Goals for Twenty-One| Carenza Bramwell

Today's post is a bit of a self-indulgent one as it's about the goals I want to set for myself before I turn 22. I turned 21 almost two weeks ago. 20 was certainly an interesting age, especially as I spent all of it during the pandemic. Here are some life goals that I would like to achieve by my next birthday.

Learn to Drive

Probably one of the biggest goals I have for myself is learning to drive. Up until now, I haven't had a need to drive, but I've reached a point in my life where I do need to learn to drive. It will help me with applying to jobs as it can open up where I'd like to apply to. It would also just be a useful lifeskill and help with me having a bit of independence. As of writing this, I am due to have my first driving lesson this month and I am both excited and nervous for it. Most of my friends can drive, so it's about time that I joined them. 

Develop a Creative Skill

It will come as no surprise to long time readers of my blog, but I consider myself a very creative person. I would say my main area of creativity is writing and content creation. While I'm looking for a job, I spend a lot of my free time developing those skills. So while I have the time to, I'd like to develop a new creative skill. I'm thinking either playing the piano or drawing. Both are hobbies I have dabbled in before, but I'd love to pick them up again and become more confident in them. They're also two things I can do that don't involve anything (or much) digital tech as I spend so much time looking at a screen, I'd like to do something that doesn't involve that. 

Write One Complete Non-Uni Project 

I've lost count of how many times I've included this on a goals list of mine over the years. However, for the first time, I actually have time to commit to it, so you can bet that's what I'm going to do. After finishing my degree, I was very creatively burnt out and I also fell out of love with writing because of it. However, it's been three months since I finished my degree and I'm now feeling ready to start working on a new project. I even have a plan! During this month, I'm going to read the book that has inspired this project. Then in October, I am going to do anymore research and development that I need to do. November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which I'm going to try and participate in. If I do, I will then edit it in December and see where that takes me. It's very exciting to feel ready to write again and I'll probably end up documenting it on my other social media platforms. 

Get a Job

This is actually the biggest and most important goal on my list. Getting a job. Starting that next chapter of my life now that I'm a graduate. I've written about my experience job hunting, which you can read here. I'm looking for writing related jobs, but failing that, I'll go into retail. Just anything that can keep me busy. This is a stressful journey, which again, I'll document on my social media platforms. We'll just have to see where this one takes me. 

Be Kinder to Myself

The past year has been pretty rough, as I'm sure it has been for everyone. Studying online has left me feeling really drained. The work I was having to do, alongside working on my content creation and I was involved with the student magazine at uni, meant I was always working on something. I would set unrealistic goals for what I wanted to complete in a week and I spent a lot of time being unkind to myself. I want to be kinder to myself. This past year has taught me that I can't burn the candle at both ends. So being kinder to myself is necessary. It's treating myself to time off or saying I can do that work another day if I'm not feeling like it. 

Those are some goals I have for the next year. What are your goals for the next year? 

A Day in the Life of a Creative Writing Graduate| Carenza Bramwell

When I was still a student, I would make posts about my daily activities and what I got up to as a student. Now that I have graduated (which even two months later feels very weird to say), I thought I would share a day in the life of a creative writing graduate. This is what a typical day in my life looks like now.

Morning

I use my mornings for content creation. While I am job hunting, I have made the decision to go full time with my content creation on my various platforms. So a morning for me could look like writing blog posts, writing tweets, planning content or taking bookstagram photos. Basically writing, planning or a photography session. 

I try to work from around 9:30 until I have lunch at 12. I do take a little break if I start to feel a bit tired or like I need to change up what I'm doing. I really like my morning routine as it gets some of my key tasks done and makes me feel quite productive. 

Afternoon

After having lunch with my family, my afternoons are for two things- job hunting and teaching myself about social media marketing. Now that I've finished my degree, the next stage in my life is to get a job. So far, it's a slow process of lots of applications and rejections. I tend to work on applications for max two hours as I do find it emotionally draining. 

