A Very Belated April Update and Alphabetical Instalment Part 4
Hello my dear readers,
I hope this blog post finds you well and refreshed whatever you are up to.
I started trying to write this post about 5 weeks ago...and as you can obviously tell time has flown and it is no longer April any more. It just seemed to be that every time I sat to write a blog post there was another essay I should be writing, gym to go to, social occasion, reading to be done, more essays to be written...and so on. It just getting put off and for that I would like to apologise as this blog is one of my favourite things to spend my time doing and I know it's also the main way some of you back home actually find out what I've been up to as I am getting increasingly appalling at keeping in touch too. So apologies to you all that feel like you missed out on a crucial part of your April excitement! However I do feel that by actually going out there and doing things it has meant there is actually news to share with you rather than me complaining about work. Life has to be lived else I would have to have a much better imagination for this blog :P
Anyways now that I've got the preliminary apologies out of the way I shall dedicate the majority of the rest of this blog post to sharing some of my April highlights and bringing you up to date with the goings on in the Life of Megan Myer.
In the Alphabetical section of my blog feature we have now reached the letters G and H, wooo! (You can check out the first three posts here, here and here.)
On my poster (which has now sadly had to be taken down in preparation for moving out) the letter G stands for Give More Than You Receive. I'd like to think this is something I don't need monthly encouragement to do! This is a section where I'm worried that I'm going to sound far too big-headed and perfect but honestly my generosity one of the few qualities I like about myself so I'm going to speak a bit about it here. The family values I was raised in always encouraged me to think about others in my actions from a young age and, in hindsight, as I grew older I often found myself taking this too far and giving my time to others with out making time for myself. Empathy is a gift and a curse often but I wouldn't live life without it. It's just about finding that balance. So... back on topic! This generosity, giving to others, inspired by a Christian, liberal upbringing and me just being me, has always been there to degrees but this month I made a real concerted effort to up my game and help others on a bigger scale, to give a bit back to a world which has given more to me than it has taken away.
Some of you know that I am not the world's most enthusiastic exerciser but I have become a recent convert of late which you can read about here. My parents however have always been much more into this than me and have for a good while now been involved in doing Parkruns. This movement started up about 11 years ago and has now spread across the world (you can read more about it here). They are essentially free volunteer run 5ks that happen every Saturday and you get a time at the end. I went with mum and dad to the Portrush one when I was home and when I didn't collapse I decided - out of some kind of delirium - that this is something I wanted to do regularly. I registered and bought myself a tram pass to motivate myself to go to my local one in Sheffield and now a good month one I have been going regularly and feeling much better for it. But what does this have to do with giving I hear you wonder? Well basically there's this event called a Colour Run which was coming to Sheffield that was essentially a 5K with colourful powder! What could be more fun! I knew that I physically could make it round the course but needed a motivation so I decided to do the run but raise money for the mental health charity MIND at the same time. Make my effort mean something more than me. I originally aimed to raise just £40 but by the time it came to me running the race on the 2nd May (I know it's not technically April :P) I had managed to raise over £100. Mental health is something I care passionately about and have been given a lot of support with so to be able to give something back, to make my experience mean more than just negatives was an unmissable experience. I nearly broke down with tears afterwards as it felt such a mix of pride, accomplishment, sadness and exhaustion. If you want to support those with mental health issues get the provision they need why not head over to my donation page here as there is still time to donate. Every little bit will go a long way :)
Also briefly I'd like to mention I gave my time to raise awareness for the fantastic Red My Lips Campaign this April. It is a month where people wear red lipstick or other kinds of red to raise awareness of sexual violence and speak out against victim blaming in sexual assault cases. I am very lucky to have not experienced either of these myself but I firmly believe that these are real issues that need to be combated and no one should have to fear or be discriminated against because of what they're wearing. It was an eye opening experience and I felt very proud to don my red lipstick each day and be part of that conversation. Feel free to check out more about what the organisation does here.
