I've been itching to write a post about my bullet journal since I started using it at the end of December. This past month has been a period of trial and error for me, so I could figure out what I liked, disliked, and actually used. I decided the best time to share my own would be at the start of a new month - which is finally here! In case you're unfamiliar with what a bullet journal actually is, it's essentially a cross between a journal and a planner. The dotted pages allow for much more artistic freedom than a regular agenda, but the bullet journaling system and structure gives it more form than a regular journal. But in the end, you can customize it anyway you'd like. This is just how I use mine. First off, here's my February title page. You'll notice that I keep my designs and doodles quite simple. I'm not incredibly artistically talented, but I like the minimalist approach better, anyway. I don't use this page much through-out the month, but I like using it to mark important holidays, birthdays, and events. Can you spot the important celebration coming up on February 13th? The next page proved to be extremely useful for me in the month of January, so I copied it exactly for February. Since I want to be more financially conscious, I decided a spread dedicated solely to my money would be a good way to track everything. I have a section to write in details about my paycheques to track my income. As a very lucky young adult, my only bill I need to keep track of each month is my phone bill, so I add this as well. If you had multiple bills to remember to pay, I imagine this visual would be useful to keep track of them all. I also added a tracker for my savings account at the bottom, where I record my opening balance and closing balance at the start and end of the month, so I can see if it's grown, shrunk, or stayed the same. This seemed to do a good job at resisting my urge to dip into that account unless I really felt it necessary. On the next page, I have a place to write in little things that make me feel grateful through-out the month, and a section for monthly goals. I'll be honest - I was terrible at keeping up with my January Tracker, but I just love the idea of one, so I'm trying again in February. As opposed to last month, I made the tracker a full two page spread instead of just one, so I'd have more space. On this page, you can add any kind of habits, tasks, or other activities that you want to keep track of daily. If you learn visually, it's a good way to reinforce habits and motivate you to get stuff done. Side note: One horrible thing that will occur in your bullet journal is typos. Example, I wrote "Febuary" at the top by accident. Sort of wanted to die. But in the end, the functionality of it is what really matters, so don't get too stressed over that stuff. Finally, I have my first weekly spread for the upcoming week. I've found this spacious horizontal layout to work the best for me, because there's plenty of room for to-do lists and text in general. I like to keep these pages pretty minimalistic as well, so I only ever add simple doodles and designs.
And that's my bullet journal for February! I hope this somehow inspired you to be more organised for the upcoming year. Remember, it's not about perfection. If I'm being honest, I don't open or use this every single day, but it's a good way to spend my Sundays, and it's nice knowing that I'm at least making an effort to condense the mess that is my life into something aesthetically pleasing. C
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Music has been such a dominant part of my life this month that it would be silly of me to not document it in a post. The new music and old music I've been rediscovering my love for has been my biggest source of inspiration over the past few weeks. I find the winter blues particularly difficult to deal with, and this set of feel-good songs have kept me going.
1. Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys 2. God Only Knows - The Beach Boys 3. Here Today - The Beach Boys 4. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys As you can tell, I've been on quite a Beach Boys kick. Until recently, I only knew of their most popular hits, but now I'm smitten with the entirety of the Pet Sounds album. They are quickly becoming one of my favourite bands. Their music makes me feel like I'm sitting on a beach in California in the middle of the summer, with no stress or worries. Which is all I really need in the bitter cold month of January. 5. Across The Universe - The Beatles 6. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - The Beatles 7. Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles 8. Penny Lane - The Beatles While most people go through their Beatles phase when they're 13, I'm going through mine at 19. You just can't say no to these classics. These have been my favourites as of late. 9. Arabella - The Arctic Monkeys 10. No. 1 Party Anthem - The Arctic Monkeys 11. Heroes - David Bowie Honestly, Heroes is probably one of the most iconic songs of all time. It's quickly becoming one of my top favourites. 12. In The Light - The Lumineers 13. Patience - The Lumineers 14. Imagine - John Lennon 15. How Do You Sleep? - John Lennon This month, I visited a music shop downtown called "Cheap Thrills" that sells used and new vinyls. I found John Lennon's "Imagine" album for $13, and despite only having heard the matching titled song, I snagged that deal and have been loving the sound. My instant favourite was "How Do You Sleep?", which has such a unique and funky vibe to it. I absolutely love it. 16. All I Have To Do Is Dream - The Everly Brothers I honestly cannot express my deep love for this song. It's such a lovely, dreamy tune. 17. 10,000 Emerald Pools - BØRNS 18. Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran 19. Shape of You - Ed Sheeran 20. Underdog - Imagine Dragons 21. Ya Hey - Vampire Weekend 22. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend I just adore the chilled vibe of Vampire Weekend's music. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" is probably my all time favourite song for them - it's so fun and uplifting. Like The Beach Boys, these two songs remind me of summer. 23. Sleepwalk - Santo & Johnny This month, I discovered a new youtuber (Lucy Vallely) whose videos I've been in love with. She uses this instrumental track in the back of most of her videos, and I slowly grew to love it. It sounds very whimsical - and, again, summer-y. Do you sense a trend? I've also had a little listen to the rest of this album and it's beautiful. They have original songs, such as this one, but also do instrumental covers of other tunes. I know I didn't go through and talk about each track individually, but I feel like we would've been sat here for ages if I had. Besides, music is something you need to feel, not over-analyse. Click the link below to have a listen. If you have any music recommendations based on what I've been listening to, let me know! Click Here To Listen | Click Here To Follow My Spotify C I feel so full of love today as I scroll through photos from the numerous Women's Marches happening around the world this afternoon. It is so comforting knowing that you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself, so much bigger and more important than any force of hatred, leader, or government. I feel so connected today.
