Sustaining New Habits

It’s hard to build new habits, but there’s two I’m finally keeping up with after years, if not months, of constant slacking, forgetting and most of all, a lack of motivation.

I’ve been attempting to learn Japanese on and off for a couple of years now. I started with learning hiragana which I memorized most of last year sometime; after relentlessly writing and rewriting them until it almost became muscle memory. In the recent six months, I’ve been using Duolingo more but hadn’t been able to keep up a streak longer than a week. I’d practise every day for a week and then give up for 3.

Today I’m at my longest streak ever of 24 days, and I’m determined to make it a month! (Hopefully more too^^).

The other habit I’ve been working on is reading a little bit every day. I learnt in my first year of uni not too long ago how important it is for any writer or aspiring writer to read as much as they can! I read a lot as a young teen, but the longer school went on the less I read and in college and from thereafter I don’t think I read a single book until I started my university course. I eased myself in by starting with a set of small books ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I didn’t manage to read every day and, in fact, I was slow getting through them.. it took me about 8 months to finish “the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy of five”. I did however enjoy the books greatly and soon after finishing the last one started the first book of Game of Thrones which I’ve read every day for the past 16 days and gotten halfway through already! (For some perspective one Game of Thrones book is about the same length as all 5 Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books!) So there’s a big improvement there already!^^

I’m aiming to finish reading the first book by the end of this month so I can move onto the next one^^

Setting a smaller goal

Its hard to keep up with writing, especially when the simple task of existing is a challenge itself. Motivation doesn’t come easily for me and living with bpd makes it all the more chaotic.

I want to set myself a small goal of some kind to try and gain some momentum but everytime I try to I tend to loose quickly.

Maybe I can start with a small post a day, every day for a week. Simple posts, updates on what I’m up to and my thoughts at the end of each day…

Does every post need a conclusion and do I need to have a point to every one? I’m not sure, but it’s something I’d like to figure out.^^

~ Bullet Journal 2021: August Spread ~

I realise I’ve been away from the bullet journal side of my blog for some time now, I felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, and that’s not what I want.

I’ve also been a little all over the place since I stopped putting as much effort and energy into my journaling, it turns out that my bullet journal is basically holding my life together… So in order to get myself back on track and into a new (and hopefully improved) routine I’ve created something new for next months spread!^^

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Cover Page

I’ve been neglecting my art practice recently, I was missing motivation and inspiration to create, I was also lacking in time for some parts.

Whilst trying to put more effort into my bullet journal and block again I’m also trying to motivate myself to draw more too! So for August’s cover page, I did a lot of research (scrolling endlessly through Pinterest for inspiration…). I didn’t have the energy to do anything too complicated so I went for drawing a pretty sunflower^^

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Calendar

Since I came upon this calendar design, I cant seem to give it up! It may be a little fiddly to draw all the boxes out sometimes but, I really love this adorable idea and I find it super useful to have a calendar for each month so I can make a note of important dates for each month and be able to look at them all at once^^

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Mood Tracker

My August mood tracker might be my favourite mood tracker so far! I find that I have a lot more freedom of my choice of colour for each mood whilst still keeping to the theme (In this case ice cream). It’s also going to be a lot easier to distinguish multiple colours in one day (for those roller coaster days^^”).

I’m looking forwards to colouring this one in so hopefully that’ll motivate me to keep on top of my journaling next month!^^

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Habit Tracker

Some of my previous habit trackers have taken up a lot of time just to draw out every month. A lot of the time I would end up missing out half the month of tracking habits because I put off drawing out the habit tracker until the very last minute…

Soo, I’ve been going through an abundance of different styles until I find one that’s easy and quick enough to draw out each month and that works for me! (I have to like how it looks to be able to use it..^^’)

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Exercise Tracker

Exercise logs and trackers are another page I find myself struggling with from time to time. I like to see my progress as well as keeping track of how much exercise I do, sometimes it can get overwhelming with the different kinds of exercise and not wanting to do the same routine every day. To try and combat that conundrum I’ve used a simple exercise tracker that gives me more of an option on what exercise I do. (it also doesn’t look as bad when I don’t complete a day)

I’ve of course also added a table to see my weight and measurements at the start and end of the month to see if I’ve made any progress at all…

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To-do List

My to-do list hadn’t changed in almost a year. I kept the same design because I had the same stuff going on every month. A mountain of uni work and too many personal projects that I just can never keep up with^^”.