So my advice is to try to give more than you receive as am a firm believer that what you give is appreciated even if it's not noticed - be that your time, thoughts, money, support etc - and it makes me personally happier to share what I have with others knowing that they will one day do that for me, and many already have. As a student I know it is harder to give regularly financially, but if you can't commit to that why not give your time by volunteering or just being there for a friend who needs you? Little things often make the biggest difference I've found. Why not check out my friend Jess' blog for her thoughts on the subject.
On the other hand I found the letter H much harder to accomplish as it stood for Have No Regrets. This is a maxim I don't feel very capable or qualified to preach to you dear readers as I can't say myself that I do have no regrets. I actually have a select and recurring few that like to torment my mental arena on select occasions and continually seem to add to these without intending to do. I think that is the human part of us all though that feels regretful of not spending as much time with those we love when we could etc and I won't go into personal details of what all mine but I do have them believe me. I look back on past actions and wonder why I did that, what I could have done differently or wishing I could have just had some more time. I think the key thing though is to be honest with yourself, admit you're not perfect - you have and will make mistakes to some degree - and don't wallow in it because regrets only work once you give them time and power to affect your daily life. That is when it gets worrying, when your regrets hold you back from living or reaching your full potential. Mine can often do that and I get scared of adding to the pile. Although I think what I've learnt this month is to turn having no regrets in to not shying away from things, to making sure I don't feel like I've missed out. I'd hate half my regrets in my life to be because I regret not doing what I wanted. This has been very beneficial for me, made me try new things and ultimately work towards looking after myself more. All good things. I'd encourage you to say yes more and minimise the amount of time you spend sitting in your room wishing you were out in the world. You never know the wonders it could do. Baby steps people :)
Thank you everyone for reading and well done for making it to the end of a very long post! I probably will just end up doing another catch up blog post at the end of May with what I've been up to this month rather than giving you half-hearted updates in the midst of essays and exams so I hope you can wait until then. I hope the next few weeks are lovely for you all :)
All the best until then.
Much fictional love,
M x
Song of the Post: Go The Distance (from Hercules the Disney Film) and Red - Taylor Swift
P.S I've been checking out a new blog written by one of my friends about mental illness and I think they write beautifully about their experiences, I know reading about other people helps me feel a little bit less alone and writing helps me process my own experiences so why not check it out here and share the blogging love.
I hope this blog post finds you well and refreshed whatever you are up to.
I started trying to write this post about 5 weeks ago...and as you can obviously tell time has flown and it is no longer April any more. It just seemed to be that every time I sat to write a blog post there was another essay I should be writing, gym to go to, social occasion, reading to be done, more essays to be written...and so on. It just getting put off and for that I would like to apologise as this blog is one of my favourite things to spend my time doing and I know it's also the main way some of you back home actually find out what I've been up to as I am getting increasingly appalling at keeping in touch too. So apologies to you all that feel like you missed out on a crucial part of your April excitement! However I do feel that by actually going out there and doing things it has meant there is actually news to share with you rather than me complaining about work. Life has to be lived else I would have to have a much better imagination for this blog :P
Anyways now that I've got the preliminary apologies out of the way I shall dedicate the majority of the rest of this blog post to sharing some of my April highlights and bringing you up to date with the goings on in the Life of Megan Myer.
- Home: The start of April was kicked off with a wonderful but brief visit home to Northern Ireland after my sister Eve had come to stay with me in Sheffield. It was so good to have a change of pace, see friends and family that I miss like crazy when I'm away, have lots of home cooked meals and explore the gorgeous place I get to call one of my homes. I didn't want to leave really.
Love these guys <3 - Hair Dye: Continuing with my new found addiction I got my blue highlights updated and purple ones added in too. Whilst these have faded a bit now they still put a spring in my step and give me that extra oomph of confidence when I need it. Plus I love my hairdressers as it's right by the beach and the staff are so lovely. If you live on the North Coast they are definitely worth checking out and I thoroughly recommend them. The Boathouse - Ballycastle
New look. Same me. - Itchy Feet: On my return to Sheffield I took a break from studying for a night of alternative music and a classy night out with some even classier people.
The Dancing Gang.
