July 2020 – Happily Ever After

Say Their Names!

Hey everyone today’s post is an extension of a previous post (I’ve put the link here). I’m sure you’re all aware of the Black Lives Matter campaign and the story of George Floyd that has made its way across the globe. George Floyd isn’t the only African – American person to have been killed unjustly. So today’s post is me paying my respects to these people, their families and all Black people. Say their names. It’s the least we can do. Pay your respects to these people who have lost their lives too soon. Stand with us in this ongoing battle for equality.

Eric Garner

Eric Garner passed away on the 17th of July 2014 after a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold whilst trying to arrest him.

Tamir Rice

On November 22nd 2014, 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot after a white police officer saw him holding a toy gun which he mistakenly thought was real, the police officer shot Tamir Rice almost immediately, failing to check whether the gun was real or not.

Mya Hall

In 2015 a black trans woman, Mya Hall (originally Ricky Hall) was killed by Baltimore Police.

Rumain Brisbon

Rumain Brisbon, 34, was shot twice in the torso after a white police officer claimed he felt threatened by Brisbon. As a result of the incident Rumain Brisbon lost his life.

Samuel DuBose

On the 19th of July an unarmed African – American man (Samuel DuBose) was shot and killed by police.

Akai Gurley

On the 20th of November 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City, Akai Gurley died after a NYC police officer shot him.

Nia Wilson

On the 22nd of July 2018 Nia Wilson was with her 2 sisters when a white man began attacking them with a knife. Later 18 year old Nia Wilson passed away from knife wounds to her throat.

Ezell Ford

On the 11th of August 2014 African – American man Ezell Ford died after being shot by Los Angeles police officers.

Michael Brown Jr

On the 9th of August 2014 Michael Brown Jr died after being shot 6 times by a police officer.

Stephon Clark

On the 18th of March 2018 Stephon Clark was in his grandmothers backyard when he was fatally shot by police.

Charleena Lyles

In 2017 a pregnant mother of 4 was fatally shot after ringing police officers to report a burglary at her apartment. The two police officers fired at her, the injuries resulting in the loss of her life. Police alleged she attempted to attack them when they arrived.

Walter Scott

On the 4th of April 2015 Walter Scott died at the hands of a white police officer.

Keith Scott

On September 20th 2016 Keith Scott was shot and killed by a police officer. The incident sparked peaceful Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S.

Sandra Bland

On the 13th of July 2015 Sandra Bland died, it is believed the cause of her death was suicide. Sandra was found dead in her jail cell 3 days after she was thrown in jail for a minor traffic-light offence.

Saheed Vassell

In 2019 Saheed Vassell was walking through New York carrying a pipe, which local police mistook for a gun. They shot him not realising exactly what he was carrying, he died as a result of the gun shot wound.

Say their names. These names are all real people. People who had families, people who had dreams, people who had lives, people who are no longer with us. Please don’t ignore the real world or think we can’t do anything, everyone is important and if we are to stop racism the message needs to be heard. Never underestimate what you can do. Everyone’s voice counts.

Thank you for reading today’s post. Today’s post was another serious post about real issues. I have done some research and tried to educate myself as best I can on the subject and I encourage you to do the same. Have a wonderful day and stay safe!

A Guide to Setting Goals

Hey y’all! Right now is the perfect time to be productive and get organised! I recently shared a post on things to do to keep productive and organised at the moment (I’ve put the link here!). So as an add on from that post, today’s post is all about setting goals. Full disclaimer this is how I set my goals and what has worked for me, but there are a lot of different ways to do it out there so if this isn’t helpful to you I encourage you to keep looking. Hope you enjoy this post.

Step 1

Step 1 is Brainstorm. Personally I love physically writing my goals and thoughts down. I highly recommend writing your goals down by hand as it helps get them out of your head. It could be as simple as getting a piece of paper and jot down anything that you want to achieve. However big or unspecific your goal is write it down. You may want to set a 5 minute timer just to create a sense of urgency, which often helps you focus your mind. Set a timeframe for your goals and write down all your thoughts on anything you want to achieve by that time. It is ideal that you write as many as possible from a range of aspects in your life. Remember a brainstorm is supposed to be vague. We will evaluate throughout the process. When brainstorming think about more words and phrases rather that sentences.

Step 2

Step 2 is building off step 1 and it is to break your goals down. Get into the more specific details of what it is you want. Don’t make them to specific though as we will break them down further again later. At this stage you mainly want to focus on breaking down your larger goal. For example if your general goal was to lose weight you could break it down to “By this time next year I want to have lost _____ amount of weight”. Be specific. “I want to have completed ____ kilometres/or miles of a marathon”. If you have a more specific goal it is easier to track and recognise once you’ve achieved it. When you have larger goals it sometimes feels like you will never finish, which can make you doubt if you have done enough and may make you want to give up on your goal or just forget about it in general.

