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Thursday 28 January 2016

Unsociable Media

Social media right now is unarguably a massive part of everyone’s lives. Just today I nearly bumped into four different people because their eyes were more focussed on their screens than the potentially dangerous obstacles heading towards them (I swear I would have turned dangerous if there was one more!) Having just set up a blog, arguably I am going to come across as slightly hypocritical if I say that social media is a complete distraction and useless within our daily lives. However, rather than suggesting it is overused, I would like to say it is definitely overrated.

Yes, okay, so I have Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest (need I go on?) accounts, and yes I do like to check them as soon as I wake up, just before I go to bed, and at several times during the day besides! Social media, obviously has numerous benefits, and living hundreds of miles away from several of my friends, it is nice to see how they’re doing, and what they’re doing, and how they’re doing it….. Okay, maybe it is a bit excessive?

The main criticism I have for social media sites is the superficiality it places on daily life. Suddenly, everyone in the world becomes someone with an exciting and fun-filled life, with pictures and posts that prove they never have a moment’s boredom. My question is how self-worth can be measured by a number; the number of likes on your post, or the number of cute photos you post with your friends. If social media is to be a true representation of our daily lives then maybe we should post about the bad times too- the times when we felt ugly or when we felt alone. But these are sides we wish to keep from the world. Yet, through extenuating only the good times, we leave others to believe we have no bad times. If we are so amazing that we have no bad times, does that not then make everyone who does, less than amazing? No, because everyone has both ups and downs, it’s just that those group photos and shared albums force us to forget that fact.


Social media is an amazing tool for connection and communication- I would never argue the fact. What we cannot forget however, the next time you happen to scroll through your newsfeed is that nobody’s life is as perfect as their profile picture. 

Friday 22 January 2016

Why I love running away from my problems

I've just come back from a run and it seems high time to write a blog on my obsession with running. Running is a sport that changed my life. Many people fail to notice or recognise the vast range of benefits that are associated with a long run, and if you are not a runner, you will never understand. I do not run for an increased fitness level, to lose weight or even to be a runner- I run because the most exhausting part of my day is somehow also the most relaxing.

My parents, my friends often call me 'crazy' or say I'm ridiculous for going outside in the driving rain, armed with nothing but some short shorts and a water bottle. But crazy is in fact the exact opposite of what I am. Running is the key to my sanity- there is nothing better than pumping out all the stress, all the anxiety from the day through the soles of my feet. Reaching the mount of a hill with that purged, clean feeling, and the angrier I am, the faster I go. Hearing nothing but the rhythm of your feet against the pavement and the drumming of your heart in your ears lulls you into a sort of trance. As you feel the wind streaking past your face you are stuck in the here and now, and nothing else matters- there is no room in your mind for any thoughts other than keeping going and pushing yourself to the end.

Running, I feel, teaches you all the skills you need to get through life. It gives you a mindset of determination; to keep going, especially when it hurts, and pushing through the pain is what gets you the results, if you can train your mind for this, everything else in life is easy. You can't be a good runner without putting the work in, and if you put the work in, you will be a good runner.

The main reason I love running is that its accessible to everyone. It really doesn't matter if you're a fast runner, or a slow runner, someone who has trained for years or someone who has just started their first jog. Running is a community, in fact the next time you go out for a jog- look up at every runner who passes you and I guarantee they will give you a smile- it's like a secret runner's code! It is not limited to some elite group of people who are fit and lean, if you have the motivation to get out there, put one foot in front of the other and keep going, you are a runner.







Saturday 9 January 2016

Becoming a University Student


So today once more I have to begin with an apology, I have yet again neglected this blog when I promised myself I would continue! This is it now though- 9th of January so 'new year new me' and half way through my first year at Uni already means I need to start using my time more efficiently and basically stop giving up on things!
 So today a brief catch up- as I mentioned I have just finished my first semester at the University of Manchester studying English Literature and French. I have to say I am in no way finding it as easy as I thought I would! 4 weeks into the Xmas break and still I have started none of the essays I was supposed to do- let alone started revising for those exams coming up! and they said first year was easy.....
So how have I found my new life as an adult? Well, to be honest not as good as it should have been. I think we all are affected by those idealised visions that we have throughout the course of our lives. Generally, when we start a new chapter, be it a new job or moving away, we always begin thinking that this is not only one new beginning, but a major turning point in the course of our lives. Of course it is, in a sense, but at the same time we can't go along expecting everything to immediately sort itself out. The trick is to work through one thing at a time and that might be why I've come home from Uni not certain whether I'm going to go back. Not because there's really anything wrong, but because its not perfect, because I haven't come back a completely different person, the person that I wanted to be. But today is that day that that will change. Today I decide to work on things slowly because things worth having don't happen in an instant. Moving away, meeting new people, living alone does not mean I suddenly turn into a sophisticated adult without any faults. Moving away simply means I have started that pathway, and just because I haven't reached my goals within those 13 weeks, in no way suggests that they are unobtainable.