Once I've had enough of scrolling through jobs and looking for ones to apply for, I do some work on teaching myself about social media marketing. This is to help me improve my own social media platforms and to help me develop key skills for the types of jobs I'm applying for. I have a social media marketing book for dummies that I'm slowly making my way through. I'll read and make notes on things I believe are relevant as I go. I do miss learning so this is one way for me to keep that side of me going. 

Evening 

I tend to finish my tasks for the day at around 4pm. My evening consists of reading, doing my daily Duolingo, household tasks and watching something. I like to get about an hour or so of reading done before I have tea with my family. I'm trying to be a bit stricter with it as sometimes I can get sucked down a YouTube wormhole. Before finishing my degree, I was just taking French on Duolingo but now I've started learning Italian and Japanese as they are languages I've wanted to learn for a while. I only do about 10 minutes a day, but I really enjoy it. 

I then help with whatever household tasks require me before going back to reading or watching something. Sometimes my parents and I will go for a walk before we do our evening routines, which I do like. I find it hard sometimes to fit a walk into my day with wanting to get so much done, so I like going for walks with them.

And that concludes a typical day in my life. I miss having a routine so I'm trying to build one up for myself now that I'm a graduate as it could be quite a while before I get a job. I hope you liked this post. 

My Experience Job Hunting as a Creative Writing Graduate (So Far)| Carenza Bramwell

Today's blog post marks the first in a new chapter of my life and content on here. I'm going to be sharing my experience job hunting as a creative writing student. In this post, I'll be giving a quick summary of how I got to this place in my life, the steps I've taken and my experience. I want to make content about this as I feel it needs to be talked about more. There is an expectation that students will get jobs straight away and I haven't seen many, if any, people talking about their experiences. I want to open this discussion up and help people like me to feel less alone in this scary part of life.

Who Am I?

For those stumbling across this post, I thought I'd start with a quick introduction. And no, I'm not 24601 (which is a bad Les Miserables joke). In June/July of this year, I completed my degree in Creative and Professional Writing. My specialism is script writing, however I have two years experience as a student journalist, having worked on the student magazine from 2019-2021 in two different roles. I also have experience working with local companies, providing journalism content and some commissioned copywriting. I have been blogging since 2015, creating content on multiple platforms. While I am unemployed, I am working on my content creation full time. 

What Steps Have I Taken?

I started applying for graduate jobs, internships and apprenticeships in February of this year. So far, I have applied to eleven jobs and have been unsuccessful. My first step following finishing my degree was to update my CV. As someone with writing experience, I decided to include a section at the bottom with links to my published work. This includes my blog, work for the student magazine at uni and other work I have done. It probably goes without saying, but having a good CV is very important. Employers judge on what you look like on paper. So, I spent some time updating my CV, making sure it had relevant information on and reflected who I am. My next step was to update my LinkedIn account. I've had one for a while, but I've never really used it. So like with my CV, I spent some time working on it. I know people have mixed feelings about LinkedIn, some love it, some don't. Like a CV, it's a valuable tool. Once my key documents/sites were updated, it was time to start applying for jobs.

My Experience

I'll be honest, job hunting is hard. It's emotionally draining and time consuming. You never hear about the people that take a while to get a job. You always hear about the "success" stories. Those that get jobs after a month or week out of uni. When this post goes live, it will have been over eight weeks since I finished my degree. It will have been nearly six months since I applied to my first graduate job. I have been rejected by over 10 jobs now, not even being invited for an interview. I won't lie and say that it's okay, that something will come along and that this isn't getting me down, because it is. I am someone who likes to be busy and so having all this free time, which isn't really free, is something I'm struggling with.