Swapping dresses for bow ties and braces was so comfy! - Mental Health Matters Society and AGMs: As mental health is an issue I care passionately about I was very excited to get elected on to next years committee as Publicity and Design Liaison (Now I just have to discover my creative instincts). I can't wait to dedicate my time to this and fight the stigma with some wonderful people. It also saw my time as President of Student Christian Movement at my university come to an end and it was special to take stock of what we had achieved this year, the challenges overcome before handing over to a wonderful new committee.
- My Mum Visited Sheffield: Two weeks back in Sheffield and I was already missing my family's company a bit so I was very glad that the present I had decided to get my Mum for Mother's Day this year was a trip to come see me in Sheffield. It was so special to have a change in pace and just eat, relax and treasure the time together. Love her so much.
She means the world to me. - Work: April also saw more work for me as a Student Ambassador. I love my job and being able to share the joy of University of Sheffield with prospective students is just so fun as it doesn't feel two years ago since that was me.
- Met Natalie Bennett: As a recent Green Party convert I was very excited to be able to grab a moment to get a picture with the lovely leader Natalie Bennett when she came to visit the Uni...even if I was working at the time. I loved getting to hear her talk a while ago as well and very excited for what the future for the Green Party will be.
Green Party Represent. - Varsity: In amongst this all I managed to attend the Uni of Sheff v. Sheff Hallam Varsity Ice Hockey match (which we lost but won varsity overall) with some friends and celebrate our sporting success! This was exciting as I didn't manage to go last year and I definitely will try to get along to some more events next year. #BlackandGold
- Meetings With Friends: Friends make me happy so whilst I missed those in N.I and family my ever expanding Sheff crew kept me happy with a variety of coffee catch ups and outings. So much joy comes from these times.
These meetings are always made that little bit better with food...namely Gelato <3 - Essays and Future Stuff: Admittedly in amongst all this fun stuff April saw a lot of frantic reading, essay work, module choice consultation and dissertation proposal writing. This is not the fun part of my degree and I'm getting a bit scared that second year teaching if finished now (although essays and revision sadly ongoing). Yet it is all worth while as I get to study a degree I love, with mostly wonderful tutors and have lots to look forward to as I approach my final year so some good in there still! Also I finally came to the end of my most recent bout of counselling at the start of this month. Having went back into it for a bit of a check up in September and journeying through a hell of a lot since then it was amazing to get the all clear and I feel so much better for having talked to someone and learned some important lessons along the way about who I am, looking after myself and expressing my anger a bit more :P Hopefully these lessons will stand me in good stead for the future! Blessed to have people and services to help me keep going though :)
In the Alphabetical section of my blog feature we have now reached the letters G and H, wooo! (You can check out the first three posts here, here and here.)
On my poster (which has now sadly had to be taken down in preparation for moving out) the letter G stands for Give More Than You Receive. I'd like to think this is something I don't need monthly encouragement to do! This is a section where I'm worried that I'm going to sound far too big-headed and perfect but honestly my generosity one of the few qualities I like about myself so I'm going to speak a bit about it here. The family values I was raised in always encouraged me to think about others in my actions from a young age and, in hindsight, as I grew older I often found myself taking this too far and giving my time to others with out making time for myself. Empathy is a gift and a curse often but I wouldn't live life without it. It's just about finding that balance. So... back on topic! This generosity, giving to others, inspired by a Christian, liberal upbringing and me just being me, has always been there to degrees but this month I made a real concerted effort to up my game and help others on a bigger scale, to give a bit back to a world which has given more to me than it has taken away.
