As I’ve commented many a time over the months, I often feel I should make the time to blog more often. In the beginning I did really well with sticking to my once-a-fortnight rule, but have become pretty lax with this and post a lot more sporadically these days! However, what I’ve realised is that rather than forcing myself to write more regularly, it’s more important for me to write quality stuff that people will (hopefully!) find engaging and enjoyable to read. With this realisation, I also feel it’s important to go back to basics and remind myself and my readers of why I’m even bothering to blog in the first place!
As you can see from my introductory post, the main aim of
the blog is to share my ideas and observations on life and the world with
whoever wants to hear them or happens to stumble across my blog. I hope to do this in an interesting and
engaging way, as well as writing persuasively about things I feel strongly
about (getting people ‘on my cloud’,
hence the blog’s title!) and perhaps elicit some sort of discussion or debate
on important topics.
The majority of my posts all follow the theme of being at
least in some way to do with wellbeing or mental health. Interestingly enough, I noted in my very
first post that this was the case, and although my interests and aspirations
have developed and refined a hell of a lot over the last couple of years, my
passion for this field and my desire to be influential in improving people’s
wellbeing remain strong and constant.
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| Natural beauty is great for mental wellbeing! |
People often ask me where my passion for this area comes
from; why do I feel so strongly about it and care so much? The answer is I don’t really know, and I’d
imagine it’s a combination of factors, which perhaps I’ll write about in more
detail at a later date. What I do know
is that through a combination of my studies in psychology, working in mental
health, and general interest, I’m fairly good at being self-aware and looking
after my own wellbeing.
To me, self-awareness and coping strategies are the kind of
skills that everyone should be empowered to develop from a young age, and that
by building a more resilient population in this way we can in turn, ultimately,
work towards reducing the number of people who experience difficulties with
their mental health. I’m not naïve enough
to believe that this is the sole answer to the complex and multi-faceted mental
health minefield, but I certainly think it’s a great place to start (I plan to
elaborate further on this in a later post!)
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| We'd all be a bit happier if we stargazed more often; do you agree?! |
At this point I find myself coming full circle with some of
my original posts from back in 2012: You Could Be Happy describes some coping
strategies and tools for wellbeing, whilst in Staring at the Sun I make a case for education and schooling being
used to enhance awareness and understanding of mental wellbeing. The direction I’m taking my career in has
totally changed two years down the line, and yet this is still exactly what I
want my life’s work to revolve around!
I also find myself looking back at my post My Heart is Open and the Sky’s on Fire. Odd title I know, but feel free to check it
out if you haven’t yet seen it. I wrote
this post when I was feeling at my most amazing, and although now I read it
back I feel it could have been better written, it’s still a piece I’m happy
with because of the general messages I endeavour to convey. It’s a real attempt to show the reader some
of the essence of me, so to speak, and is a good reminder for me of how amazing
the world is and how good it can make me feel.
With the above in mind, I realise that whilst (as noted
earlier!) I do a pretty good job of looking after myself, as with most avenues
of life there’s some room for improvement, and that I may need to address a few
things to maintain my own wellbeing and get back to that feeling that the world
is incredible. I think I started to
rectify this last night, when I was lucky enough to attend a wedding reception
in a stunning location with little light pollution, providing the ideal
opportunity for a spot of star gazing. Seeing
and feeling the beauty of the world is another factor that’s important in
wellbeing (although I’ve not yet talked about this elsewhere in my blog!), so
taking the time to stargaze, spend time in places of natural beauty, etc, is
something we should all make the effort to do more of. The piece of music I've featured here, Fractured by Lights & Motion, is what I consider the perfect accompaniment to a good stargazing moment!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and if you’ve got this
far, thanks so much for taking the time to do so. I’ve reconnected myself with the purpose of
this blog and hope I’ve done the same for my readers. As always I welcome and actively encourage comments
and constructive criticism!
Thanks for reading, and whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re
having a lovely day and taking the time to appreciate the beauty around you :)
