Thoughts On: Being Unique

At a time when the blogosphere is oversaturated with young daydreamers sharing their thoughts online, staying unique is harder than ever. 

If you're blogging yourself, or reading blogs, chances are that you have a creative nature within you. And that's great, and I encourage you to cultivate, inspire and indulge your creativity on a daily basis, in every way you can. I encourage you to seek out inspiration in any way you can, whether that's through exploration, or consumption of other people's media.

And that is absolutely great - there are so many people out there who create content that is wildly inspiring, and that should encourage us all to get out and create more.

The problem lies when you stop being inspired by people, and start copying them.

And yes, it's a fine line. So you see a blog post on Bloglovin' and think, 'hell yeah, I wanna do a post on that'. And that's great. But it's important to thing 'what can I bring to this idea that's new and exciting and different. What is my unique perspective?' - and it's this additional creative thinking that keeps you unique.

We are all a product of our own environments, everything we do, see, read and consume has a bearing on what we create - but in creating something unique, different and exciting, that's how we stay ahead of the curve. 

Stealing people's ideas, style and content, will get you nowhere. 

Encourage your uniqueness, creativity and personality, and you need never fear being a copycat. 

Thoughts On: Life After Graduation

I've been umming and ahhing about writing this post for the longest time, it's hard to know how much it's appropriate to share here, and also how much I personally feel comfortable sharing. Whilst I've hinted at things that have been going on over the last few months, I haven't really addressed them, in all honesty I wasn't ready too. But I've reached a point now where I feel like hey, I'm not the only one going through all this, and maybe sharing my experiences might make someone else feel like they aren't alone in this weirdness. 

A word of warning, grab a cup of tea, things are probably going to get rambly.

I graduated with a BA in Fashion Journalism from London College of Fashion back in July, which was a pretty momentous and terrifying occasion. I survived the day without falling flat on my face/dropping my mortar board/ripping my robes, and felt an overwhelming relief, like the hard part was over. Oh naive naive past Jaye.

After a lot of discussion with my parents who, sidenote, have been MASSIVELY supportive through this whole thing, I couldn't have asked for anything more, I decided not to start looking for jobs until after my post-graduation trip away, so I returned late August and began the job hunt. In the first week of August I accepted the first job I was offered, a social media manager role within a large retail company. On paper it seemed like the perfect job for me, within driving distance from my flat, reasonable hours, creative control of social media strategy, that sorta thing.

The reality of the job wasn't all it was cracked up to be though, and I ended up with three hours driving to and from work each day, a miserable work environment, and most importantly, no actual creative control. The job I was doing wasn't social media management, it was customer service on social media, and I was bored out of my mind. There's nothing worse as a creative type, than being stuck in an office full of people who have no interest in inspiring creativity. But worst of all, something about being trapped in that soulless office 9-5 sent my anxiety skyrocketting, and I was crying all the way to work, crying in my car during my lunchbreak, and crying all the way home. I sat at my desk all day trying not to cry, and then went home to my poor boyfriend to cry some more. I didn't eat, I barely slept, and felt anxious every second of every day.

I made it to the end of the week before having a massive panic attack in the bathroom at work, and deciding enough was enough. I chatted to my boss and HR, and decided to leave. I was miserable, and no asset to the company when I couldn't even sit at my desk without crying. I got in my car and without really thinking, drove all the way home to my parents house, hid under the sink in my bathroom, and sobbed. 

I'm not telling you all this for any kind of sympathy here, the point I'm trying to make is that I made a mistake. Not in quitting, I felt an instant relief walking out of the building, that only grew the further away I got. No, the mistake I made was thinking that I had to accept the first job I was offered out of Uni. People are always going on about how hard it is to get hired out of Uni, and I just assumed that because I was being offered a job, I should take it. I ignored a lot of warning signs that the job wasn't going to be right, just because I was excited to be being offered a job at all. And that was a massive, massive mistake. 

It took me a good few weeks to start feeling a little more normal, and in all honesty, I still don't feel okay about it all. Since all this happened at the end of September I had an opportunity fall through that I thought was going to be perfect, which didn't help either, but what all this has done is made me realise a few things.

1. It's okay if you don't have to accept the first job you're offered.
2. When you go for a job interview, it's as much about you interviewing the company as it is about them interviewing you. My mum told me this a thousand times and I didn't listen (silly me, mums always know best).
3. It's okay to walk away from something that's not right, especially if it's affecting your health.
4. It's okay to not know what you want to do after uni.
5. It's okay if working a 9-5 office job isn't for you.

So what's next?

Well, I'm not really sure. For now, I'm doing some freelance and interning work whilst I try to find a job that's a good fit for me, not just a job that I'm a good fit for. 

We shall see. 

Thoughts On: My Fitbit Flex

I've been using my Fitbit Flex for about six weeks now, and I figured it was about time I shared a few thoughts because, well, I love it.

