I'm Still Here! :)

Hey you guys!!!

I do hope you and your families are all staying safe in this mad time we find ourselves in. I appreciate that I haven't posted since September last year and that it has been a real slow start to getting this blog off the ground, however, during lockdown I have found myself with a lot of time on my hands and I have put it to good use, although I've had a few days where motivation has practically been non-existant.

It has been a very surreal journey since lockdown hit us in March, and I have found myself pulling my hair out from boredom at times; wallowing on the sofa, binge watching series after series on Netflix, having an hour long bath almost every day, eating crap and cuddling the pooch to the point she was totally cuddled out and couldn't stand the sight of me! So I decided, after about 4 weeks of this, that I couldn't do this wallowing thing any more, I needed to do something that was going to add value to my time and not make me feel totally worthless. But because the entire world is in limbo; when we will be returning to work and when life will get back to normal etc., I seemed to be reluctant to start anything that was going to take any longer than a week to achieve. I found myself just wandering around the house, walking in to each room looking around for something to give me motivation, these have been my most frustrating days in lockdown.

I have tried: -

• Cleaning the house

• Doing the clothes washing (more frequently to stop Dan moaning at me that he has no clean clothes XD )

• De-weeding the front garden

• Chatting to the neighbours

• Taking my poch, Luna the Lunatic, out for longer walks (when it's not too hot for her) with my camera in hand

• Doing more exercise

• Watching more series on Netflix

• Eating anything I can be bothered to make (or not make as the case may be, chocolate seems to be my best friend lately)

• Mindlessly scrolling through Social Media until my eyes feel like they have papercuts.

I don't know about you but a lot of these tasks just don't give me motivation, they make me loose it if anything. However, getting out with my camera and having my mamma's mini fitness classes every Mon, Weds & Fri on FB Live, has been an absolute god send and has really helped me motivate myself to do things more productively.

Since breaking through the motivation barrier, I have been on a real journey of enlightenment and it has really given me a new lease on life. I have had so many great opportunities arise in such a short space of time and I have done some incredible things with those opportunities, which you will hear more about in the future I'm sure, but to name a few of my most recent accomplishments: -

• I started running round my village like a lunatic taking photos every Thursday night, of everyone celebrating our wonderful NHS & key workers, all photos have been posted on our Village Facebook page for the community to enjoy.

• I have created a fundraiser for our local Care Scheme and been offering 'Doortrait' photoshoots to families in the village and surrounding villages, for a donation to this amazing cause. I have had the privilege of photographing some really lovely families, who have all given me such lovely feedback, and boosted my confidence in my photography too :)

• I started and completed a Fashion & Lifestyle Blogging Course! This was incredibly eye opening and I certainly learnt a lot through doing this, which is only going to help make this blogging journey a success.

• I went out on VE Day and trawled all the streets in my village to take photos of everyone in their gardens, celebrating.

• After posting the photos from VE Day, I had more bookings for 'Doortraits' and people wanted to purchase the photos I had taken, so of course I sent them their photos and asked them to donate to the Care Scheme as payment.

• I have started a Psychotherapy & Counselling Level 3 course, which I am working through at the moment, I will report back on this when I have completed it. It's interesting so far and I am sure it is going to be massively helpful in the future.

• I have been approached by the local magazine to write an article about my Lockdown Project. Including VE Day, Doortrait Shoots and Thursday Night Clap. Which I was particularly honoured to do and my first bit of real publication of my work too, so I am incredibly excited about this.

I have accomplished a lot and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of myself, because darn it, I am!

I still have plans in the making and I feel like my head is going to explode with all these thought chains going on. But I will be continuing with the blog for as long as I can and hope that it adds a bit of value to your life. I hope to set aside Saturday afternoon/evenings to get my blog posts out, so keep an eye out for next weeks post :)

If you feel your motivation slipping and you can't seem to get out of that pit, the one bit of advice I would give you is please, Please, PLEASE! Do not put pressure on yourself! This is one of my biggest personal downfalls, I have always piled the pressure on and expected everything to always be perfect.... After a reality check, I realised this is far from reality and actually we just have to make do with what we have at the time and use the tools we can to get through a down day and push forward to tomorrow, when the sun will shine and the motivation returns even for just a moment (and use this motivation wisely, for when it dwindles, you want to know you used it to your advantage, and this in itself will improve and extend these motivational periods) - I have noticed through practicing this 'not putting pressure on myself' thing, I have actually relaxed a lot more and my motivation has sky rocketed. It's amazing what can happen when you just alter the way you think slightly, I mean I have accomplished all these amazing things in just 6 weeks, all just because I stopped piling so much pressure on and found the fun instead. I get it isn't that simple, this is why I say it took me a lot of practice, I haven't got here overnight, it's taken me a long time to get to the level I am at but every moment you take the time to look after yourself in even the smallest way, is a little something towards easing that pressure and appreciating you, yourself and seeing what you have to offer the world in a more clearer view.

Like I said above, I have some plans and some interesting ideas that I want to explore whilst writing my blog and I have already enlisted some amazingly brave and inspiring women to share their stories to you and I cannot wait for you to read some of the incredible lives these women have lead and how they have overcome their struggles and put everything in to achieving their dreams, which ever way their paths lead them.

It really is an exciting time for Jaimie's Mad Mind! And I do hope you will stick around to see me and my blog blossom and hope that I can help you lovely ladies blossom too!

Watch this space gals (& guys)! I will be back and with some amazing things you will not want to miss out on.

If you want to make sure you keep up to date with Jaimie's Mad Mind! Please follow my social media pages, and you won't miss a thing.

Instagram: - @Jaimies.mad.mind

Facebook: - @Jaimiesmadmind

As always.... PEACE & LOVE!