Although I sadly didn't make it out to my city's march, I stand in solidarity with all the women, men, and children who are out there, as well as those across the globe who are using their voices and power to spark change. I never want any woman to feel silenced again. My feminism stands for women of all colours, ages, sizes, and sexualities. It stands for men who have been oppressed by the patriarchy for not fitting the societal mould. And it stands for everyone in between. We will not settle. We will not turn a blind eye to injustices. We will not back down. We will not lower our voices. We are feminists. If you knew the real definition of that, you'd probably be one, too. C "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression." Thrifting is a concept that has been gaining more and more popularity over the past few years, especially online. I've spent hours upon hours watching just about every thrift haul uploaded onto Youtube, and each one has given me motivation and inspiration to hit up my local secondhand shops. With the new year upon us, one of my main goals is to work towards reducing my waste and living a more environmentally sound lifestyle. My eyes have been opened to the cruel conditions under which fast fashion brands that we know and love operate. Pollution, slave labour, and animal exploitation are some of my main concerns. Buying secondhand is an easy, cost-effective way to avoid supporting these corrupt corporations. Here's a list of pros to convince you.
These are all common sense, but I just feel like thrift shops get a bad rep from a lot of people. They might think they're dirty, gross, or that the clothing isn't cute. But you can always wash clothes, and you never know what hidden gems you'll find if you look hard enough. Even if you enjoy following trends, there's always a way to style pieces in a way that fits your personality if you're creative enough. Thrifting has inspired me to think outside of the box, and to play around with pieces to make them not only fit my style, but also further evolve it. Pictured above are three slip camisoles/dresses that I picked up this afternoon to wear overtop of t-shirts and long sleeve tops. I absolutely cannot get over the embroidered rose! These look incredible when tucked into jeans - especially mom jeans. These were $3 a piece. I found a long denim Gap skirt for $4.99 this weekend, which I'll just have to take in a tiny bit at the waist to make it perfect. I also picked up this paisley printed blouse-y collared top for $5, which hangs low in the back. I'm picturing it with black jeans and a choker. Now go read up on fast fashion, go thrifting, and be creative. I'll probably be visiting another thrift store this weekend... I have a problem. C A question I've been receiving all too often lately is something along the lines of: "So... what do you want to do with your life?" Or the classic: "What are your plans for University?" These are usually followed by a blank stare on my behalf, because really, I have no idea what the answers are. I've just graduated from a pre-uni cegep program this past December, and I'm currently taking (at least) one semester off to (hopefully) figure things out.