I'd been umming and ahhing about ordering some kind of fitness band for ages, everyone else in my family has Nike Fuelbands and they love them, and it seems that half the population is using some kind of band to track their activity these days. At the beginning of the year I ordered an UP! Jawbone, but I sent it back when I realised that all it really does is track steps, which my phone does anyway.

Back in September though, Con ended up buying me a Fitbit Flex and whilst I had reservations as to whether it would really make a difference to my activity levels, I've ended up falling in love with it. 

The wristband itself doesn't show any information other than how close you are to hitting your goal for the day. I have my goal set at 10,000 steps which is the standard setting, but you can change it depending on your lifestyle. It then connects via bluetooth to an app on your phone. I'm really pleased with the app from a technical point of view, it's not buggy at all, it's simple and straightforward to use, and it just works (cough  cough, unlike bloglovin'). 

You don't have to leave your bluetooth on all the time either, which was a concern for me since I power through my phone battery anyway. You just flick your bluetooth on for a thirty seconds when you open the app, and it'll fetch all the information.

So in the app it tracks your movement and sleep. I like that it shows steps and km, it kinda puts how far you've walked into a tangible figure (cause who really knows what 10,000 steps is). The sleep tracker is really interesting, it shows how often you were restless and how many times you woke up during the night. It was quite eye opening for me because I'm a bad sleeper, and it made me realise how little deep sleep I was actually getting. I've been trying different techniques to get a better night's sleep, and it's interesting to look at the data in the morning to see what worked and what didn't, not just basing it off how I feel in the morning (which is always tired and grumpy because ugh who likes getting out of bed).

The app also has built in capabilities so you can input your food and water intake, as well as any exercise you do. For me this is far more practical than using a food diary, because I can input the data in a few seconds whilst on the train, or before bed, at the same time as I check the other data. You can enter your weight and your goal weight, and it'll give you a calorie intake and activity goal to reach, which is handy if you're looking to lose weight.

Whilst I can't say that wearing my Fitbit has inspired me to eat healthier or hit the gym, it has opened my eyes to how little I move around in the day, and has given me the motivation to get out and move a bit more, particularly when I spend all day sat at my desk. If it gets to 8pm and I still haven't hit my goal, I'll pull on my coat and go outside for a walk, just to hit my goal, which I wouldn't have done previously. I've been hitting my goal at least 5 days a week, and my first week with it I didn't even get halfway to my goal once. 

It's inconspicuous too, I went for the pink one, but they have a massive range of shades, and they're quite slimline. It doesn't feel bulky at all, I got used to wearing it even at night very quickly.

So the Fitbit Flex gets a thumbs up from me! It's also worth noting that if you have a CEX local to you, they often stock unopened, new Fitbits for only £40, which is a bit of a bargain! 

3 Years in London

When I moved to London three years ago, I couldn't imagine a time when I'd want to leave. I threw myself wholeheartedly into London life, attending launch parties and pop ups and fashion week. I ate out in instagrammable bars, I felt cool riding the tube into central, and back out to my little studio flat. And I absorbed London. I walked the Thames at night, I explored museums and I loved it all.

Three years down the line, and I seem to keep forgetting that feeling. I go into central when I have to, I tut and huff at tourists, and then I go home to my flat in Zone Four, and I swear that I'll leave London soon.

But sometimes, I do something that reminds me that London hasn't lost it's magic. Finishing up dinner with friends and taking a stroll across the river, seeing the London skyline lit up. Heading out to explore something new, and falling in love with a whole new part of the city I didn't even know existed. Walking through central on a drizzly afternoon, stopping to admire the flowers outside Liberty's and watching street performers. A date night that ends in a stroll through Covent Garden, admiring art installations, people watching, and absorbing the vibe of the city. Discovering a new Zara store that is better than any other you've stepped in previously.

Sometimes I need to step out of my little comfort zone of work - home - netflix, to remember why I love this city. Because I won't get to live here forever, and when the time comes for me to move on, I want to feel like I grabbed every possible second, and took every opportunity. Because London is an incredible place to live, and I'm so lucky that I'm having this experience.

September Goals

September is here and cliched as it sounds, I can't help but feel the days, weeks and months are just running away from us. In fact, I'm not even sure that August happened to be honest, wasn't it July just two days ago? 

So to try and make sure that this month doesn't vanish as fast as the last, I've written a little list of goals. And I thought I'd share them with you, cause, you know, then you can all nag me to make sure I get on it.

• Minimise, organise, and declutter. This one's fairly simple. I have too much stuff, and I don't need it, and it's always a mess. Get on it, future Jaye.
• Keep a spending record & budget. Because maybe if I see how much money I spend on crap, I'll spend less. Just maybe. 
• Begin to track blog stats. Because I have no idea what's going on these days, and it'd be interesting to keep an eye on that sort of thing.
• Get some super cool business cards made. Because you're a real grown up now Jaye.
• Keep on top of comments. Because I'm terrible at it.
• Make more time for quality time. Because life is going too fast.