Graduating during the pandemic and trying to get a job is a lot more competitive than I imagined. Most of the time when I apply, I know I'm going to be rejected. I don't have enough professional experience to get an interview. There was one job when I was certain I'd get an interview. It was an entry level job, it was something I thought I'd be good at and was interested in. So when I didn't get an interview and learnt that over 100 people had applied for this one role, it was gutting. The creative industry is a difficult one to break into, especially since being hit so hard by the pandemic. 

While I am struggling with rejection and not knowing when or if I'll get a job, that isn't going to stop me from trying. Until I get a job, I am using my time to be able to create content full time. I'm also learning about social media marketing as that's a route I'm interested in going down. I know that it's going to take time. Realistically, I know it could be towards the end of the year or next year that I get a job in the creative industry. I'm trying to keep going, while acknowledging the rejections as upsetting. 

This post may seem very bleak, but I hope it has helped you. We all know that the pandemic has been difficult and that lots of us are struggling to find employment. I want to share my honest experiences and be open about the highs and lows of this chapter of my life. I'll make an update as and when I have something to share.       

Balancing Reading and Watching Time| Carenza Bramwell

If you are a long term follower of my blog or any other social media sites, then you will know I am both a big reader and a big watcher (of film and TV). Since last March, both have become even more important in my life. I wanted to use this blog post to talk about my passion for both and how I balance both. 

What Books, Films and TV Shows Mean to Me

It is a slightly cliche answer, but reading has always been a passion of mine. I come from a family of readers, so it's practically in my DNA. Over the past few years, I have made it a part of my daily routine to always have some time to read. Similarly, with films and TV shows, they have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I wouldn't say it was as active as reading, but there were films and TV shows I waited for and was so excited to finally watch. Since starting university, but particularly in the last year, my passion for films and TV shows has become more pronounced. I watched way over double what I read last year. Being able to escape into these worlds (which I also do with books) was bliss. 

I am also a Creative and Professional Writing student, with the hopes of one day becoming a professional writer. I had thought that I would always go down the fiction route, wanting to write books as they had shaped my life so much. I think I'm now leaning more towards working in film and TV when I graduate. I haven't fully decided as I enjoy writing both and there's nothing to say I can't write both. So not only do I enjoy books, films and TV shows as a consumer, I also like writing them, which plays into why they are so important to me. 

How to Balance Both Passions

Reading and watching are very time consuming passions (hobbies?), which means I have to set aside a lot of time for both. Part of this is for my own enjoyment and part of this is for my degree/to learn more. In 2020, the balance definitely leaned more on the favour of film and TV. This is something I'm trying to balance more in 2021. Whenever I finish uni for the day, my main goal is to try and read for an hour. That doesn't always happen for various reasons. If I don't read for an hour, I like to at least read a couple of chapters.

Sometimes I will prioritise watching films and TV shows over reading. I like watching things before I go to bed as I've found I can get sleepy while reading but it takes me a while to fall asleep. So I've started watching things before I go to bed so I am actually quite tired before I fall asleep. I do set a time limit of 11:30pm being the latest I will be switching things off and going to sleep. This is the balance I've found that works for me personally, so it's really about finding the balance that works for you.

Is One More Important than the Other?

I wanted to include a section on which is more important to me as I feel that is something that should be discussed. The honest answer is no. Both are equally important to me, however, I will always prioritise reading over watching. Most of my content is about books, so therefore I have to put more of my time into books. However, career wise, I see myself going down the film and TV route. This does make finding a balance difficult because they are both so important to me. I think I will always end up watching more than I read because you know how long something is going to take to watch, you can never predict how long something is going to take to watch. So in a rather long winded way, my answer is that both are just as important and finding a balance can be difficult.

My Reading and Watching Routine

I start my day by watching something that is roughly twenty minutes long to help with some back problems I have. I then will watch something that is around half an hour with my parents at lunchtime. Reading is usually my priority and I will read while tea is being cooked. I then watch something with my parents while we eat our tea and spend time together after our busy days working. I like to read a couple of chapters roughly before I got to bed. I end my day by watching something, always making sure to be turning everything off by 11:30pm. 

