Hello and welcome to 2021!

As we enter the new year we often ask ourselves about our resolutions. What will we change? How will we better ourselves? How will we develop? What can I do? What should I do?

And as you start to spiral into these ongoing questions, I ask you to stop for a second and breathe. Forget what you're doing just for a moment, and take a deep breath...hold it...and breathe out. Feeling a bit better?

These past few days I have been inundating myself with all these countless questions about how I'm going to make 2021 better than this last year, how I'm going to make myself better than I was last year. I've been feeling overwhelmed and confused about what I'm supposed to be doing, and I feel this is not actually the best way to start my year. 
That's when my lovely friend Daniella happened to message me and asked if I, along with some of our friends, would like to have a call together and have a moment of mindfulness. The call lasted only half an hour, and the mindfulness meditation itself only lasted for ten minutes. On the call we sat together, quietly, contently and listened to a meditation about accepting change (which feels very appropriate right now, right?).
 I've attempted meditation before and I've found myself getting distracted, not really listening and checking my watch to see how much longer I had left. But today, I found myself quite immersed and engaged, of course my mind did wander from time to time, but I kept coming back to it. After the meditation was finished, my friends and I spoke about how we all found ourselves distracted at various times, but we all came back. As we talked, we all realised that we'd all been feeling the same way lately. A bit lost; confused, questioning ourselves.
We all graduated last year into the performing arts industry, and we've all found ourselves in situations we didn't expect to find ourselves in. We've all been feeling a bit overwhelmed, but we all felt like we were going through this alone.
We took half an hour of mindfulness today, to reflect and to listen to ourselves and each other.

So before you go back to curating your lists of how to improve and how to change, take a moment to sit and reflect. This last year has been difficult for everyone, and you've been thrown into situations you never thought you'd be in, but you've overcome every challenge that has been presented to you. So give yourself some credit. You are capable of amazing things.

This last year may not have been your year, you may not have achieved all you'd planned to; but don't pressure yourself into over achieving / overcompensating for this last year.
We all have our goals, but make them manageable.
Life is not a sprint but a marathon.

So I will allow you now to go back to your life, and to your planning for next year, just don't forget how far you've come, and how much time to get where you're going. Remember you are never alone, and that help is just a phone call away.
Have a wonderful New Year everyone, and don't forget to breathe!

Lou x