A summer of conquering fears

Hello Lovelies!

Sorry it's been a bit quiet - I was on holiday last week! I won't bore you with a full recount, but there's some snaps here if you fancy a nosey!

You might remember this post about taking the bull by the horns I did a while ago - well, it seems like that's becoming the theme of my summer. That and conquering my fears. One of silver linings of being ill has been that I've had time to take stock of my life and get a grip. I realised, after some long chats with lovely friends, that I'm often held back by silly fears! So I've decided I'm gonna kick them to the curb this summer.

I started on holiday by.....

Going in the Sea! I've been terrified of the sea for as long as I can remember. I think it all started when we went on a holiday where the beach was littered with washed up jellyfish and got worse when we went to France and I saw the biggest jellyfish I've ever seen washed up on the beach. They were HUGE - at least 30cm across. It sort of put me off the whole shebang. However, it's kinda silly really so I decided that the beautiful beaches of Saunderfoot and Tenby were the perfect places to get over my fear AND I DID!! I went in the sea nearly every day (although I forgot my bikini so I didn't actually swim in it).

Emily 1 Fears 0

I'll be carrying on the fear conquering by...

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Going to the Free Frankie Fernie protest this Saturday. I've chatted before about my desire to protest but my fear of crowds/getting into trouble, but again, I need to stop faffing and start doing. (If you're wondering who Frankie Fernie is, he's a student from York who was given a 12 month sentence for throwing 2 sticks during a protest. He's one of many victims of a wave of political sentencing being used to make an example of protestors to scare people out of their right to protest.). So fingers crossed...

Emily 2 Fears 0


My next bit of fear conquering is a big one... I'm actually a bit terrified about it...

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I'm going to That London on my own for the first time next Thursday and Friday. I've been to London a couple of times before - my ex-boyfriend was from Surrey originally so we'd go down a fair bit to see his family and stuff but it still generally terrified me. However, there's something pretty awesome about London that I love (in theory) so I figured I'd use some of my free time to go have an explore. I'll be staying with my best friend from Uni (who I lived with for 4 years) so I know I'll have a bit of refuge but still... this is a pretty big one for me. Feel free to suggest awesome (free/cheap) things for me to do/see/eat whilst I'm there (and if you fancy meeting up for a drink let me know and I'll see if I can squeeze you in!) And seeing as the tickets are already booked I guess that means it's....

Emily 3 Fears 0

I'll be back home on Friday but dashing out again on Saturday for the one that started all this fear conquering...

The Uk Feminista Summer School - a weekend of learning and hanging out with over 600 feminist activists. I'm pretty excited about this really. The reason this is fear conquering is because I'm kinda shy and have a bit of an inferiority complex - I'd normally avoid things like this in case I didn't know enough or wasn't good enough to get involved. Pah! That's what I say to that Pah!! So of course we know it's

Emily 4 Fears 0

It's seeming that I'm doing pretty well at beating out those fears. I'm sure there's some other's that'll crop up but I'm feeling fairly confident that I'll at the very least try to kick their butts!

Questions:

What are you afraid of?

Have you ever conquered a big fear?

What are your plans for the summer?

A note from my sickbed

Hello lovelies

Apologies for reusing an old picture but I'd say that this pretty much sums up how I feel today.

I've just got back from the Drs and have been told to take at least another work off week due to a viral infection.... which is most likely glandular fever. I am gutted. I utterly adore my job and I hate the thought of not being there. I have to go for a blood test to have it confirmed as glandular fever, which makes it even worse. I can't stand blood tests - they really stress me out.

It also means no training at all... which makes my looming 10K seem even more intimidating and the prospect of a half marathon in September pretty much terrifying.

So my questions for you today are:
What do you do when you're off ill?
What are you reading/watching at the moment?
Are you scared of needles?

What are you giving up for Lent?

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Hello Lovelies! As you may or may not know, today is the first day of Lent - a time when people traditionally give things up, and, for Christians, a time to remember Jesus, his journey to the Cross and what the meaning of his death on it is for our lives. As a Christian, I always try to give something up (or sometimes take something up) that will make my life better, maybe make the world a little better, improve my relationship with God and try to help me grow in my faith. There's been a whole range of things since I became a Christian - reading my Bible every day for the whole of Lent, praying every day.... the most significant would be the year when I gave up wheat and discovered that it would completely change my quality of life if I remained wheat free.

This year I'm giving up something that has crept in to my life gradually over the last few years (well, since I came to Uni really). It's something that I originally gave up when I was 16 and dating a straight-edge vegan guy. Dairy? Nope (although I try to eat as little dairy as possible). Alcohol? Nope (To be fair, I drink about once every 3 or 4 months so this would be pointless). No, this year I'm giving up swearing. I hate the fact that I've become such a casual swearer. I hate the fact that in an argument, the first things that comes to mind is to swear instead to try and be constructive. I hate the fact that I use it to express my opinion instead of trying to find something more eloquent and lady like. I find it hypocritical that I tell children off daily for using bad language but I use it daily myself.

What (if anything) are you giving up this year?