That concludes this post on my reading and watching habits and how I try to balance the two.

Carenza :) x 

Getting Back into Art| Carenza Bramwell

This is a bit of a different post from my normal ones, but today I wanted to talk about how I'd like to get back into art. By art, I mean drawing, but I am open to trying other mediums. This was a goal of mine for 2020, but due to various health issues and the shit show that was 2020, I abandoned it. So I've decided it's something I'd like to pick up again. In this post, I wanted to talk about why and how I'm planning on doing this. It's partly due to my interest in all things creative and partly to have a hobby that isn't linked to my work life. 

It's A Hobby

Quite possibly the main reason I want to get back into art and drawing is because it's something I could see becoming a hobby. So far, my only hobbies are all interlinked with "work" and my degree. I read a lot of books. I watch a lot of films/tv shows. I enjoy these things but when you study Creative Writing, it reaches a point where it feels like you aren't switching off because you are constantly surrounded by writing. 

I want something to do that genuinely feels like a hobby and not because it's useful to my life. I miss being able to switch off and enjoy myself. I think by getting back into drawing, I could give myself the break I need. I am almost always working on something. Whether that be for my degree, content creation or the student magazine I work on at uni, I do something for one of these everyday. I'm in my final term and to be honest, I am very stressed. I know I need that little rest bite from everything, so by spending some time drawing or doing something arty, it could give me that break I need. 

It's De-stressing

As I've just touched on, I need something to give me a bit of relaxation time. I'm not saying that colouring in is an art form (though it could be considered one), but I've spent some time colouring in and I've found it so relaxing. Just focusing on what I'm colouring and giving my brain a break. I think getting back into drawing will help with moments of relaxation. 

It's Something I Enjoy

I come from quite a creative oriented family, so it's really a surprise that I'm interested in all things creative. I used to love going to galleries and finding somewhere to draw whatever painting I was sat in front of. I was that kid that would sit and be annoying. I'm not sure why or when, but I lost interest in drawing. It's something that used to give me a lot of pleasure, but now it's something I barely do and I have so many art materials from my days when I would draw. 

I'm not a very confident drawer, so it's something I'd like to improve. I plan on getting back in with physical drawing before potentially trying digital art. I could see digital art being useful in the future, but I want to be more confident with pen and paper first. All of my other interests (writing, books, films/tv, theatre), as I mentioned earlier, have become connected to my life plans. This would be something purely for fun.  

How I'm Going to Do This?

The September 2020 Scrawlr Box, not featured is this months sweet as I gave it to my mum

I recently purchased my very first Scrawlr Box. They are a UK based art subscription service. I bought one of their back list boxes from September 2020, which focused on Posca Pens. For £17.00 and free postage to the UK, they sound amazing. I'm really looking forward to trying this new medium. My goal is to hopefully set aside at least an hour a week to work on this new skill. It might become less as my work load increases. If I don't have time to do this, then I think colouring in would be something I could see myself enjoying. 

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post from me. What's something you're hoping to get back into?

Carenza :) x   

 

How to Stay Creatively Motivated| Carenza Bramwell

As the world continues to stay bleak and depressing, it can be hard to stay motivated. Something I've spotted in the past year is that it can be hard to stay creatively motivated when the world feels so gloomy. I study creative writing, I create content online and work on a student magazine, my whole life revolves around being creative. Yet, with the latest lockdown the UK finds itself in has drained me of all my creativity. In today's blog post, I thought I would share some thoughts and tips on how I stay motivated to create when I really don't feel inspired.

I just want to preface this post with that there are times when I don't follow my own advice. There are times when I don't feel I can. It's important to acknowledge that there are times when things aren't as easy as we'd like. Only try and follow these tips if you feel able to.

