A MASTERS IN LITERATURE | THOUGHTS NEARING THE FINISH

I am steadily coming to the end of my year as a Masters student. My dissertation is due in five weeks and honestly once this is over with, I'm not sure what I'm going to use my brain for. I've spent the best part of a year thinking about very little else and too busy filling my spare time with doggo walking, note taking and boyfriend seeing to think much about where to go afterwards.

For a long time I was sure that I wanted to do a PhD. My plan was pretty solidly to find a funded PhD (Oxford or UCL, y'know - somewhere I could feel smug about) and start my career as an academic. But things have changed. While I LOVE academia, and will always cherish my time as a postgraduate, the reality is that I just don't think that it's the future for me. The world of academia is largely very traditional, rigid, and somewhat humourless, and getting an essay back with glowing praise and a first grade isn't quite enough to take away the snitty comment in the feedback about how the little joke that I made halfway through was 'detrimental to an otherwise professional and impressive piece of work'.

CRUELTY FREE BEAUTY FAVOURITES #4

Summertime usually sees me running out for new beauty products, because there's something about the opportunity to flash a bit of bare ankle that just screams 'give your money to superdrug!' So of course I have a new stash of cruelty free products that I've been using over the past few weeks and wanted to share some of my favourite finds. 

TIPS FOR EVERYDAY MENTAL WELLBEING

Everybody has mental health. I realise that this should be completely obvious, but it's quite strange that, in our culture, we tend to reserve discussion about mental health for those struggling with mental illness. But the thing is, we all have mental health, and we all can be vulnerable to having that health compromised in some way. We don't wait until an individual has flu to tell them how to prevent it, we make clear the steps that help somebody stay well and avoid illness so that they can stay physically strong and healthy, rather than just applying cures after the fact. So why don't we do the same thing with mental health? (Cynical opinion: A healthy body is more useful to capitalist labour needs than a healthy mind but who knows? ) 

Mental health week was some time ago now, but I wanted to wait a little before posting this, because mental wellbeing should be part of our everyday conversations, not segregated to a single week. With that in mind I wanted to share a few tips to take care of everyday mental health, whether you're someone who is currently living with a mental illness, or someone who wants to take steps to cultivate good mental health, and have some resources for wobblier moments. 

"IS THIS THE END OF BLOGGING?" | BREAKING OUT OF THIS BAD ATTITUDE

I feel like I can't click onto Bloglovin' anymore without seeing a post titled something like "Is This the End of Blogging?" or "Thinking of Giving Up." and it can be really discouraging to think that people really feel this way.

Don't get me wrong, I get it. This is a very new blog, but I've actually been a blogger since 2009. I have very clear and fond memories of the rise of blogging, and how wonderful and exciting it was to feel really on the curve of something, and have people engaging with your content and enjoying everyone else's work. Since then things have changed. I ducked out for a few years and when I came back in about 2016 it felt like things had stalled. A lot of people that I had absolutely loved had dropped out of the blogging world altogether. I was very discouraged and, although I kept blogging, it felt like the people who would be successful bloggers already were, and there was no way of growing an audience anymore. F L Y N N was my attempt at a fresh start, leaving behind the expectations and blogging just for myself.

MID YEAR RESOLUTIONS

I really don't know how we're halfway through the year. I know that's SUCH a cliche but honestly I still haven't recycled some of my Easter treat boxes, though that might just be me being a slob...  

But I thought I'd take some time to reflect on how my 2018 goals are panning out, and consider what I want to think about and focus on over the next six months. My good friend Holly gave me the idea so shout out to her, and her adorable new blog which you can read and enjoy here. 

CRUELTY FREE BEAUTY FAVES #3 | DAILY ROUTINE

It hasn't been that long since I last posted about cruelty free products, but a very dear friend of mine Kieran (you can read his blog here) sent me a little care package full of LUSH goodies. I mentioned, when he came round to stay a few weeks ago, that I didn't really have a set skincare routine and, as a LUSH employee, he was very keen to help me address this!

Among the super cute, pastel bath bits, and amazing smelling hair care, were three items to make up a little low maintenance daily routine, and, having been sticking to this fairly regularly for about three weeks now, I've really seen the benefits.