Motivational Message | #3

'Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers'

Earlier this week, I saw this beautiful quote on twitter and knew I had to blog about it. As a lover of all things bee related, and as someone at least attempting to keep a positive mentality, it seemed a perfect motivational quote for Blushing Sunday. In the last few months, I have felt pretty bereft of any sense of hope. My future after graduation suddenly seemed very foggy indeed, and my day-to-day existence began to feel very monotonous and bland; with no real purpose. So, in order to combat this, I decided to focus on the little things. From this I discovered that hope doesn't always come in the form of a long, arduous and detailed life-plan... sometimes it's the little things like baking a particularly good batch of biscuits, getting a 2:1 in an assignment or even just going for a drink with an old friend, or even a new friend. These little things were just making me so much more positive, and making me enjoy existing so much more. Slowly I began to realise that with hope comes so many other things: excitement, enthusiasm, happiness, creativity... the list keeps going. I'm afraid that this post is a bit of a ramble, but I have realised that with a dash of hope, the future can seem so much brighter. 

Motivational Message | #2

'If you're holding on too tight, just let it go'

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Sadly, not all good things in your life are made to last forever. And sometimes, for the benefit of all parties involved, the best thing to do is to let go and start a new chapter. From my experiences recently, I have learnt that sometimes holding on too tight, and feeling guilty for doing so, makes the situation so much worse. To feel so guilty for being the one who loves least, and hopelessly attempting to forcefully cram more love and happiness and humility into your heart that just isn't there anymore, won't help. I sought this idyllic scene of perfection, and by clinging too tightly to this fantasy, I slowly crushed it to pieces. I know it's scary, but holding on more tightly sometimes isn't the answer to pleasing everyone and making everyone happy: sometimes it's best to take a deep breath, and let it go. 

Scandinavian Rye Bread

I admit it, I have a problem. I have Scandimania. I'm in love with Scandinavian fashion, lifestyle, furniture, design and, most of all, food. It seems that Nordic cuisine has taken the nation by storm with it's simple textures and earthy flavours, a type of straightforward and minimalistic cooking style that has really grabbed our attention. Nordic cuisine has come on in such leaps and bounds over the last few years that it appears now the true taste of Scandinavia can be found in a simple rye loaf... rather than needing to remortgage my house in order to sample the latest seaweed and moss emulsion at Noma.

This loaf is dark and wholesome, perfect layered with salmon and avocado for my take on smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open sandwich... it's also nice toasted with marmite, just saying.  

Scandinavian Rye Bread

175ml of Milk

175ml of Water

2tbsp of Dark Soft Brown Sugar

1 7g Sachet of Dried Yeast

250g of Wholemeal Rye Flour

200g (plus extra for dusting) of Strong White Bread Flour

1tsp of Salt

1tbsp of Caraway Seeds

1tbsp of Fennel Seeds 

Pour the milk, water and sugar into a small saucepan and set over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Once the mixture reaches blood temperature, remove from the heat, add the sachet of yeast and set aside for 10 minutes until small bubbles begin to form on the surface (this means the yeast is working). 

Combine both sorts of flour, salt and crushed caraway and fennel seeds in a large bowl and pour in the yeast mixture. Bring together roughly with a wooden spoon first, then kneed for around 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. In order to make the dough springy and elastic this could take a while... so give it some wellie, and put something good on your laptop to watch (I watched Orange is The New Black- I'm hooked!). 

Once kneaded, put the dough in a well oiled bowl, cover loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place to prove for about an hour and a half (I use my airing cupboard).

When proven, turn out your dough onto a lightly floured surface and knock-back lightly with your knuckles, kneed again for another minute or so and shape into a nice, rounded loaf. Slash twice with a cerated knife, place on a baking tray and return to your airing cupboard (or warm place of choice, I don't judge) for another 40 minutes. 

Once proven again, place into a preheated oven at 180C and bake for 30-40 minutes. When cooked, your loaf should be a rich, dark brown colour and should sound hollow when tapped lightly on the bottom. 

Motivational Message | #1

'Seek your own happiness'

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Morning, young ones! My university semester is over, and my goodness does it feel nice to be back typing on a blog again. My window is open and I can feel the heat of the sun on my skin; i've got a lovely candle burning; and i'm wearing Birkenstocks: today will be a good day. 

My second year at uni has been really hard, and I have been very unhappy. My journalism training course has pushed me beyond my comfort zone, leaving me lost and confused; I have been unbelievably homesick; I have been struggling to see any sort of future path following my degree; and one of my closest friends left to move to Denmark for a semester. For me, the easiest path appeared to be wallowing in my own self-pitty and be as negative as humanly possible. I left university at any available opportunity, and allowed any sense of self-confidence I had developed during first year to dwindle to non-existence. 

I was sad, confused and, above all, isolated from any sources of happiness I may have found at university. However, this isn't all doom and gloom, as second semester began I decided to actively seek my own happiness and attempt a sense of positivity: 

1. I decided to make the most of my course. Yes, I didn't want to be a hard-core news junkie. But I did adore writing about food, and decided to seek a career path surrounding this. From this, I began to constantly consume food media: and developed an interest as to how food appeared on the page and screen. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and enrolled in a food styling and photography course, and began to find a side of the media industry that I really felt passionate about. From this, I realised that there is always another side to your own unhappiness, and always a path to make it positive.

2. I started to take control of my own happiness, and grab opportunities with both hands. Something which had always frightened me about university life was the notion of societies, and society culture. However, I discovered that not all societies involve scary drinking initiations and wild tour tales. I started Yoga, which I swiftly learned to adore, and began to develop an interest in the conditioning and strength of my own body. And whereas before I used yoga as a substitute for the dance training I used to do so rigorously, I now take the time to consider my own practice: and actively seek to improve the quality of practice. Alongside this, I also took the scary leap to begin dancing again, and started to take a Ballroom and Latin class once a week. And, my God, I can't even begin to explain how good it feels to be dancing again! From this, I learnt that not all opportunities are bad, and sometimes great rewards come from pushing yourself out of that little bubble of comfort and security.

3. I made friends, and chose not to brush aside all social invitations. Whereas in first year, I mainly socialised with my flatmates, this year I made friends on my course: and jolly wonderful friends they are too! For the first time ever, I feel supported and truly happy, and am surrounded by a group of people who bring out the very best in me. From this, i've learned that there is more to socialising than getting drunk at a sticky club, and that there will always be like-minded people who want your company just as much as you want theirs! Surrounding yourself with positive people will always, always make you more happy. 

So that's it, just a few things I have chosen to do recently to make me oh-so happy and take control of my own positivity. This is the beginning of my Motivational Message blog series that I intend to post every Sunday, with a different nugget of happiness each week.