Acknowledge Your Feelings

Something I've been trying to do when I start to feel creatively demotivated, especially of late, is to acknowledge my feelings. We are living through a pandemic, these aren't normal times, it's alright to not feel normal. I am not a mental health professional, but I would say it's okay to feel frustrated, worried, scared, whatever you are feeling. I had a huge motivation boost after Christmas, but as soon as lockdown hit again, I could barely do the work I wanted to do. Instead of trying to make myself do the work when I was in no shape to do so, I took some time to acknowledge my feelings. By taking this step, even though I wouldn't say I'm back at full motivation levels, I've been able to chip away at my workload.  

Revisit Inspirations and Favourites 

When lacking motivation, a tip I would recommend is to revisit inspirations and favourites. I get inspired and motivated from the creative pieces I love. This could be a book, TV show, film, whatever, but I like to surround myself with it. To me, it's a happy reminder that people can go onto create great things. Often after revisiting something I love it makes me want to go on and create something. I would also recommend looking at some creative/motivational quotes. Again, it's a positive reminder that you can and will go onto work on something you're proud of.   

Break It Into Manageable Chunks

Let's face it, but we aren't going to write our masterpieces in a day or a week. It takes a lot of time. It can be overwhelming when you are lacking motivation to start a task that seems insurmountable. So breaking it into smaller chunks can help with motivation. It can be to write a hundred words or a certain amount of pages. I find that breaking bigger tasks into smaller chunks makes me more likely to work on it. If something feels too big, then I won't want to work on it. Take the time to work out how you are going to approach the task. Then let the words/creativity come to you.  

You Don't Have to Be Creative Everyday  

Something I am trying to learn is that you don't have to be creative everyday. It's okay to give yourself time to feel mentally refreshed before retuning to a project. This is similar to what I was saying in the first point. Creativity takes a lot of mental thinking, so let yourself feel mentally ready to be creative. Just like more "traditional" career paths and interests, it is key to take time away. I try to take one day a week away from doing anything creative. It gives me that time to process and refresh before diving back into whatever I'm working on. 

Those are some tips and thoughts on how to stay creatively motivated when times are difficult. Do you have any tips and thoughts on what's been discussed in this blog post?

Carenza :) x  

Halloween at Home 2020| Carenza Bramwell

If you scroll into the depths of my blog, then you will know I am a massive Halloween lover. My family goes all out for the holidays. Obviously, due to the pandemic, Halloween is a bit different this year. No trick or treating. No going out. As someone who knows a thing or two about how to make Halloween special at home, here are some tips on how to make this year's Halloween a spooktacular event.

Some pumpkins from 2017

 Decorate the House

This is something I have done every year, probably since I was a very small child. I love decorating the house. It doesn't have to be all out, it can be quite subtle. It's a tradition I've continued onto university. Most shops sell some form of Halloween decorations for affordable prices. They're also reusable, so they can be kept for future Halloween's. My housemates and I have had our decorations, which mostly consist of various Halloween themed fairy lights and a couple of fake pumpkins, up since the beginning of October to make the most of spooky season. I know this year, we are being encouraged to decorate the front of our houses to create a treasure hunt type event for local children instead of them going trick or treating. With decorating, you can go big or small. You can tailor it to your taste. It can also be a fun activity to do with friends or family.  

Halloween Themed Food

Quite possibly one of my favourite things about Halloween and other celebrations around the year, is the themed food. I don't know why the idea of eating chicken goujons in the shape of something else makes me more excited than normal, it just does. In more recent years, shops have been going all out with their Halloween themed food. There's a wide range from savoury to sweet. Something I'm trying for the first time, is a Halloween themed baking kit. It cost me £2 and I am greatly looking forward to making some Halloween biscuits. Alternatively, you could buy ordinary food and make Halloween themed yourself. This used to be really entertaining when I was a child and would have Halloween parties, but again is something that can be done with friends and family.  

