Monthly Gratitude

5 Things I’m Grateful For This August (2020)

Alice10 Comments

Here’s my monthly gratitude reflection!

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Going to a Bookshop

This month, for the first time since before lockdown, I went to a bookshop! As I’ve mentioned a couple times before, I fell back in love with reading this year, after having a love-hate relationship with it during studying English at university, so it was super lovely to actually go back into a store and surround myself with so many wonderful stories that have found a way to be heard.

In my overwhelming excitement, I ended up purchasing 5 new books (I had a book token, that’s my excuse) and I’m halfway through The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and absolutely loving it! I’m grateful to have so many amazing stories to read.

Starting a New Job

Since graduating university this year, I’ve been spending lots of time applying to tons of jobs. It’s one of those times where everything feels in limbo, and you have to keep a positive mindset and not let all the rejections get to you!

After following up on an application, I got invited to an interview (and subsequent case study work) and was afterwards offered a place! It was a very surreal moment, to feel as though finally all my efforts had got me somewhere, and I’m super thrilled to be working in marketing which was my goal!

I’m really grateful for this opportunity because, not only has it given me the challenges I need to grow my career and as a person, it’s also inadvertently helped me create a better work/life balance. I feel like at university, the week and the weekends would merge into one and I felt guilty when I wasn’t studying, but having set hours of work is helping me truly relax out of hours.

Prioritising Self-Care

As mentioned in the paragraph above, I’ve been finding it easier to give myself relaxation time this month and it’s been a really nice feeling! I often tell myself I need to be productive all the time, and I think when I was job hunting I felt like I had to be applying 24/7, but this month I feel like I’ve let myself have the time out that I deserve and I’ve enjoyed having restful moments!

As some of you may have already seen, I recently created a Self-Care Jar, with my 10 favourite self-care activities. I’m planning on picking out an activity every weekend to remind myself to do something beneficial for my health and wellbeing. I’ll be sharing the activity over on my Instagram story at @mymindspeaksaloud if you are interested in taking part too!

Learning New Things

I feel like this month has been a huge month of learning, and I love it! Even though official education is over for me now, I don’t think learning ever stops. Learning is what keeps the mind active and alert and I hope it is something I make sure to practice throughout the rest of my life, in whatever way feels fit.

This month I have learnt a new song on the piano (Exile by Taylor Swift ft Bon Iver). I participated in an online Screenwriting Course with my brother where we learnt about the 10 finger pitch and read lots of cool scripts! I learnt how to work within my new job role, and I learnt more about my diet and health (I’m apparently intolerant to milk!). I think it’s super exciting learning new things and, as I’m writing this, I’m kind of realising it’s one of the things that drives me forward in life. I don’t know what I would be without it. So, for that, I’m thankful.

Writing

Because writing has been something I’ve participated in since I was around 13 (both in a creative and academic sense) I often don’t give it much thought. I sometimes overlook it as a quality because it seems so ingrained into who I am as a person. However, I feel like this month I realised how important writing is for applications, jobs, as a hobby in itself. I’m grateful that it’s something that resonated with me at a young age and encouraged me to pursue the direction in life that I took. I wouldn’t be here, writing this blog, if it didn’t mean something to me, and I’m really happy about that.

What are you grateful for this month?

Let me know in the comments.

You can find me on social media here:

Instagram: @mymindspeaksaloud

Twitter: @mindspeaksaloud

10 thoughts on “5 Things I’m Grateful For This August (2020)”

  2. This is lovely! This month I’m grateful for freedom, being able to get away a couple of times. I’ve never truly appreciated how lucky we are to be able to travel and visit new places until we were not allowed to.

    Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful September x

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  5. Learning is a lifelong adventure. My granddad always says there is something to learning something new every day, that it keeps us going. This can lead to unhealthy expectations on ourselves, such as applying for more jobs than we might have the mental or emotional energy for. Being kind to ourselves is important. Not letting ourselves off the hook but knowing when we have done enough.

    I am grateful for writing short stories with my dad to enter competitions. For closing in on finishing the first draft of my novel. For the joy of family and friends.

    Thank you so much for sharing, and reminding us to be grateful. 😊 Peace.

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    • Yes, I completely agree that we must be kind to ourselves and not so hard on ourselves either! Most of the time, we are doing the best that we can do.

      That’s amazing you’ve finished the first draft of your novel – congratulations! 😀

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