Freya's blog

I won't go into a long winded introduction about the age we live in and the way in which huge multinational chains dominate and permeate every part of our modern lives. We all know this already. We know that supporting local companies is a dying effort. We know that a lot of big brands are unethical. But this isn't what I've been thinking about lately. Rather I've noticed that always walking past and interacting with the same brands is starting to make very different life experiences feel generic. Example: recently I went on a day trip to Cardiff, to explore it a bit more and get a change of scenery. As much as I enjoyed the day, I spent most of it wandering around the centre surrounded by the same shops I would have been surrounded by if I had been in any other city centre. This isn't to say that I don't like Cardiff or that this is all there is to it. This experience is part of a larger pattern. Travelling to new places becomes less refreshing and less inspi...

Am I enough for... myself? For my high standards, the pressure I put on myself, my shabby brand of perfectionism? I often have thoughts such as 'I wish I had read more books in my life' or 'why have I wasted so much time not writing when I've had plenty of opportunity to' or 'I should have kept up a high fitness level, and not quit painting or sports or card making or cycling'. And then I will bargain with myself. ' If by the age of 25 you have written a novel, gotten fit, read 300 books, travelled and rediscovered art, then, then you will be good enough.'  And this mindset limits my enjoyment of things I really love. Time that I could be spending lost in my own world writing I spend berating myself for my word count and disjointed chapters. Reading can start to feel like a race to read as much as possible, rather than a process of discovering and enjoying new authors, writing styles and ideas. Obviously, this isn't a very healthy way to li...