I changed it up a bit for next month, not because I’m doing things completely different, but because I was beginning to feel like everything was becoming repetitive. This new to-do list design will hopefully stop me from feeling like I’m just doing the same things over and over and over again.

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Budget

My budget tracker is another page I’d find myself avoiding drawing out. I had so many different sections and boxes that it was all just a little too much. Instead, I’ve created a much simpler design so I can keep up with my incomings and outgoings without getting as overwhelmed and confused by an overcrowded page.

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Brain Dump

I haven’t changed my brain dump page in a while because even when I don’t use the page too much it’s still one of the more useful pages I have each month.

I forget a lot of things, especially any fun ideas I have and things I want to do, create or even to go somewhere so I find it incredibly useful to have a place to write these little notes down that I can easily look back on (without having to search through piles of notes and pages of notebooks!)

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Weekly Spread

My weekly spread is probably the biggest change I’ve made for next month. Although I haven’t changed it dramatically compared to my previous months spread I’ve certainly simplified it. I wanted a more minimalistic design that can be drawn easily, but still have my essentials on it (and still look good of course!^^)

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Daily Routine

This daily routine is something new I’ve decided to try. I looked through Pinterest for quite some time for ideas for this one. I wanted to find some way to keep track of a small and simple daily routine to help me stay productive and motivated as much as possible.

I’ve drawn out one of these for every week so that I can tailor it each week depending on what work I have to do! Whether I keep these up or not I’m not sure of yet, but there’s only one way to find out how it works for me.^^

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Weekly Schedule

To go with my daily routine, I have a weekly schedule to keep track of any appointments I have as well as set myself a timetable each week to complete certain projects or jobs.

I also hope to set time aside each week for reading and writing amongst a few other things I wish to work on.

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Month Review

I tend to end up skipping my end of month review. I think this is because, again, I make it too complicated. For next month I’ve decided to try and review just a couple of my more important goals.^^

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Lets hope I do a better job of keeping up with it all next month! :))

Finally got it!

It’s a well-known fact for anyone who knows me that I’m a huge weeb (obsessed with anime). I’ve watched more anime than movies and TV series and I’ve been watching them since I was 11!^^

A favourite of mine is a lesser-known one ‘NANA’. It’s about two girls with the same name – Nana (meaning the number 7 in Japanese) but complete opposite personalities. Lives intertwine and they end up sharing a house whilst living completely different lives, but whilst also building an unexpectedly close bond. One Nana is a musician following her dream in the big city of Tokyo whilst the other is just looking for love…

I won’t tell you too much about it now but I definitely will in the future!😁

The point is, I got a new tattoo recently and it’s one from this anime that I’ve waited for years and I wanted to share it with you all! ^^

Nana tattoo!

Recapturing my first Memory! Zelda: BOTW

Last time I’d just lost Suga and replaced him with Kageyama and today we’re embarking on a quest to regain some memories! I’m not sure if this is the first direction I should be taking but its the one I’m following for now^^”.

My helpful little artist friend hanging around in Kakariko Village has pointed me in the direction of East towards Mount Lanayru!

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I came across an abundance of things on my short journey – firstly I managed to ambush a camp of goblins and made a fun little explosion out of them! I then got ambushed myself by a ninja in disguise… (Karma I guess ;-;)

After a day of fighting whatever monsters I came across I set up camp to rest for the night and mostly just to quickly cook a few things. During this I found out that I can feed my horse! He started trying to steal my apples before they baked:(

When daylight broke I found myself climbing across rubble to try and find an area that matched the picture. I didn’t succeed straight away but I did get to see some beautiful scenery and find some wonderful places (including a shrine!).

In time, I found what I was looking for and soon found myself watching a cut scene of a past memory that Link and Zelda both share and features a group of seemingly allied beings that we currently seem to know nothing more about… The cut scene also seems to give some more insight into the situation with Ganon.

