Why I became a minimalist and how you can too

Recently I became extremely frustrated by the amount of clothes I have managed to accumulate.
I'm the kind of person who wears the same clothes over and over again and so seeing unloved garments spilling out of my wardrobe and drawers seemed completely unnecessary.

I pressed play on a YouTube playlist about minimalism and started to ruthlessly make piles of unwanted clothes on my bedroom floor. After struggling to fit all of my clothes in my wardrobe for a few months I could finally fit everything on the rails and even had hangers to spare! Looking at my bedroom in it's clean and clutter free state was so satisfying and I realised I want to have this feeling as I enter every single room of my house.

I sat down with a well deserved cup of tea and found a TEDx Talks on minimalism.
I'm obsessed with interior design and I've always pictured my adult home as a beautiful, clinical white space with no visible clutter, but yet I am an adult and my vision wasn't reality. I'm sure I'm not the only one that puts things off and imagines this perfect future where your life and your home will finally be what you've always wanted.

I decided in that moment that I needed to take control of not only my home but my life and create what I really want rather than putting it off like I have in the past.

I started small, walking through my house and picking up any nik naks that I didn't particularly want or need. Broken mugs, multiple sets of coloured pencils, ornaments that don't match the decor, it's strange how I've held on to objects over the years without ever thinking why. I promptly began to bin anything that was broken and gather the unwanted things for a trip to the charity shop.

Finally I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. It's true that a home full of clutter will inevitably clutter your mind. Although I didn't realise it at the time, I can now feel the difference. Calming the chaos was so satisfying that I managed to tackle the whole house in less than a week. My guess is that we've managed to cull over half of our possessions and I plan on throwing more and more.

In most aspects I completely boycott the mainstream way of life and so it makes sense for me to reject consumerism and to have fewer material things.
We are programmed to want to spend our money, to buy new clothes, new phones, new cars, to keep on spending until we have none of our wages left. People are competitive with our stuff, we want more stuff and we want better stuff than everyone else. Luckily I've never been interested in spending all of my money on new things, but yet I was keeping hold of things that I had no interest in using anymore, so what was the point?

Now when I decide to go shopping I have a few rules...

1. Do I need this/ will this benefit my life?

2. Will this be timeless? Mainly relevant to home ware and clothes, will I still love this in a few years or is it just a fleeting trend?

3. Would I still buy this if it cost three times the amount? (Since often we buy things purely because we consider them "a bargain").

I'm excited to finish off the process and I can't wait to see how much money I save without mindlessly spending. Let me know if you have tried minimalism or if you know of any minimalist YouTubers that I can get inspiration from!
Thanks for reading

Instagram @wolvesandflames

I cut off my hair!

I've been having a bit of an identity crisis over the last few months, not knowing what clothes I should wear and feeling uninspired to do my hair and make up.

One of my favourite YouTuber's All Dolled Up uploaded a video explaining why she shaved her head, with all of her pro's and con's and I was obsessed! I ended up spending the next few hours watching video's of women shaving their hair and talking about their experiences. I knew pretty much straight away that I was going to do it, but for some reason I was worried about what my family would think.

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On Christmas day I asked my family what they thought about me cutting my hair off and after they realised it wasn't a joke everyone was supportive and interested.
My mum was especially keen since she's been suggesting I get a Mohawk since I was 16!

I don't know what it was exactly that made me be so drawn to the idea of completely shaving my head.

I always trust my instincts completely and I knew that because the idea was so prominent and I couldn't get it out of my mind, I had to do it.

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After a week of obsessively finding photo's of women with buzzcut's I was ready to go the barber's. When I showed the barber the picture I had for inspiration of Agyness Deyn she was in shock, she was worried I'd cry or hate it but I had no doubt's whatsoever.

Because my roots were only small she had to shave it quite short to get all of the blonde out and I ended up at a number two.

Seeing my natural hair colour after bleaching it for the last 4 years was the craziest thing, but I immediately loved my new buzzcut!

 It's been four days since I had it cut and I couldn't be happier. I honestly don't know if I will keep it shaven or grow it out slightly in to a pixie cut but at the minute I'm loving having it super short and I'm feeling more beautiful than I ever have hiding behind long hair.

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I'm going to write a longer post soon talking about my pro's and con's and also how peoples reactions have been, so check back soon if you're interested!

Thank you for reading! Would you ever shave your hair off?

