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Why It’s Time To Start Social Distancing.

budget, essentials, finance, life, lifestyle, lockdown, news, question, socialdistancing, UK, Uncategorized

Over the last week, life in London has been pretty much thrown into turmoil. We are living in unprecedented times and there seems to be a lot of confusion as to where we go next. Whilst I don’t have all the answers, I have made the conscious decision to take part in social distancing and here’s why you should too…

Social distancing requires as many people as possible to put measures in place to slow down the spread of Covid-19. By avoiding pubs, clubs and social gatherings, we are helping to delay the spread of the outbreak.

I have seen many young, fit and healthy people on social media in the last couple of days continue to defy government advice. I find it ironic that we are so quick to criticise our government when they fail to speak out on climate change and other large social issues but refuse to make positive changes for the masses during a global pandemic…

We are not doing this for ourselves but for the good of those who are likely to require medical intervention. We all know how much pressure the NHS has been under in recent years and in order for those who need help to receive it, we need to control the rate of transmission.

Social distancing is not something that we all have the option to actively partake in. But if we do, why shouldn’t we at the very least give it a go? For the sake of missing a few weeks of normality, we can choose to stay at home and protect our nations most vulnerable people. It’s about your parents, grandparents, family who suffer with chronic conditions or friends with asthma.

This isn’t about buying into mass hysteria. The shops will remain open. Having a twenty pack of toilet roll isn’t going to save your grandma when her lungs give in!

If you have the option to work from home, consider this a luxury. There are many of us for whom this isn’t an option. We face financial difficulties, job losses and an anxious wait to see what the Government will be able to offer us. By all means support small businesses but do it in a safe way, consider buying vouchers or ordering online where possible.

I think at this time, it is most important to acknowledge those who continue to provide services for us all whilst dealing with the same mental and emotional pressures. Emergency service workers, small business owners, retail and care workers, delivery drivers and postmen, bin men and every other industry worker who is continually showing up for us all.

The biggest thing I have noticed in the last few days is how each one of us is facing our own struggle or financial dismay as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Whatever career we have or place we reside, these are uncertain times and it is ever more important that we make decisions for the good of each other. We will come out the other side of this. By acting now through social distancing, we can slow down rates of infection and speed up the time that this pandemic will take from our lives.

Here is a link to the latest government updates for those in need of employment guidance.

If you’re struggling with your mental health or just need a bit of extra support, this page from Mind Charity is full of useful information.

 

 

 

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Writer’s Block

beauty, blog, inspired, life, lifestyle, mindfulness, question, self improvement, Uncategorized, writing

In case you hadn’t realised, I have been attempting to post content every day this week. I spent today trying and failing to write several different posts and couldn’t seem to complete any of them.

So in the end, I decided to write this one. Basically, I’m cheating my way into being able to say that I’ve posted every day for a week. I felt this was the only way to really get myself back into blogging on a regular basis. The truth is, it’s hard to constantly be coming up with new content whilst simultaneously finding a direction to take my site in. I think moving forward, a realistic approach would be 2-3 blog posts per week.

Do you ever struggle with motivation when it comes to hobbies? It’s a strange thing to not be able to come up with content when a million ideas hit me on an hourly basis! The difference between that initial thought and actually sitting down to write a post is vast to say the least. I’m keen to know what you guys do to get yourselves out of a ‘writer’s block’ or whatever your equivalent may be. Help me out and give me some suggestions!!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more interesting.

Sophie

Why You Should Filter Your Feed

blog, celebrity, contour, inspired, instagram, life, lifestyle, reflection, self improvement, social media, twitter, Uncategorized

Something I’ve become increasingly aware of over the last couple of years is the need to filter the media we expose ourselves to. For me, this began with making a connection between the television I consumed and my overall mood.

I spent years as a self-confessed Soap Queen. Eastenders was my vibe and I lived for the Christmas Day tragedies. Nowadays though, the thought of sitting through an omnibus leaves me feeling like Shirley Carter upon finding out about the murder of her beloved Hev. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a total avoidance tactic, simply a curation of content. For instance, after watching the hit series ‘You’ on Netflix, I moved on to ‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’ for an easier watch. It may sound bizarre to some but I find it important to seek out lighthearted content in order to maintain a balance. It’s like when you watch a horror film before bed and have to follow it up with an episode of Friends after.

What began with television and film has now evolved for me and I am working to get to a point where my social media reflects a realistic yet uplifting view of the world. So with this in mind, I figured I’d share some of my methods for achieving a better relationship with the media.

As a former journalism student, for many years Twitter was my go-to place for news. I felt like I had to know about every major event going on in the world and be prepared to discuss such in great detail. I then realised that the news very rarely consists of positive stories. It’s okay to disconnect from these stories if they are having a negative impact on you. I find it best to follow broad news accounts such as BBC News and Reuters in order to know the top headlines without being overwhelmed by the details within them. Twitter is terrible for people Retweeting sad, disturbing or offensive content. I see people complaining all the time of the level of ‘trolling’ and scrutiny on this platform. Personally, I don’t see much of this side of the app thanks to my fondness of the unfollow button.

Instagram is amazing, I’m definitely a little too invested in it right now but I’m okay with that as long as I’m following the right accounts. I am particularly partial to a dog account, @tunameltsmyheart is a firm favourite. I’m making a more conscious effort to follow accounts that represent ‘real’ people with less facetune and more desire to inform and inspire. I can love the Kardashians and at the same time be totally aware that their fame and success have given them a platform unlike any other that we as ‘normal’ people could begin to comprehend. Whilst I don’t necessarily agree with every sponsorship or brand collaboration they post, I am more than happy to support them for the monumental business empire they have created as a family.

One tricky thing to tackle when filtering your social media is real life friends. Often I see things being posted by people I know in actual real life that I disagree with or find to be somewhat negative. I’m sure there are those who feel the same about my pages too and that’s okay! There are many reasons why you may still want to maintain a connection with these people and so in that respect, an unfollow is probably not the right option. Instead, mute them. They won’t know you’ve done it unless they suprise you with a random Instagram related pop quiz and you can continue to flick through instastories without seeing their billionth Brexit related post.

If you take one thing from this post, let it be this. The block, unfollow and mute buttons are your best friends. Your social media is exactly that. It’s yours. Don’t let it be dictated be the views of others. I really do believe that social media is a wonderful thing if we just learn to use it in a more positive way.

Sophie