Autumnal Walk

Something I will be doing on Halloween is going on an autumnal walk. Admittedly, you can do this any time during autumn, but as most of Halloween will have to be spent at home, make the most of being able to go on a walk. I'd recommend a woodland walk, to give it that extra Halloween feeling. You could maybe even dress up and go in costume on your walk. An activity I'd recommend, is telling spooky stories as you walk, taking inspiration from your surroundings. It allows you to burn some energy off before settling down for some of my more calmer, evening activities.    

Arts and Crafts

My housemate actually came up with this idea after the pumpkins we carved fell apart after only one week. We are going to be making paper mache pumpkins. I also want to attempt making a ghost and some ghost bunting. Arts and crafts are always fun, no matter if you're a child or grown up. They can be very therapeutic and encourage creativity. I'm sure if you can think of it, then it can be made. A simple google search will help spark inspiration. It's a chilled activity that everyone can join in on.  

Spooky Movies

My last recommendation is a classic and that is to curl up in front of the TV with a good spooky movie/tv show. Again the list is endless and one you can tailor to your preference. Alternatively, you could curl up with a good spooky book. Personally, I plan on curling up with The Nightmare Before Christmas, my favourite Halloween movie. Get some snacks, create the right atmosphere and enjoy yourself. 

Those are some activities you can do on this Halloween to make it just as magical as any Halloween. I hope you have fun!

Carenza :) x  

How I Decided What Books to Bring to University| Carenza Bramwell

Recently, I had to make a very difficult decision. It was particularly challenging and I couldn't afford to mess it up. I'm talking about deciding what books to bring with me to university. These would be the only books I had access to for four months. I have learnt the hard way when it comes to deciding what books to bring to university and I thought I would share how I've been able to make the ultimate packing list. 

My new uni bookcase

A Small History of University and Books

I am going into my final year of university, which means this is the third time I have had to pick which books to bring with me. In my first year I brought around 30 books with me. I then went and purchased another 10 books as soon as I moved in. I swiftly came to the conclusion that this was too many books. I decided I would learn from my mistakes as a Fresher and for my second year of university, I only packed 10 books. I obviously purchased other books. When I went home or when my parents came to visit, I would take the ones I had read and return them. I would also bring new books back with me. However, due to the pandemic this year, it's a bit different this time. I had to bring enough books with me to see me through until Christmas. I do not know what Christmas will bring and I'm praying I will be allowed to go home for a few weeks. That meant that I had to bring enough to keep me going for four months. It was a difficult decision. I made the decision to bring 20 books with me. Alongside the books I plan on purchasing and with the rate I am currently reading books at, this should be enough. 

How Did I Decide Which Twenty to Bring?

It's a good question and I have a good answer for you. My main piece of advice would to be to bring a wide range of genres. You never know when the urge will hit you to read a certain genre and if you don't have that genre, then you're a bit screwed. I went through my shelves and looked at them by genre. I have mostly fantasy books, but I also have a good mix of sci-fi (which is totally outside of my comfort zone) and more modern literature/classics. I have only one contemporary with me. I also factored in if there were books with sequels that I wanted to read. Out of the books I brought, only two are rereads. 

I also decided that I wanted to tackle a lot of series. I have brought a total of four series with me. Two fantasy series and two sci-fi series. It gives me options if I want to read stand alones or if I want to binge read a series. It's always good to have a wide range of things to read as it means you have all the "basic" book needs covered.   

What About Purchasing Books?

I've actually written a whole blog post on this, but I have significantly cut back on the amount of books I buy a year. I'll leave a link to it here. But to paraphrase myself, I'm cutting back due to space and money. I think I'm only planning on buying maybe 10 books at a push while I'm here. I've been mostly buying new releases all year, despite the fact that there is a lot of books I want to catch up on that I haven't bought. I did visit a second hand bookstore with my friends and bought a book there, but for the most part due to me being a student, I am cutting back on physical books. 

It can be difficult to decide what books to bring for such a long period, but I would advice to take your time and to try and pick a wide genre of books as then you'll have something for every occasion. 