Instagram @wolvesandflames

Go and get your dream job

Today I woke up and almost skipped out of bed.

I always have Mondays off work, so I don't have that deep set hatred that most 9 to 5'ers seem too, but I've never properly appreciated the day. Usually I'll lie in bed, scrolling through my Instagram feed until I get the energy to throw some clothes on and go the park with the dog, then I'll be back in my pj's within five minutes of walking through the door.

But this morning was different, even the cold and rain didn't bring me down.

Today was my boyfriend Mike's first week since he finished at his old job.

You may be wondering why Mike starting a new job is so life changing for me and I know it may seem dramatic, but with my partner in crime being out of the house for most of the week whilst I'm working part time, it can get more than lonely.

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Last year I faced my fears and left my zero hour contract job to start somewhere I knew I would love. My previous job was unstable at times but I would be earning a pretty penny most weeks and that guaranteed wage can make you feel quite comfortable, even though the job itself is awful (yes, I was a Vegan working at McDonald's).

When I took the leap and committed to my new job I knew straight away it was the right choice and even on the coldest, darkest mornings I would still have a smile on my face as I was catching the 6am bus.

But that got me thinking, why doesn't everyone just go and do a job that they love?

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People were generally understanding when I changed my job and the few concerns about my drop in hours with going part time were quickly dispelled when I reiterated that I'd finally have a stable schedule and a job that I love rather than that zero hours BS.

However with Mike starting his new job there has been a lot more confusion and family members have been more concerned about money than just being happy that he's found a job that he will love!

I really struggle to understand the normality of being normal. Working five days a week behind a desk in an office until you retire, is that really living life?

I understand people work jobs they hate in order to fund their adventures and that they basically "live for the weekend" but I can't help but believe that every day should be amazing.

People are so obsessed with money that they put it before their happiness and I just can't grasp the concept.

People are never concerned about other peoples household income but suddenly it's the first thing that's brought up when you start a fun job or your "dream job". We will soon be better off financially than we have ever been, but even if we would make less money following our dreams would that be such a bad thing?

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I didn't actually intend for this post to turn in to the rant that it has, I'm just really passionate about people stepping outside of the "norm" and finding something that they love (I get to work in a rock climbing gym, I mean that's enough proof that life is awesome!).

To summarise you should go and quit your job, pack a bag and travel the world (just kidding, but if that is what you want to do then go for it!)

I don't do many personal posts like this, because it's pretty scary to be so honest and vulnerable, but I really enjoy writing them and they always get the most views so maybe I should push myself more!

Thank you so much for reading...

Image sourced from Pinterest

November goals

I can not believe that it's already November, before we know it 2016 will be here (scary). I have a really exciting month ahead, so I thought I'd set myself some goals to keep me on track!

Be brave

I feel like this could be a goal of mine for every month, for the rest of my life. I'm constantly pushing myself to try new things and face my fears, it's hard but definitely worth it. Generally I want to make more plans to meet friends and family, but more specifically I want to face my fears and do more rock climbing with ropes and also be braver with my modelling and the content I'm putting out!

Fitness

I've really got back in to my fitness routine now and I'm doing some form of exercise every day and really pushing myself when I'm bouldering. I plan on improving my flexibility, stretching several times a day. I can't wait to be able to do the splits, it just might take a while to get there!

Box off Christmas

I say this every year, but I am determined to have all of my Christmas presents bought and wrapped come December 1st. I've started to take note of what everyone wants and get a plan together of how much I will spend and where!
I'm so excited to have our first Christmas in the new house, so it will be nice to have everything sorted and not have any stressful last minute trips to town like we usually do!

Always carry a sketchbook

I've been a bit lazy with my art lately and I've continuously put off making new things. I've been quite uninspired and generally lazy and so I want to go out with a sketchbook and find some inspiration. The plan is to visit galleries, museums, parks and get my groove back!

Be more conscious of time

I have been known to spend days in my pajamas (currently it's 4pm and I'm still not dressed), but now I think I need to be more organised with what I'm going to do each day and plan in advance what needs doing each day of the week in terms of blogging and errands.
My boyfriend has started a new job so once he works his notice I'm going to be able to spend a lot more time with him and have help with housework and have him as my blog photographer more often than he can be currently! I'm seriously so excited because I've hardly seen him over the past few months, I'm so proud of him!


Instagram @wolvesandflames