So I recently recorded a video talking about my my experience with anxiety and panic attacks. I did this for those who don't want to sit and read my essay long post that I wrote earlier this year! I hope this video will reach out to those also suffering with anxiety/ panic attacks/ depression or any other mental health issue in hope of showing them that they are not alone. Below I will link my video as well as any anxiety related posts I have put on this blog.
Last month I decided to read Marie Kondo's "The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying" with the intention to then carry out the "KonMari" method on my clothes, books, papers etc. I'd seen two of my favourite YouTubers, Jen from "OrganisedJen" and Gillian from "GillianAtHome", talk about this book and their experience with applying it to their lives. Well it looked really effective and I was in a complete spring cleaning mode when I bought the book.
Marie Kondo is a Japanese woman who specialises in organising and decluttering your life.
In this post I will not only be sharing my thoughts on the book but my entire experience with reorganising my stuff! In this post I will link 3 videos that are on my YouTube channel, the first being the book review and the other two being the whole process of sorting out my clothes and books.
So join this journey with me as I uncover the secrets on tidying your life.
This book is only 207 pages long and therefore I was able to read it within one afternoon/evening. I would encourage you if you can to do the same as it makes for a very fluid read and I was then able to start organising the next day.
At the start of the book I did feel like Marie was really hyping up the book to be some life changing event that is the cure to all you messy problems and for me this came across slightly pretentious as she's saying how she never get's repeat customers and she so quickly gets booked up for work. Because of this you expect the book to dramatically change your thought process on organising and anticipate getting rid of a lot of stuff.
One thing I've learnt is that you put in what you get out, if you go in half assed then your not going to get the best results then if you 100% follow Marie's rules.
Marie says that the one thing we're not taught at school or generally in life is how to tidy yet we're just expected to do it as children. I found this an interesting point as being organised can have a huge effect on how we live. One thing I relate to Marie on is that we both like to get rid of a lot at once rather than little amounts in stages, this is something Marie feels is key to a tidying success.
Another point Marie makes is about the use of storage solutions and how they prevent us from actually getting rid of stuff we don't need. She says "Putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved. " " This is why tidying must start with discarding." I must say I have been a victim to this,
Marie has created the "KonMari" method which is her process for organising and discarding. She starts of by telling us to tidy by category and not location. By this she means don't tidy room to room but for example take all your clothes from each room and bring them together to one space to then sort out. By doing this it helps to see everything that you have and often brings a shock factor to it.
Naturally before I clean my room I always tidy it first by putting clothes away and putting anything back to its rightful place, I also discard things if I no longer need them. This usually helps to clear surfaces and give a more minimal feel (even if thats not what your going for). By naturally doing this it really set me up for a KonMari experience.
Marie says this process should be quite quick and should take about 6 months! I'm sorry but that is not quick! For me I did it in a day and maybe because of that my outcome from the process isn't as drastic. The KonMari method is set up in stages that have been well thought out by Marie. The order she has chosen to sort things out is based on what she feels it the easiest to let go of first and then the hardest last. This is what she suggests: Clothes - Books - Papers - Miscellaneous - Sentimental
I did stick with this order however I havn't yet tackled sentimental items as I know this will take the longest. I found that each category brought up hurdles as I will later talk about but I did find Books easier to sort out than clothes.
If you take one thing from this book it to always ask yourself "Does this spark joy?" This is a phrase that Marie really emphasises and I agree is extremely helpful especially when sorting through clothes. When you hold up a top or a pair of shoes you should get that tingly feeling or want to wear that item everyday if you could, that to me is what that phrase means. This is something I since apply now when I'm out buying clothes.
Another game changing point Marie makes is to change the way you fold your clothes. Again if you take anything away from this book this is one of those points. For me I struggle for space despite some might saying I have a lot. But I just wasn't using my dresser to its fullest. Well the KonMari way of folding has really helped and you can see this in the picture below. Before I stacked all my T-shirts and jumpers however now I fold them into rectangles and store vertically and am now able to see everything I own. I will point out that it can be a little difficult to put T-shirts back in once the method is in place and if the width of the draw in filled they tend to slide down.
One thing I didn't agree on with Marie and that was her opinion of what you should wear around the house. She says you should dress up and wear feminine clothes even if your not setting foot outside. Well I say wear what you want! I'll let you into a little secret, as i'm writing this I'm currently in sweats and a Jersey Boys t-shirt, no shame there.
Overall I liked the book and gave it 4/5 on Goodreads, after reading it I was really excited to start clearing and I'll share that experience with you now.
To see my book review on YouTube click below.