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Once I’d regained my first memory I headed back to Kakariko village to visit the little old lady Impa where she gave me a reward – an old item of Links and then sent me away to find the rest (and with an abundance of other objectives too!)

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Now… Where should I head to next…

Stick around to find out!^^

A Little Catchup ^^

I started a job in a small corner shop 2 months ago and 1 week ago, I quit. Being such a creative-driven person I find that working such mundane and repetitive jobs suck away at my soul constantly until I have nothing left to give; Honestly, I don’t think it’s at all worth the sacrifice. Don’t get me wrong, several additional factors are stopping me from working a ‘normal’ job but my biggest problem is my need to do something I enjoy and find fulfilling over earning a decent living. Nothing I do from home earns me enough to live off of but maybe that’s because I’m never putting all my effort into it? So far I’ve always either been studying or working alongside my blog, writing and music, not once have I put my complete focus onto just this, so that’s what I intend to try out next!^^

I was really enjoying writing about Zelda as I play it and so I plan to continue that to some extent (it’s been a couple of months since I picked up my switch though so I’m gonna need a recap sesh first^^”). I’m also working on finishing recording another song I hope to release soon as well as plans for a music video of some kind for my previous song Hide & Seek! Another project on the horizon is producing a few more fingerstyle covers to post on youtube, they’re a favourite style of mine to play on acoustic guitar~

I’ve been slacking a lot but I’m still trying to work on my Bullet Journal too^^ I’m hoping to have something new to share relating to that soon too! It has, however, been difficult to get back into my usual routine, I fell out of it for so long and stopped making as much effort towards all my good habits and coping mechanisms that it’s a little harder to go back this time. I think I’ll create a completely new routine and see where that gets me!

Wish me luck!^^

Writing Things Down

I’d like to write more; I like to write freely and openly, it’s a form of meditation, I suppose. But it really is hard to find the time, the energy and often the motivation. I constantly find myself wanting to open up my notebook, turn on my laptop or pick up my phone and write something down. Whether it be something personal or an idea for a piece of writing, it always varies, but I do always find myself wanting to write things down.

A good amount of my uni course so far has been focused on writing, creative writing to be more specific. I’ve been learning a lot but I also feel like I’m not taking in enough of it, or I’m not working on developing my skills enough, that I’m too wrapped up in other things. In order to write well you have to write badly, and be able to build on that, learn from your mistakes, pay attention to detail and allow yourself to be influenced and inspired by the works of others. I’ve been carrying around a little writer’s notebook with me recently (not that I go anywhere…^^’), I use it to write down interesting things I see, hear or maybe just think of whilst I’m out and about. I’ve also been learning to read as a writer which is a slightly more taxing task and takes some serious patience and concentration (I also make notes of interesting things from other books in my writer’s notebook!), but It’s worth the effort – I’ve been finding it incredibly beneficial!^^

Another aspect of writing well is of course the practice, to practice writing everything and everything, revising it obsessively and rewriting it endlessly. It’s a skill like every other, it takes time and effort to develop and there’s always more to learn!

Fixing my Sheikah Slate! Zelda: Breath of the Wild

So as I left things previously, having just completed a fun little side quest of rounding up some chickens, I return to today to finally get my Sheikah slate fixed and discover some new areas. But first things first, I have a horse!^^ (spoiler – he doesn’t last long ;-;)

Suga the horse!^^

Suga the horse ❤

Suga accompanies me on my journey to the next Sheikah tower – Hateno Tower, to unlock the next region on my map! Of course it’s not a simple journey though as I found myself being ambushed once or twice and ambushing camps a few times myself too^^.

The first time I found myself completely caught off guard by a funny looking ninja in a mask who appeared very suddenly and well – sliced me up:).

The second time, however, I saw it coming. And the third I came to them! I’m definitely starting to get a little more used to these controls^^ (although I’ve always been more of a long range fighter – I prefer my archery!^^).