Step 3

Step 3 is to ask yourself Why. Why do you want it? Whatever you’re goal is there must be a reason you want it. Do you want to run a marathon for the health benefits or for the self confidence and knowing that you can do it. Acknowledging why you want something helps to keep you motivated on your journey to achieving it.

Step 4

Step 4 is manifestation. Think about the minor details of what its going to look like once you’ve achieved that goal. Think about where you are when it happens,what you can see, hear and smell. Most of all allow yourself to think about the feeling once you have achieved that goal. Visualise it and allow yourself to dwell on it.

Step 5

Now that you know exactly what your goal is, it is time to start planning it. Back in Step 1 I mentioned keeping your thoughts short and sweet because we were going to evaluate them later. I also mentioned in step 2 not to be too specific because we were going to break them down even further. Well now is the time to do both of those things. Planning your goals is a really important step to achieving them. To start off with try to make smaller goals. Think about something that is reasonable for you at the given time. Baby steps. I’m going to go back to my example of a marathon. You aren’t going to be able to run 42km on your first try. Work your self up to it and over time you will get the results. Think about S.M.A.R.T goals. S.M.A.R.T goals is an acronym and it stands for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals.

When planning your goals think of it like a flow chart. My first goal is to run 1k. My second goal is to run it in under 10 minutes. Keep giving yourself something to work on until you reach that ultimate goal.

Step 6

Step 6 is my favourite. It is to write it all down. But it doesn’t have to be boring. I personally am a very visual person and like to create vision boards. You can physically sit down, print out pictures and stick them onto cardboard or you may just create a Pinterest board. That doesn’t work for everyone though. You may write your goals down in your journal or on a piece of paper. Just get them down.

Step 7

Put them everywhere! If you keep a journal write them down in your journal every night. If you made a vision board hang it up behind your door or some place where you’ll see it. Did you write a list? Stick it on your fridge! If you’re constantly seeing your goals your more likely to remember them and keep motivated to achieve them.

Step 8

Step 8 is to keep track of them. Every month or so give yourself a check in. Where am I in relation to my end goal? What am I working on now? How far away is my goal? What have I achieved? When you religiously check in with yourself you’re also reminding yourself of the goals.

Thank you for reading! I hope this post was informative and helpful for you! Now is a great time to be working towards goals as we have some extra time on our hands. Hoping that you’re safe and well. – Sophie

Credit to: Jess Bailey @unsplash images

The Power Of Words

Hey everyone. I have noticed lately that the whole Black Lives Matter debate is slowly fading out and I would like to remind you that our job is not done. If we really cared about what’s happening to these people we wouldn’t stay quiet just because there are fewer people talking. I’m not sure if this is the case everywhere but I have certainly been hearing less and less about it. This is just a friendly reminder that injustice doesn’t cease after a couple months of protests.

Although that’s important, today’s post is not just about Racism but about all sorts of discrimination and how you can stand up to it. I know in such a big world it is easy to feel like you couldn’t possibly change anything, but you would be surprised at how much a few words can do.

I like to think that words are magical. Like magic when used appropriately words can be wondrous, but when used carelessly they can cause great harm. Never doubt the impact of your words.

A few words can break a person. A few words can start a war. A few words can heal a heart. A few words can spark a revolution. A few words can change the world. Never doubt the impact of your words.

I’m not just talking about what you say, but also about what you don’t. I’m talking about when you see someone else upset or alone… Maybe your witnessing bullying, racism or sexism, whatever it is if you choose to say nothing you have made an impact. Whether you like it or not. Ignoring someone who needs help or turning a blind eye to what happens in our world all has its impact.

I’m not telling anyone to start campaigning, maybe that’s not your thing, but you can talk to others about it. You can post on whatever platforms you have, you can donate money to a charity or sign a petition. You can go sit with the lonely kid at lunch. Please don’t underestimate what you can do. The power of your words is unimaginable. A smile could make someone’s day as much as a turn in the other direction could ruin it. Everybody has a choice.

I would like to go back to go the subject of staying quiet, because fewer people are talking. The way the media work is that they take a certain topic and amplify it to make a massive movement but as soon as it disappears from our screens we all seem to forget it ever happened. Do you remember the Me Too movement? Do you hear about that anymore? That’s because it’s no longer “in”. It’s no longer on the news. Your favourite celebrities stopped posting about it, so we all lost interest. There are definitely people who this doesn’t apply to. But I do think that for the majority of people that this is relatable. I’m definitely not innocent on this front either. I didn’t pay much attention to inequality and discrimination before BLM. But I definitely knew it was out there. I know a lot of people would probably relate to that, so please don’t go backwards. The battle is far from over.

“I may be a slow walker, but I never walk back.”
Abraham Lincoln

Thank you for reading this post. I hope it helped you. I know that this is something that needs to be talked about. I really do believe that every voice counts for something. Even if you just have a conversation about it. Everything helps. A group of charities and a couple hundred people may seem like a lot but really its not. There is power in numbers. Never doubt the impact you could have. I hope you think about what I’ve said. Have an amazing day!

Credit to : Jess Bailey @unsplash images