In 2014, I began studying Creative Arts in the Media Arts profile at John Abbott College, which isn't like traditional college outside of Quebec. Cegep is like an intermediate step, usually lasting two years, in between High School and University. It's essentially an opportunity to test the waters and dabble into different interests without forking over thousands of dollars in tuition just yet. My program was interesting, as I got to experience and try my hand at many different forms of art, such as creative writing, photography, writing for news, and digital media. I definitely grew as an artist over the course of these past two and a half years. However, I still haven't quite found my calling. Hence, why I haven't committed myself to University just yet - and truthfully, why I'm shying away from the idea altogether. For the past few years of my academic life, school has been very challenging for me. Not so much in the sense that I wasn't getting good grades, but more mentally and emotionally. My heart just wasn't in it like it used to be when I was young. It didn't feel like what I truly wanted to be doing with my time and energy, but I pushed those feelings away since school is the only thing I've ever known, and no one else seemed to be having these thoughts. Almost everyone else seemed to be figuring out which programs, schools, and careers interested them, while I felt like I was a million steps behind because I didn't even have a single direction to turn. At first, I looked forward to this time off to recuperate, and hopefully get back into the swing of school as soon as possible. However, now that it's finally come, it feels like such a liberation I can't even describe. Like weights off my shoulders, and like I finally have time to create the life I've always wanted to create. Yet, there's a looming shadow of doubt in the very corner of my mind, never letting me forget how unconventional the path I've taken is. But I must keep reminding myself that I am my own person, and what works for most may not work for me. And I must keep reminding myself that I'm only 19, on the edge of 20, and I don't really need to be sure of anything just yet. Recently, I've fostered a deep appreciation and love for word art, such as typography and calligraphy. It's always been something I've admired, but now it's a hobby that I'd love to incorporate more into my life somehow. I've bought myself a drawing tablet to create my own art that I plan on selling to whoever likes it, and I want to put even more effort into this blog. I enjoy having an online presence, and raising my voice about things that I'm passionate about is very important to me. I'm hoping that eventually, this blog can expand into something bigger. I don't know what, exactly, but I'm excited nonetheless. C Happy 2017! I know we're already a week in, and the resolution posts have pretty much exhausted themselves, but I wanted to make my own anyway. This year, I wrote mine in my brand new (!) bullet journal. I've been having so much fun with this little guy, and I'm glad these will be kept somewhere safe and close to me. You can read all 5 of my main resolutions in the photo above. I'm going to go a bit more into detail and explain them further in this post.
1. Spread Kindness. I think, or at least, I hope that I've always been a relatively kind person. While some find it a boring trait, I've personally always loved being associated with the words "nice" or "friendly". There are far too many awful people in the world, and I don't want to contribute to that. As I touched on in my previous post, I was overwhelmed in 2016 as my eyes were opened to how much hate and sadness there is in the world. This year, I want to go out of my way to make the world a lighter and happier place. I want to be less shy and compliment strangers and my friends more. I want to continue reflecting on the thoughts I have, especially regarding other people. No judgment. Just because you don't voice negative opinions or thoughts doesn't mean that the negative energy isn't still there. I want to be full of positive thoughts and energy only. Furthermore, I want to strengthen friendships and create new ones. Through dealing with mental illness, I've realised how focussed on myself I've been these past few years. Not that there's anything wrong with that, per se, but I feel as though I've neglected relationships in my life that are important to me, and I want to put more into them and let those in my life know that I care about them. 2. More Self-Love. Over the course of 2016, I feel like I've really blossomed into somebody I'm happy with. I feel very at peace with my spirit, and learn to love my physical self more and more each day. Of course, some days are a step backwards, and comparison has always been my worst enemy. In 2017, I want to truly focus on bettering myself for myself. I want to realise my worth, and appreciate myself and the struggles I've been through to get to this point. I want to do things that I care about and that make me happy, just for the purely selfish reason of making myself feel alive again. 3. Conscious Beauty Shopping. Despite having been vegan for 7 months, vegan beauty products and toiletries are still challenging for me. I always, without a doubt, buy cruelty-free, but the ingredients are what I sometimes struggle with. I want to do much more research on shopping vegan this year, and really get to know which non-vegan ingredients to look out for. The amount of times I've bought hair or body products and then realised afterwards that there was honey in them is heart-breaking. It's only a mistake, but that's not an excuse. I can do better. 4. Eat Healthier. Oh boy.. well, it's January 7th, and let's just say I haven't made any significant strides towards this one. If you know anything about my diet, you would know that I'm the personification of the term "junk food vegan". Like, junk food vegan times twenty. Truthfully, it's pretty gross. I'm so sick of feeling constantly lethargic, drained of energy, bloated, and unsatisfied. It will be a process, but I want (and need) to start eating a more balanced diet full of nutrients and wholesomeness. I would love to cook more. In the end, I just want to be taking care of my body and giving it the nourishment it deserves. 5. More Creative Stimulation. 2016 was a strange year for my creativity. It was a roller coaster of ups and downs in terms of motivation and productivity. I went through periods of time where all I wanted to do were write and draw; other times I didn't pick up a pencil for weeks or months. Being in school was a major obstacle. This past final semester was especially draining for me, both mentally and physically. School took up just about all of my free time, yet I had no motivation for it at all. This then left me with no motivation for anything creative on my own terms. With my time off this year, I want to focus on making this a priority in my life. I want to blog more, read more, draw more, and constantly surround myself with art in any form, because it's what I love the most. I no longer want to starve myself of things that I'm passionate about. I need to find that artistic motivation within myself somehow, and I'm determined. There is probably another infinite number of goals I could add to this list, but I want to keep it short and realistic. Remember that it's never too early or late to make positive changes in your life. C |
Authoradmirer of beautiful things, amateur artist, perpetually confused. Archives
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