It's All About The Little Things In Life

Well hello there! Long time no speak. I'm currently drowning in a fresh concoction of flash cards, revision notes and my own self-doubt. A level exams are fast approaching and like most students at this time of year, I'm having about 57 meltdowns a week with all the work I have to do. The pending doom that is exams is creeping up on me quicker than my overdraft. 

You may have realised I've not been around much because recently on here or on my social media. You probably don't care enough to notice but I've been knee-deep in revision since December. To be fair it's only an uphill battle from here. To spare my own sanity and grades I decided to come off social media and stop blogging till my exams. 

However, today I just wanted to stop by, say hello, let you know I'm not dead yet and share a bit of a life update as well as talk about a couple of things that have been keeping me going in this stressful time. 

Mental Health Books I Have Been Loving Recently

I have been receiving a lot of mental health books recently. Unfortunately, due to exams and A-level stress, reading has kind of taken a back seat to revision. (Groan) Thankfully, after mock exams were over it gave me a break, to pick up reading again. 

Who am I kidding? I have three months to learn two years worth of content #prayforme

Although revision doesn't stop, I make sure in my breaks and downtime I get time to do some reading. I love reading, and I always feel better reading then mindlessly scrolling through social media, achieving nothing. 

Obviously, you know me and my passion for talking about mental health and my love of reading. So what better books to be talking about then mental health books. The books featured in this post are so diverse, so I am sure there will be something here for everyone, whatever sort of book you are after!

The Light Jar | Book Review

When I saw Lisa Thompson was bringing out a new book, I was so excited! I loved her debut novel; The Goldfish Boy. If you remember, back in 2016 I reviewed the book on my blog. You can read that review HERE. As well as it being a fantastic book, it also has a special place in my heart as it was the first piece of blogger mail I ever received. 

Like the Goldfish boy, The light Jar is a middle-grade book. But please don't let that put you off picking either one of Lisa's books up. Both books cover very important themes that everyone of every and any age can relate to. Although they're based on children and targeted at a young audience, they have meaning to everyone. The Goldfish Boy did a fantastic job of portraying obsessive-compulsive disorder, so my expectations were naturally high going into the light jar. 

I always worry when reading the second book of an author whose first book went down a treat and was such a firm favourite of mine. I feel a mixture of emotions from excitement and anticipation. Will it live up to the Goldfish Boy? You will be glad to know, if you were a fan of The Goldfish Boy, you won't be disappointed and if you are a new reader of Lisa's books you are in for a real treat. 

A Beginners Guide To Talking About Mental Health | Time To Talk Day 2018

A lot of people are scared of talking about their feelings or emotions. This is particularly apparent in British culture. So heaven forbid anyone talks about mental health/ illness. Depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders or suicide are things to be talked about behind the closed doors of a sterile counsellors room with the obligatory box of issues, dead plant and some peculiar looking piece of art which I'm sure is meant to calm you but does anything but. 

Wrong. This is the wrong attitude to have. Talking about mental health should be as common as talking about the weather. Which for us Brits should be pretty bloody common. But we don't. We have this stiff upper lip which needs to change.

This Thursday (1st February) is the charity's Time to Change, Time to Talk Day, in which they encourage and spread awareness of the importance of talking about mental health. Everyone can and should get involved with this incredibly important day. Whether you are at school, uni or work, you can get involved and spread awareness. If it's too late to organise an event for the big day, don't worry you can still encourage the people around you in your local community or friendship circle to start talking about mental health. Whether you talk to one person or 100- nothing is too big or too small. However, everything you do is important.

3 Films To Stop And Make You Think

I love watching films, but it isn't something which I talk about a lot on my blog. I have really diverse film tastes. I love everything from Disney to horror. Although, saying that it is very rare that you would ever catch me watching a romance film because Ewwww...

I'm not overly fussy with what I look for in the films I watch. Good characters, interesting plot are obviously fundamentally important. However, something that really stands out to me in films is if the film makes me think. I like films which cover key social issues or debates. I think when it comes to films there are two main categories; films you watch mindlessly and films you actually watch. I know that doesn't really make much sense, but it's kinda hard to explain what I mean. 

Sometimes I want to watch a comedy or a kids movie just because I can. I need something in the background to drain out the deafening silence.But sometimes I want to expand my knowledge on a certain topic. I want to learn, and sometimes a textbook just won't cut it. Excellent acting and visual representation make for better understanding sometimes. For me, it doesn't matter what the topic is as long as it makes me stop and think. Today I thought I would round up five of my favourite 'stop and think films' covering a diverse range of subjects.