Clothes
Overall I found sorting out my clothes fairly easy however despite getting rid of a lot I expected to be able to get rid of more. I feel I probably kept more than I should of especially if it was something I was undecided on and I just kept it rather than getting rid of it. Like I said the folding method has given me a tone more space however it can be difficult at times to put your clothes back in place after washing them. As the day went on I did pluck a few pieces off of my to get rid of pile and cheekily put them back in my wardrobe, again I shouldn't of done this and once somethings in the pile it should stay there. But hey no ones going to shoot me over it!
Overall I found basics, hoodies, cardies and tops easy to sort through however jeans and shorts brought up issues. For me jeans last a while therefore I have some pairs that I once used to love but my style has since changed and I don't wear as much. I had to make the decision to let go on some brighter coloured jeans despite once really loving them. Shorts also were an issue as I'm not currently wearing them due to the weather and therefore havn't worn any in months, I think I only got rid of 1 pair out of 10... oops.
Marie also has an order to which clothes you sort out first however I didn't really stick to this and just went with what I felt like.
Shoes were quite an Issue as I have quite a few pairs of Dr.Martens which to me are an investment and I don't want to currently get rid of them as my shoes styles change.
One thing I continuously try to do with my wardrobe which
Marie mentions to do is to keep certain items together for example all dresses together all trousers together etc. This really helps to know exactly where things are and make dressing quicker in the mornings.
To see the process in full check out my video below.
Books
Going into this section I thought it would be very hard as I love collecting books however it was the complete opposite! I found it quite easy to get rid of a lot of books and think I could even get rid of more. I had a lot of books that I knew I wouldn't read again and were just keeping for the sake of adding to my collection. I got rid of a few that were on my TBR shelf as the moment of wanting to read that book had long passed. In this section I also sorted through coffee table books and photography books which you can see in the video below.
I still need to tackle magazines and personal items however for now I'm happy with the progress I have made.
Be sure to check out the videos linked to see the entire process and I will also leave a video below in which I vlogged my process.
On the 15th of April me and two friends went and saw McBusted at the BIC in Bournemouth (their second show). Last year I went to two of their shows and didn't want to miss out on their Most Excellent Adventure Tour this year. In this post I will be sharing my thoughts on the show as well as featuring some of the photos and videos I took. One day I would love to be a professional concert and live music photographer but until then I'll keep buying tickets and supporting the bands I love. Like I said I also take videos to be able to capture the moment and look back on them in weeks, months and years to come.
So it was my turn this year to get the tickets therefore the pressure was on! Luckily I was able to get left balcony front row seats and really we had the best seats of the house. This year they featured the OMFG zone which is more exclusive and gets you closer to the band and next time I'd really consider getting tickets there if only for the amazing photos I'd get ( plus its not as crowded and as a short person I'd get a good view).
Me and my friends weren't that bothered about seeing the support acts therefore we arrived just before the second act ended. This was perfect as the merchandise line was virtually non existent and we could easily find our seats during the interval.
McBusted came on at 8:55pm and finished at 10:40pm which was very prompt and I felt they didn't talk as much to the crowd as maybe they did on the last tour.
When me and my friend saw the setlist we noticed how similar it was to last time and that they were playing a lot of the same songs. Personally I would of liked to of seen more songs from their new album.
As usual though McBusted put on an amazing performance and their energy never lacks. I always walk away feeling good about their concerts.
So their stage was set up like a huge arcade machine ( that actually works) and during the show the boys took a break to play Street Fighter on it. There were a few eventful moments during the show that i'd like to mention the first being the kiss cam that happened during "It's All About You" which everyone happily or reluctantly took part in. Next during their new song "Riding On My Bike" James actually did ride his bike around the stage and you can see that in my video below.
One funny thing that the band kept going on about was that they weren't in "Bournemouth" they were in "James Bourne's mouth" which was an ongoing joke throughout the show. During "Obviously" the band took it almost acoustic at one point and let the audience be the main focus whilst holding their lights/phones in the air, it was a really nice break from such high energy performances. Before playing "Crashed The Wedding" the boys made a nod to their last tour in which Matt came out in a wedding dress; well this time Matt came out in a Tux, Dougie was the bride, Harry was the vicar and the rest of the boys were bridesmaids. There was confetti thrown and Dougie even through out his bouquet.
As always the crowd participation was great and the boys always play up for them.
This has been my first concert of the year and it reminded me how much I love photographing concerts and being able to capture such exciting shows!
I'll leave you with a photo and video or two as well as the vlog I recorded over on my personal YouTube channel.
