The Self-Care Secret Every 20-Something Needs To Know

It seems that penning a 'self confidence' or 'self love' article has become a right of passage for any millennial writer, blogger, and/or selfie taker. Or perhaps, this sense of self acceptance is merely what everyone goes through in their early 20's. Those years of limbo - fresh faced and bleary eyed as we emerge from the last remnants of childhood comfort still afforded to us during the college years. Suddenly forced to figure out what we are doing, where we are going, who we are going with, how we want to get there - all whilst also juggling the insanity of 'everyday' things such as paying rent and making sure to not eat pasta 5 days in a row.

It honestly only seems natural that in a time of such disruption, uncertainty, and newness we would retreat within, to reflect upon the only constant in our lives - ourselves.

Diary 002

MAY

The beginning of May brought with it a welcome stillness
Tasks that a month before had been daunting
Now contained a comforting sense of repetition.
Not mundane but a new normal had been established.
As ever, the peace didn't last long,
The last weeks of May spun by in a whirlwind of graduations, birthday parties, apartment hunting, and see you soon's.
A bustling home that was temporarily filled with five, quickly became two,
A transition I admittedly had dreaded, but adapted to with surprising ease.
Chaos left my life again, just as quickly as it had entered
And May ended as it began, rhythmically quiet.

Millennial Homemaking

Moving - I've done a lot of it lately.
I always joke that I'm not built to stay in one place too long, and recently I have taken that approach to life to a whole new level.
I left my family home in Ireland to live with some of my closest friends in the Bronx, and now live on the Upper West Side with people I had barely met before. All within the space of two months.

Calling for Repeal: An Ocean Away

The week before I left Ireland, I took to the streets of Dublin with my friends
To walk side by side with women, men, and children who were no longer asking for a change in our society
But demanding it.

I left our little island in April, swapping rolling fields for the towering skyscrapers of New York
Filled with a genuine sense of hope for Ireland's future
The ferocious roar of solidarity that I have witnessed countless times in the lead up to this referendum gave me the will to believe that the people I left would make the right choice
Still, there was an undeniable feeling of dread deep in my core, as I no longer had a say in this choice.

Diary 001

MARCH

There is a voice inside telling me to leave
It started as a whisper
Bubbling beneath the surface
Hushed, at first, by the sweet comfort of home, of welcoming faces and the safety of familiarity
But now that voice is screaming
It is fuelled by wanderlust, I admit
This voice is not new
The voice has always been inside
It can be appeased by trips away
But it will always return
Louder and fiercer than ever

1. Words of the Week

Reading and writing have been two of the greatest joys and passions in my life for as long as I can remember. To be quite honest, they are the reason that this blog was created. 
But recently, finding the time to curl up with a book, or scribble the words flying around my head onto a piece of paper has felt next to impossible. So, last week I set myself the challenge of writing something, anything, each day of the week. These are words have been brimming in my mind for some time now, and so their themes vary. Regardless, my New Years resolution for 2018 seems to have fallen into my lap, or rather into my pen. I plan to carry this on, at least once a month, for the rest of the year and will document it here, to keep myself accountable. 
Future theme or topic suggestions are both encouraged and welcome! 

Words for Berlin

This day last year, New Year's Day, was not my favourite, for multiple reasons. Although I knew the hazy dullness I felt surrounding me was just temporary, I still felt undeniably stagnant in my life. Rather than wallow in pity and feed whatever was already desperately trying to pull me down, I decided to make the most of the opportunities afforded to us on the first day of the year and make a New Year's resolution that I would happily stick to. I promised myself I would go on a trip away from home at least once a month in 2017, satisfying my wanderlust and giving my mind and body the chance to breath and rejuvenate more frequently.