Healing in the USA

The Trip I imagined

When I imagined this American trip, I imagined myself blogging a hell of a lot more than I have done. I mean, what a writing opportunity. Travelling The United States. I imagined myself writing something in the vein of the documentary which inspired this trip in the first place; Stephen Fry in America.

That didn’t happen. But I would like to begin by saying that I am not disappointed with myself. I mean yeah, a part of me wishes I had, I’m not going to lie. If I wanted to, I could beat myself up about it. I’m choosing not to because I recognise the uniqueness of the situation I find myself in.

What is probably going to be one of the biggest things that’s ever going to happen to me(at least in a personal sense) JUST happened. I mean, it’s been less than 4 months. That’s the blink of an eye. Particularly when we’re talking about a context of four years. For those of you who haven’t been reading, my boyfriend (who I was pretty sure was going to be my husband one day) broke up with me. After four years. So I travelled America with him (as you do). See blog below for details.

Between the time we broke up and the time we left for America I focused all my energies on myself, and on having a good time. I figured I needed to do the first part purely and simply for the good of my mental health; and the second because I figured regardless of how good I felt (and I did, surprisingly so) it was always going to take time. And in that time I wasn’t going to sit around and mope- I was going to go out and make the most of it (once again see below).

I guess in my head America would be different. I’d go straight into tourist/journalist mode and see and experience everything possible; recording and analysing every minute of it as I went. Once again, great and all as that would’ve been, it wasn’t very realistic. Sure, if Rudi and I were still together and nothing had ever happened I’m pretty sure that would’ve been my trip. There would’ve been ten times more photos and ten times more updates. But what my trip actually became was what I needed. This trip was in large part down to wonderful people I met as a result of one fateful night in Stockholm. The section below details this, but do feel free to skip onto the next one!

Arriving in the land of ridiculously large portions

 

The Flight

Flying with British airways was a good experience overall but this blog post would have a very different tone had the following story had a different ending. We arrived in Heathrow airport for our connecting flight (hours early I might add) only to be told they didn’t currently have seats for us on the plane and we may have to spend the night in London and get a flight the next morning. How in an age of computing an airline overbooks a plane, I’ll never know. Their only advice was to go to the gate about an hour before the flight and speak to the flight attendants when they arrived. Luckily when we did, they said they did have seats for us. Emergency over. Why it happened in the first place I don’t know.

Have to say I didn’t find the flight over long or boring at all. Of course number one reason being I had my best friend with me, but British Airways made it quite the pleasant experience with the blanket, the pillow, the good movies and loads and loads of food. Literally, about once an hour!

 

My first video Blog- Braces: Not that bad!

The only love we ever keep is the love we give away

True love stays with you for a lifetime. The love he has given me will stay with me forever and for that I am ever grateful. Loving him has been the best experience of my life and if we had had the most horrible, unpleasant break up (which, clearly we haven’t) it wouldn’t make me take back the last four years.

It is because of this love that we shared that I realise I need to let him go. We have been together since we were eighteen years old. When we first met, Rudi was someone who didn’t know much about himself. He didn’t know who he was or what he wanted to do with his life. I helped him figure a lot of this out and get to where he is today but now he needs to explore more on his own. Without the crutch of my constant love, affection and advice; without thinking for two. And I understand that. And while of course it broke my heart, I knew I had to let him go, and I wanted to. Because I love him. Loving someone means you want them to be the most them they can be. To shine, to be happy, to enjoy themselves. I wanted to because our relationship was wonderful and to continue when his heart wasn’t in it would be a disservice to everything we ever shared. I wanted to because I would never stay with someone who wasn’t sure that I was what they wanted. I wanted to because I deserve love.

I Love Valentines Day

I know I’m a bit late to the game with this article but I was too busy enjoying valentines day…. And the rest of the week….

But I love valentines day. There. I said it. I will not be a sheep and nay say it for the sake of it. I will not complain about things that are within my control. The reason always given for ‘I am not a valentines day person’ is ‘it’s too commercial’. Ya. Sure it is if you go with the grain and don’t see the point in creatively making things your own. Who says valentines day must involve flowers, chocolates, jewellery, wine and general expense? No one! Considering you don’t allow the general population or corporations dictate how you live any other day, why let it for valentines day?

How to give your hair a curl using mousse

I love having my hair curly. And whenever I do, I get numerous compliments as well as questions on how I do it. So I decided to share in the form of this blog. I would advise anyone to try but it must be said that it may not work for those with no natural volume or curl.

Below I will outline the steps I take to curl my hair:

My Choice

Today I decide to say no. Today I decide I will not let the niggling voices in my head get me down. I will not look at what others have achieved, compare it to my achievements and decide I come second. I will not look at what I have not done, or what I am not.

What I will do, is say no. What I will do is look at who I AM. Look at everything I HAVE done and HAVE achieved and see its value. What I will do is look at what I am and remember I’m that way for a reason. Remember the fact that every piece of who I am is something I chose. To look at the fact that these choices have brought me love, joy and happiness; even if it was painful to get there.

Love (warning: may contain soppiness)

I’ve never written about him because I never could. Not properly. 100, 200, 300; 1000 words would never be enough. He is my soulmate. The ying to my yang. He is every stereotype and more. He is my best friend and I am his. He does things every day to confirm each and

A Little Photography

This was the cover I designed for a photography assignment in the second year of my degree. The brief was documentary photography for a spread in a magazine. I chose to photograph my niece for a photo documentary on Baby Life and chose The Irish Times Magazine as my magazine

This was part of the ‘Baby Life’ project I outlined earlier in my description of the cover image.

A Few Thoughts On Society