anxiety, breathing, skin + bones.

I have been trying to think of an opening (or an anything) for this blog post because, like usual, I have NO PLAN. I just know I need to find some way to articulate this almost inarticulate state. Perhaps I shall start with writing a poem;

Monsters are not always hairy
With sharp teeth and aching limbs but sometimes 
Invisible 
Almost exciting, comforting 
(For the most part)
And you tell yourself that your monster is just fine. 
(How are you?)
I'm fine, thank you. 
But it's a lie because invisible or not,
Cosy or not, 
A monster is still a monster and it's finding a way to e a t 
You. 

My life has been a whirlwind. This is probably incredibly cliche but it is incredibly apt. Everything has happened, collapsed on my fragile brain, flattered my mere skin and bones. And they have been incredible, great things but crushing all the same.

And now I shall try and articulate these things (with a little help from analogies).

1. As most of you know, writing is my thing. It fuels me, excites me, helps me to process, escape and just live. I've never known if my thing has been good enough. Say, for example, you bake a salted caramel rainbow sprinkles jam sponge cake and give it to a group of people whom you know ADORE salted caramel rainbow sprinkles jam sponge cakes.  Obviously, they will say "ah that was so delicious." And then you get braver, riskier, and give the cake to the GBBO judges. You have no idea whether Mary or Paul have even tried a salted caramel rainbow sprinkles jam sponge cake, let alone liked one.

So they taste it... and they don't just like it, they LOVE it and they want  m o r e .

(Substitute the cake with 5 pieces of writing and you have the incredibly EXCITING thing that happened to me last week, after sending my creative writing off to my dream university).

Naturally, you freak out when Mary Berry and Paul like your unique cake. They are industry experts and you think "shit, maybe I'm actually good." And that's when you start re-thinking everything. You want to bake profusely, publish a recipe book, feed the whole world your cakes but you can't because your kitchen is too small and you've run out of ingredients.

2. On November 24th, I turned 18. The night before my 18th birthday I couldn't sleep. My heart was proliferating, I felt sweaty, my mind was shaking with ideas and worries and monsters. Even breathing proved tiring. I had just received all 5 of my uni offers and, oh my, was it overwhelming.
Because it turned out the other universities really liked salted caramel rainbow sprinkles jam sponge cake too.

((For those you that don't know, in England you choose 5 universities to apply too. If you get accepted you then just choose TWO universities. One as your firm choice (eg the university with the grade requirements that match your predicted grades) and one as your insurance (eg the university that has lower grade requirements than your predicted grades). If you get the grades for your firm choice on results day, you go there. If you don't, you go to your insurance.

BUT if a university really liked your application, they may offer you an unconditional offer if you put them as your firm choice. AKA you could get 3 E's and we would still let you on the course. Somehow, and I really don't know how, I got 4 unconditional offers which now means I must choose which one I go to and put as my firm choice. 

O V E R W H E L M I N G ))

*Disclaimer/ to iron out any misunderstanding* Obviously, I am thrilled with my offers. Ecstatic. But it still feels like an uncomfortable knot that I must try and unravel. Maybe no one else will understand? Maybe some one will? That's okay. This is just me trying to unpick my monsters (that maybe aren't even monsters at all?)

3. The feeling that I should have done more. I'm an adult now. Yesterday evening I abandoned all homework/revision and began frantically designing the cover for a poetry book!? Seriously. I just felt this impulsive need to self publish my poetry IMMEDIATELY like Rupi Kuar did with 'Milk + Honey'.

4. ANXIETY. I had my first panic attack two weeks ago. And it was definitely not fun. Since then I have been on and off ill, missing lessons and spending days in bed feeling like shit. I worry about the feeling, about missing out on life, missing lessons and this in turn makes me feel more ill. My heart trembles and dances angrily in my chest until I cannot focus on anything but the possible impending doom of heart failure.

It just all feels too much. A perverse pressure, an excitement that is manifesting itself in this horrible, persistent nausea. And I'm scared of this monster.

I guess I don't know quite how to dominate it yet.. But when I do, I shall definitely share.

Thank you for reading this mess,
-J

change, happiness + a sky

I've been thinking a lot about happiness and how we let other people define it. I've also been thinking a lot about change and how it can be hard- very hard. I read some of old diary entries from when I was 15, today. It was odd: I saw similarities, I saw differences but mostly I saw an insecure teenage girl letting others define her happiness. 15 was an age of loss, and consequently strength. 16 was an age of loss, and consequently gains. And today I had an epiphany.

I am going to create my own happiness.

Looking back at the beginning of this year, I was so happy. Everything felt right, I fitted in, I had so many friends, I felt loved. And this, to me, was happiness. But things have changed now. And this time, I'm not going to be a 15 year old girl frightened of the movement, scared that without this definition of happiness she was never going to achieve it again. And hey, guess what? She did. She was strong, she found hope and for a short while it felt amazing. 

Change. Again.

I've never really liked change. When life is good- change is unwanted. When life is harder- change is craved. And similarly to not letting other people define my happiness, I can't shape other people's around my own. Bursts. Some parts of your life are like bursts- they come in transient moments before leaving and then coming back again brighter, stronger before leaving once more. Maybe they'll come back? Maybe they won't. Some parts of your life are like skies, always there. Sometimes they're brighter, other times they're dimmer but still never wavering- still a beautiful sky. You don't need to hold on to the sky: the sky holds on to you. You can try to hold on to the bursts but it won't help. Change is inevitable, it's what keeps the world evolving, emotions changing, moments and bursts to keep happening. 

I could look back at these bursts with sadness, mourning- wishing they could just stay a little longer. Recently, I haven't been in control of my own happiness. Now I need to change. Embrace your bursts, live under the sky but always remain in charge. These moments - as long or short as they are- enable me to adapt. They should be valued but not mourned because soon enough change will come again. And maybe, if you're lucky, they might come back... ready to be a sky. 

"make a life out of what you have not what you're missing"

-J

picture from my tumblr