Carenza :) x

Why I've Abandoned My New Years Resolutions for 2020| Carenza Bramwell

2020 was going to be the year I stuck to my New Years Resolutions. It was going to be the year that I told myself I'd change and commit to something. 2020 ended up being the year from hell quite frankly and we've still got four months left. In today's blog post, I will be sharing with you why I have decided to abandon my New Years Resolutions. 

Putting it frankly, 2020 has gone to shit. We all thought this was going to be a great year and then COVID happened. I don't know about you, but living through a global pandemic was not on my to do list for this year. I had told myself at the end of 2019 that I would make some positive changes in my life. 2019 had ended up being a pretty good year for me, but the last few months were quite difficult. I was looking forward to a chance at taking control of my life again. I've spoken about how I've been struggling with a few health issues over the past year and how it has taken a toll on my everyday life. I went into 2020 relatively healthy, but ended up becoming sick again. This obviously disrupted my plans to turn over a new leaf. 

My goals for 2020 involved trying something new (drawing), reading lots of books, working on one non-uni writing project, spending less time on my phone and setting time aside to relax. Let's break down how I've been doing with each of those goals. I was doing really well at drawing. I was doing a little doodle every day up until early February when I fell ill again. I was quite enjoying it and I could see a little bit of improvement in my skills. I tried picking it up again but I quickly forgot again. I've realised that it is something I'd like to try again but once I have a bit of free time on my hands, something I very rarely have. 

Reading lots of books has been something that I have been easily able to achieve. I've read almost 50 at this point which I am very happy about. I did have some slow reading months and I have been reading more three star books than normal. I haven't read a book that I would say that I've adored which is quite sad for 2020. Reading is something I'll always make time for so this goal is still one I'm going to consider. Writing on the other hand, well that's taken a back seat. Here's why. I do a Creative Writing degree. I run a blog. I'm also the editor in chief of my unis student magazine. I always have some sort of writing to be doing that I have to prioritise. I never have time to actually sit down and work on my own projects. I spend 90% of my time writing. This means when I have a chance to do something else, I'll take it. I've been reading lots and watching new things. I miss that I don't have the time to pursue my own projects but once I've graduated next summer, I will have the time to focus fully on my own projects. It was over ambitious of me to assume I'd have the time and energy to work on my own stuff this year. 

Another goal I will be backing out of is less screen time. Spending lots of time on my phone does depress me a bit, but I have a reason for scrapping this goal. I've decided that I want to start putting more effort into my social media accounts. Due to COVID, I was unable to get an internship or work experience. I will be most likely unable to do so for some time. This means I am going to be graduating with nothing, which is very stressful. So I am using the wonderful gift that is the internet to showcase my "talents". By constantly creating content, it shows that I can do something. I also want to do it because it's fun. With the new addition of Instagram reels, I am going to be trying my hand at video making again. I do miss making video content and I've been toying with the idea of restarting my YouTube channel. These are all creative outlets I can use to my advantage and still have fun. However, by constantly working and essentially having an unpaid job, I do need time to relax. I have been trying to set time aside for reading and relaxing everyday. If I didn't I think I would have cracked under the pressure. It's something that I've gotten better at in the past few months and something I wouldn't have tried if COVID hadn't happened. 

So going forward to the rest of 2020, what are my goals? Well I still want to read lots, that's just a given. I've been really enjoying tackling my TBR. I've also been loving creating content online, so that's something I'm going to be working towards. But the big change is that I'm going to be more flexible to my approach to life. COVID has shown me that my plans can suddenly be changed overnight. I need to adapt to the situations life throws at me. I don't have a plan for this time next year, so I'm going to focus on the now. Work hard for my degree. Manage the uni magazine and create content for that. Learn and grow my online platforms. My interests in general have changed this year. I've fallen head over heels for film and TV, it's eventually where I'd like to work. My motto is going to be work hard, play hard. It isn't original but it is something that I've truly come to believe in. 

Carenza :)x