For far too long, anxiety has absolutely had a hold of me. It's been the one calling the shots, and I've been the one forced to deal with the consequences. My anxiety is a part of who I am, but at the same time there are so many other things that make me 'me' that it's not okay to give everything else up for this. In the last month or two I've seen my anxiety sky-rocket again. I'm not sure what's causing it, but I'm determined to not let it shift the control in my life away from me again.
Laziness is one of my biggest flaws, and one that I'm definitely trying to work on. I used to be that blogger that wouldn't even bother proofreading her posts before they went up, because cba, but in the last five months I've turned that around. However, in terms of most other things, laziness still wins. I enjoy wearing comfy no-effort clothes, I clean when I have to, and thinking that I can get away with the bare minimum for everything is kind of my own personal agenda.
Visiting Walt Disney World completely changed my perspective on all of this. I've always thought that it's the big things that matter: furniture is what decorates a house, plain flatlays are the way forward and so on. I could never quite put my finger on what wasn't right. Until I saw the level of effort that designers and architects had gone into at Disney World. The whole place was a thousand times more magical because of the little things.
I literally gasped as I strolled around the parks at the tiniest of things. The bird houses in Animal Kingdom (the top photo) were practically palaces; a sight to behold on their own, even without the magnificent birds surrounding them. At night time they switched on lanterns just like the ones in Tangled in a little courtyard and I was mesmerised. Hell, even the wooden boards blocking off a new construction were painted beautifully.
As each day at the parks went by, I began to notice how every single tiny little detail in Disney World had been considered, carefully planned, and created to culminate in a one of a kind experience. When I got home, I realised how bare our house is. Now, I don't mean that it's missing that bit of Disney pizazz, but that I've overlooked all the details in our home, whilst focusing on the big things. Despite having lived here for six months now, we've only got one thing hanging up on a wall in the house. All of the 'temporary' moving storage is still in place. We've even still got a couple of unpacked boxes. But I'd convinced myself that it doesn't matter, and that our house is a home without these things. Now I'm starting to see differently.
Since coming back, we've re-installed a canvas painting we bought last summer onto our dining room wall. I've created a collage wall in my office space. I've even got back into the habit of buying flowers for my desk and lighting candles whilst I'm working. It feels amazing. I've convinced my boyfriend to unpack a couple of the boxes he's been ignoring for months. All these little details are starting to make this house carry more of our personalities. I'm so, so much happier with how it looks now in comparison to how it looks a month ago.
My photography is (hopefully) starting to improve a little bit because of it as well now. I've finally begun to really look at other people's flatlays and realise just how much more effort they put into them in comparison to the effort I put in. I've started to notice how much white space is left in my images, and research different ways to build texture and create interesting flatlays without them looking cluttered. I've by no means become some kind of photography expert overnight, but I can feel a difference in my style, and I hope you'll all be able to see it in upcoming posts too.
Have you ever been inspired by something like this?
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1.) Seasonal clothing wishlist
2.) Favourite perfume
3.) Fitness goals
4.) An update on fitness at the end of the goal duration
5.) Current go-to breakfast recipe
6.) 5 key accessories for the season
7.) Post about your blogging equipment
8.) Home interior inspo
9.) Recent sale buys
10.) Current favourite organic/vegan beauty product
11.) LUSH haul
12.) Hair care/ hair dye experiences
13.) Favourite eyeshadow palette
14.) OOTD
15.) 10 ways you help yourself relax
16.) Vegan recipe
17.) Real talk time: post on owning pets
18.) Lipstick dupes
19.) Top 5 moisturisers
20.) Products to help care for your hands
21.) Day out in a city
22.) Restaurant review
23.) Shoes of the season
24.) Date night ideas
25.) How to make a great flat lay
26.) Smoky eye makeup look
27.) How to improve your blog pictures
28.) Favourite read of the month
29.) Monthly beauty favourites
30.) Lounge wear inspo post
31.) Disney wishlist
32.) Tsum Tsum collection
33.) 15 things that make you happy
34.) Dealing with stress at uni/college/school/work
35.) 5 easy, healthy weekday dinners
36.) Favourite smoothie recipe
37.) Underwear that makes you feel sexy
38.) The perfect pair of pajamas
29.) ASOS wishlist
30.) MAC haul
31.) Makeup brush collection
32.) Makeup tutorial
33.) Nude/berry lisptick collection comparisons
34.) Dealing with loss
35.) Holiday #tbt
36.) Current stationary loves
37.) Bucket list
38.) Outerwear for the season
39.) 5 great things to do at home on a Friday/Saturday night
40.) High end makeup purchase review
41.) Boots/Superdrug haul
42.) Netflix obsessions
43.) Hair styling tutorial
44.) Fashion week inspiration
45.) How to eat well on a budget
46.) New makeup release review
47.) Morning skincare regime
48.) Nighttime skincare regime
49.) Holiday plans
50.) How to improve your instagram photos
51.) Shower 'shelfie'
52.) How to take the perfect selfie
53.) Lipstick swatches
54.) Building your own eyeshadow palette
55.) How you've overcome/challenged a fear
56.) Pros/cons of blogging
57.) Creating a capsule wardrobe
58.) Your perfect daytime/nighttime heel
59.) Dealing with blogger envy
60.) Must-have dress
61.) Favourite workout gear
62.) How you practice mindfulness
63.) Being successful with twitter chats
64.) How to improve blog traffic from social media
65.) Trying out a diet for a month (vegan, dairy free etc)
66.) What's in my bag?
67.) 5 must-have apps
68.) Phone accessories wishlist
69.) Best handbag style
70.) High-end piece you're lusting after
71.) Contour kit review
72.) Brow maintenance
73.) Benefit haul
74.) Improving self-confidence
75.) Go-to healthy comfort foods
I hope you found these useful! What would you add to the list?
