Happy 2018 – here are my thoughts

I don’t think it would be considered correct to post my first blog post for the year and not wish all of you a Happy New Year. So here it is: a Happy and Prosperous 2018 for every single one of you reading this. I’m wishing you all only the best that life has to offer and I hope that you all reach your goals and objectives that you have set out for yourselves.

My wish for me is the same: That I achieve every single one of my objectives. But here’s the thing though. So many of my goals are centred around what I aim to achieve in my blogging career. And while there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with that, I find  myself wondering exactly how I’m going to achieve them. The reason for this is fairly simple: You see, I’m a full-time stay at home mum. I have two young boys who I adore – Rupert who is 2 years old, and Jasper who is 3 and half months old. When I say full time, I mean it in the true sense of the word. I’m with the children 24/7. They are not in day care or nursery school so all the child rearing is up to me while Michael is at work during the week. And while this is exactly how we had planned life while the children are still so young, I’d be lying if I said that I don’t miss  being more active in a business or career sense.

Be that as it may, I enjoy being at home with my children, but it does mean that I have to pay more attention to finding balance in my life. All too easily, looking after the children and the home can become all consuming for us full-time mums, which is why this year I’m planning on engaging in a great deal more self-care activities – the main one being running. I have loved running since my early twenties and I’ve even run a few half-marathons back in the day, but the last one was probably seven or eight years ago, so this year I plan on slowly getting my fitness back by going running and finally shedding this stubborn baby weight.

With regards to blogging and working for myself, I need to get into some type of routine where I can keep up blogging and vlogging regularly without long gaps of no updates. Over the last week though, I felt compelled to take a break from social media, in particular Instagram, as I’ve been finding myself getting anxious over the idea of constantly having to post updates. I realise it sounds crazy, but the notion of having to post the perfect photo including the pose, the edit with the correct lighting and filter that would make the photo fit my feed has honestly given me periods of such anxiety that I just needed it to stop. At least for a little while.

Being a full-time mum while trying to grow my career, along with the stress of moving country (again), has given me many sleepless nights, especially towards the ends of 2017. That, combined with the constant pressure of keeping up on Instagram has really led me to question why I sometimes bother. When I think back to why I started my blog in the first place – to reach out to, and to help and inspire others through my writing and my personal experiences – it makes me wonder if anyone could be bothered seeing another one of my selfies pop up on their feed. Isn’t it enough to just share my experiences and thoughts with the world? It was never about brands noticing me, that’s for sure. So why the constant need for the perfectly curated feed? But then I remind myself that a lot of it is just in my head. Who says I need the “perfect” feed to be engaging and to reach others.

In fact, I don’t have a consistently curated feed, but despite of that I’ve had the opportunity of working with some amazing people – individuals and brands included. And I want more of it this year. A lot more. I know I can do this, I just need to crack the code into finding  the best working method. (I’m currently writing this post while having my third glass of Sauvignon Blanc for the evening and after watching the final episode in the third season of How to Get Away with Murder, so I admit it may not be the best method). I’m all open for ideas though so if any of you have any suggestions, please go ahead and fill me in.

In other news, I absolutely loved doing this shoot in December while I was in Cape Town to host the second annual Cape Town Natural Hair Fest along with the rest of the Cape Town Naturally team. I worked with an amazing photographer, Tegan Smith, who made me feel so at ease that I wish I could fly her over permanently to come and take photos of me here in England!

I also wore this stunning salmon coloured dress  which I paired with my lilac rose gold Converse trainers. I felt pretty freaking beautiful in this outfit.

Dress: Country Road at Woolworths

Shoes: Converse at Office UK

Clutch: borrowed from my boo Amanda Cooke