overwhelmed which led to exhausting myself, keeping myself as busy as possible to avoid having to stop. I was so scared of losing control, and yet that’s exactly what happened because I wasn’t giving myself the time to process anything.

Paperback copy of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara on a grey tasseled blanket

Thoughts on A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Usually I struggle to write reviews for books, as I find it difficult to articulate my thoughts, themes and synopsis without going overboard on adjectives. As a way to develop my writing skills, I write mini reviews on Good Reads and apart from the times when I can’t be bothered, I have noticed an improvement. A Little Life has left me so conflicted that for the first time I actually have a lot to say about it.