Eventually, Suga and I made it to the tower and with a struggle I climbed to the top, placed my Sheikah slate in its slot and updated my map! I love the little animation/clip they do for it – can’t believe I didn’t manage to record the whole thing;-; (I’ll get it next time^^)

Hateno Tower

Since I managed to climb all the way to the top of this tower, I couldn’t not glide off towards the next village where I found a cute bridge, a small boy, Nebb who was in complete awe of my sword, and the crazy lady Purah who fixed my Sheikah Slate!!^^

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The first thing I did once getting it repaired was have a wander around the area more and have a look around – I really love the art style and animation of this game ❤ (I especially love gliding down from high places to see the pretty views^.^)

Now before I end this post and move on to try and recover some of Link’s lost memories – I must tell the tragedy of Suga. 😦

You’ll be missed Suga ❤

Suga assisted in fixing the Sheikah slate, but as he appears to have tried to take a dip and gotten stuck, so he has been immediately been replaced by Kageyama! 😀

Thanks for stopping by again, stick around to see where Kags and I go next ^^

Starting out and my first impressions! Zelda: Breath of The Wild

So I recently came up with a fun new idea! I’ve always enjoyed playing a variety of games, and I love talking about them. I’ve tried out the popular trend of youtube gameplay videos but I just didn’t enjoy the outcome as much as I’d hoped and I’m really one for doing things that I enjoy.

So what I’ve come up with is to try a kind of game blogging. I’m going to talk (or write) about what I’m playing and review it as I go along whilst sharing some screenshots!^^ It might not work out, I have no idea, but it seems like a fun thing to try, soo on that note…

I recently managed to procure myself with a copy of Zelda Breath Of The Wild on Nintendo Switch! I’ve been eager to play this game for an awfully long time, I’m so glad I finally bought it^^. Admittedly I’ve already played a good few hours of it before coming up with this idea, so we’re starting a little later into the game (maybe if all goes well I’ll return to the beginning and cover what I miss here^^)

I have however been taking the occasional screenshot already so, to begin with, I’ll use them to cover my first impressions of the game – which so far are all pretty good, I’m really enjoying it! The graphics are adorable, I love them, and the scenery is all so amazing(I have a soft spot for anime-styled anything ^^” ). The attention to detail is also pretty impressive; having to hit or climb a tree to make the apples fall to gather them, the fish swimming in waters – very therapeutic to watch^.^, the fighting animation is great, I love the way he spins with his weapon!! 

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So moving on, the first screenshot I absentmindedly took featured the incredible view of the Dueling peaks from the Proxim bridge. First of all, I love this bridge. There’s something about vine-covered stone ruins that I just adore; it’s like nature taking back what’s rightfully theirs (something I think about wayy too much…) At this point in the game, I was just heading towards the Duelling peaks on my way to get my Sheikah Slate fixed (I think, Link and I are still recovering our memories!!^^’)

Duelling peaks from Proxim bridge

The next major discovery I made was this adorable little dude! I couldn’t resist but get a clip of his dance, he’s so cute!^^
He traded a korok seed for an extra inventory slot after I found his magic maracas!

fun dancing dude

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In an attempt to record a clip I ended up with a screenshot of Link’s cooking in motion! (I’m still getting used to the whole clip recording thing on the switch^^”).
What I love about the cooking aspect in BOTW is that the possibilities already seem endless, how many recipes are there? I keep combining random ingredients and always finding something new! (I didn’t think so many different mushrooms could ever possible work together..)

Cooking in motion

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As I ended my small game sesh to return to my uni work, the last thing I did was catch chickens! They’d escaped their farm and their owner Cado was in quite a panic, so I did the same as any other Link would do and ran around searching for these loose chickens. Some got into some really peculiar places, it took me a while to find the last one – he somehow found his way onto a rooftop…

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There is obviously a LOT I haven’t covered here from my first few hours in the game, but that just means theres a lot more for me to explore and share!^^

Have you played Zelda: Breath of The Wild? I’d love to know what your first impressions were (or are) too!^^

Thanks for stopping by, stay tuned for more on my adventure with Link to save the Princess Zelda^^

Poetry Time: Night sky

Here’s a little poem I wrote^^

A clear night – you can see every detail
So crisp that it barely seems real.
It’s haunting beauty,
Illuminates the sky,
I just wish you could see it through my eyes.