Project Life : 2014

So I have seen 2013 out - and I can only say I pretty pleased to see it go. It kicked my ass, big time! A favourite blogger of mine - Celia at Living My High Heeled Life - commented to see 2013 as a 'clearing year' and 'rebuilding'. I love this idea. Throughout the year I had ups and downs and it seems like every time I thought I had hit my up moment I would crash back to the reality of depression. But, as Celia points out, see it as clearing. I made changes and hopefully they will see me right come 2014.

That being said, I stumbled across Project Life by Becky Higgins just before the end of the year. I was instantly attracted to the layouts, colours, documenting and personal creative touch which could be applied. If you want a more in depth explanation, checkout - What is Project Life?

To start with you have the basics:

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I bought mine from Hobbycraft in the UK. The States have a wider range but I have enough to start with. I went for a Pink binder - I couldn't resist allowing my inner girl show!I couldn't wait to start putting my intro pages together.

I decided I would try this focus on what I do in life and by documenting it I hope to find my positivity once again. After losing my brother to cancer at the end of 2012, I thought 2013 would be better - nope. I wasn't that lucky and lost sight on my hopes, dreams and the positive things around me. I've had some very dark moments and most people wouldn't even know that I have suffered thanks to my face I can put on (that's the teacher in me). Through Project Life, I hope to have something which firstly, I enjoy and can make time for weekly as 'me time'. After that I hope it gives me a drive for life again. I want to enjoy it and not feel so fragile.

The page separators are all set up and it is just a case of inserting cards which can be glues to, written on, photos added too etc. Basically, you get the cores kit and then what you do is up to you. Obviously I like the prettiness and organisation of it all. I like order.

I started the beginning of my Project Life with a 'Me' page and then a 'Goodbye 2013' page. I am still unsure whether I will go with a weekly spread or monthly. I would like to work on it each week but not feel like I have to - after all, with depression, just motivating myself for little tasks is difficult and can lead me to feel like a failure. And I want to enjoy this experience.

I will share my Project Life as I go along and hopefully as it progresses, I too will start to find my happiness once again.

My starter kit - Core Kit and binder in 'Blush'.

My 'me' page before and after my customisation!

I have already noticed what a large community of 'Project Lifers' there are out there and I can't wait to get looking through blogs and instagrams to follow others. Let me know in my comments if you Project Life so I can stop by and be inspired!



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Good days, bad days and the inbetween.

As I have previously stated, accepting depression in my life has been one of the hardest things I have personally had to deal with. Since allowing that realisation into my life, I have slowed down my pace and began to look after myself more. I am still not quite able to relax from work and I am constantly dreaming about the place in my time off from there but at least I am away from it while I sort my head out.

Taking anti-depressants are exactly how your read about - living hell for the first few weeks. They made everything heightened. My stress and anxiety went through the roof. My hands would shake and appetite totally went. Reading up on the tablets, I seem to have had it easier than others which is definitely lucky! But it didn't make me feel any better about the constant drowsiness I was encountering alongside everything else.

On my good days I wake up and feel ready to tackle the day. I am not saying I am superwoman and ready to buzz about like I used to but I fee like I can deal. I complete small tasks about the house and go out. I am happy, I feel like things are going in the right direction.

Oh, but that's not allowed. Depression and anti-depressants taunt and the next day ... bam! It's a down day. What do my down days look like? Well, I wake early then doze till about 9. Then I lay in bed till 2pm, awake, but just unable to leave my bed. I lie and think of the things I need to and should be doing but I can't move regardless. Then I realise that I must get some food so drag myself out of bed, grab a bowl of cereal then take up residence on the sofa. Now what? Watch TV for an hour, turn it off and sleep until 6pm. Make a cup of tea, grab a quick bite to eat. Watch more TV then go to bed.

Keep going [Source]

Then there are the in between days. When I doze till mid-day, get up and potter about the house with the intentions of doing things. Watch TV and don't nap. Make myself a healthy dinner then later have a nice bubble bath. But still I am not able to get up and go out but i am happy with own co0mapny and my head isn't too foggy.

This is now coming up to my 4th week on the tablets and I am not so sure I am seeing much of change but I think that is partly due to how bad they set me back. I am persisting because I know these will help me and allow me to cope and work through my feelings. But my goodness, they sure don't make it easy!

Maybe  I should be using this time to look at changes? [Source]

Any advice how to stay positive during these tough times?   Find me: twitter/bloglovin/pinterest/instagram  

Staying positive...

Since returning from my travels, I feel a lot more positive about what I want from life and those around me. I have realised a lot of this will happen through hard work teamed with positivity. After all, if you're feeling negative about something whether you feel like you don't deserve it or it's too hard etc, you will find it extremely difficult to succeed!

At the moment I seem to have become poorly which is making my ability to stay positive very difficult. I feel like crap therefore my mood is slipping to match it.I am trying so very hard though to stay positive and prepare well for the new school term starting. This got me to thinking how to keep the new found positivity so obviously I turned to my best friend...Google!!

Here are some of my favourite ways to stay positive:

- Whenever you respond to a situation make sure you feel calm. If not, pretty much the only response you will have is a negative one. Calm down first.

- Talk to a positive friend who can encourage you.

- Remember your favorite quotes as these can give you motivation and encouragement.

- Slow down. The more you rush about the more anxiety you feel which inevitably leads to feeling stressed and negative.

- Be yourself. Make sure you are happy in yourself and this will radiate positivity and confidence.

I very rarely share photos which involve me but it felt right for this post. On one of our stops on my travels, we went to an Apple Pie Bakery/Restaurant in Canada. Many went to eat but me and Miss Aussie were feeling cooped up after being on the bus and had far too much energy therefore we decided to just run around, take photos with the animals on the golf course (yea...I have no idea what this place is but it had a giant apple haha) and basically act like kids. We just didn't care and were happy to just be silly. At this moment we both felt positive and happy and it's a nice moment to remember.

Oh so happy...

I know some sound cheesy and pretty easy to do but when we start feeling negative it's amazing how fast we lose control over our emotions. I for one will be trying to remember some of these once I get back to work!!

What do you do to stay positive?