Some of you know that I am not the world's most enthusiastic exerciser but I have become a recent convert of late which you can read about here. My parents however have always been much more into this than me and have for a good while now been involved in doing Parkruns. This movement started up about 11 years ago and has now spread across the world (you can read more about it here). They are essentially free volunteer run 5ks that happen every Saturday and you get a time at the end. I went with mum and dad to the Portrush one when I was home and when I didn't collapse I decided - out of some kind of delirium - that this is something I wanted to do regularly. I registered and bought myself a tram pass to motivate myself to go to my local one in Sheffield and now a good month one I have been going regularly and feeling much better for it. But what does this have to do with giving I hear you wonder? Well basically there's this event called a Colour Run which was coming to Sheffield that was essentially a 5K with colourful powder! What could be more fun! I knew that I physically could make it round the course but needed a motivation so I decided to do the run but raise money for the mental health charity MIND at the same time. Make my effort mean something more than me. I originally aimed to raise just £40 but by the time it came to me running the race on the 2nd May (I know it's not technically April :P) I had managed to raise over £100. Mental health is something I care passionately about and have been given a lot of support with so to be able to give something back, to make my experience mean more than just negatives was an unmissable experience. I nearly broke down with tears afterwards as it felt such a mix of pride, accomplishment, sadness and exhaustion. If you want to support those with mental health issues get the provision they need why not head over to my donation page here as there is still time to donate. Every little bit will go a long way :)
 |
| My friend Robin came along to support and take photos on the day. I regretfully say I didn't hop the whole way :P |
Also briefly I'd like to mention I gave my time to raise awareness for the fantastic Red My Lips Campaign this April. It is a month where people wear red lipstick or other kinds of red to raise awareness of sexual violence and speak out against victim blaming in sexual assault cases. I am very lucky to have not experienced either of these myself but I firmly believe that these are real issues that need to be combated and no one should have to fear or be discriminated against because of what they're wearing. It was an eye opening experience and I felt very proud to don my red lipstick each day and be part of that conversation. Feel free to check out more about what the organisation does here.
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| Red My Lips Campaign April 2015 |
So my advice is to try to give more than you receive as am a firm believer that what you give is appreciated even if it's not noticed - be that your time, thoughts, money, support etc - and it makes me personally happier to share what I have with others knowing that they will one day do that for me, and many already have. As a student I know it is harder to give regularly financially, but if you can't commit to that why not give your time by volunteering or just being there for a friend who needs you? Little things often make the biggest difference I've found. Why not check out my friend Jess' blog for her thoughts on the subject.
On the other hand I found the letter H much harder to accomplish as it stood for Have No Regrets. This is a maxim I don't feel very capable or qualified to preach to you dear readers as I can't say myself that I do have no regrets. I actually have a select and recurring few that like to torment my mental arena on select occasions and continually seem to add to these without intending to do. I think that is the human part of us all though that feels regretful of not spending as much time with those we love when we could etc and I won't go into personal details of what all mine but I do have them believe me. I look back on past actions and wonder why I did that, what I could have done differently or wishing I could have just had some more time. I think the key thing though is to be honest with yourself, admit you're not perfect - you have and will make mistakes to some degree - and don't wallow in it because regrets only work once you give them time and power to affect your daily life. That is when it gets worrying, when your regrets hold you back from living or reaching your full potential. Mine can often do that and I get scared of adding to the pile. Although I think what I've learnt this month is to turn having no regrets in to not shying away from things, to making sure I don't feel like I've missed out. I'd hate half my regrets in my life to be because I regret not doing what I wanted. This has been very beneficial for me, made me try new things and ultimately work towards looking after myself more. All good things. I'd encourage you to say yes more and minimise the amount of time you spend sitting in your room wishing you were out in the world. You never know the wonders it could do. Baby steps people :)
 |
| I think this quote sums up what I want to say :) |
Thank you everyone for reading and well done for making it to the end of a very long post! I probably will just end up doing another catch up blog post at the end of May with what I've been up to this month rather than giving you half-hearted updates in the midst of essays and exams so I hope you can wait until then. I hope the next few weeks are lovely for you all :)
All the best until then.
Much fictional love,
M x
Song of the Post: Go The Distance (from Hercules the Disney Film) and Red - Taylor Swift
P.S I've been checking out a new blog written by one of my friends about mental illness and I think they write beautifully about their experiences, I know reading about other people helps me feel a little bit less alone and writing helps me process my own experiences so why not check it out here and share the blogging love.
Thank you for the mention. You are a brilliant person, but you're an even better friend, I wouldn't have had the strength or courage to create my blog if it wasn't for you. I hope to one day be as brave as you are. Lots of love, She Who Must Not Be Named x
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