Lucky Star

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.

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!)

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 :)