Life is about celebrating the little things

My Week In Review

I've had a great week. Along with the many varied everyday occurrences in a regular week for me, I also had an interview about my mental health. And in it I was able to say with the utmost confidence that I've never been happier, or felt better in my self. Despite battles with low self worth over the years, I am now in a good place. A place where I'm comfortable with who I am, quirks and all.

So I'm celebrating the past week; the week in which I reflected on how far I've come.


I had some me-time

"The way sadness works is one of the strange riddles of the world"

This week's Monday Motivation is a little different. I wanted to share with you a small collection of my favourite quotes; the ones I find the most inspiring / the ones I feel will help you get through the next week.

I have a quote book, where for years I have been adding sentences, paragraphs, entire poems by writers and historians and public speakers. I love reading through it and feeling motivated, connected and empowered.

Here are my hand-picked favourites from the collection:

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but yourself. – Virginia Woolf

Don’t follow your dreams; chase them. – Richard Dumb

The way sadness works is one of the strange riddles of the world. – Lemony Snicket

Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy. – Cynthia Nelms

If you are going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill

Never look back unless you are planning to go that way. – Henry David Thoreau

I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question. – Harun Yahya

Discovery exists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.  – Marcel Proust

It is neither good or bad, but thinking makes it so. – William Shakespeare

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. – Albert Einstein

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. – Louisa May Alcott

What lie behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a great week.

I am More Than My Mental Illness

Four years ago this week, I went to my college doctor. I must have spent 45mins with her. It felt like forever.

After their assessment I was immediately brought to a counsellor. They told me I had depression, talked to me about my illness and booked me in for an appointment with the psychiatrist. The doctors' wrote me a prescription.

In those two hours spent in UCD's Health Centre my life changed.

Four years on from my diagnosis, it's strange to look back at the exhausted, quivering shell of a person that I was on that day. I was lost and hopeless. I was terrified of what was going on inside my own head. I spent most of my hour with the counsellor in tears, unable to get any words out.

I was recorded as being a suicide risk. But not imminently. 

But I went home that evening with my head feeling clear and calm for the first time that I could remember. I text my mum and told her about my diagnosis. I took my tablets and fell asleep almost immediately.

I was given a label that day - 'Depressed', 'Mentally Ill', 'Suicidal'.

Things I've Learned This Week

- Twitter is not private. Be careful what you rant about. The BBC may just get in touch and ask for a live interview.

- Your gut instinct is 98% always right. Follow your gut.

- Binge watching something you enjoy is never a waste of time.

- Taking advice from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and lifting your chin during selfies leads to the best selfie you've ever taken.

- Watching people open the presents you bought them will always involve a heart-stopping moment of 'Crap, will they like it?'

- Reading the book and then seeing the film do not make the twists and turns any less emotional.

- Sleeping on the bus is the least refreshing nap you will ever take.


- A strong lipstick shade changes everything.

- Home-made Birthday Cards are still the best birthday cards.

- You may be a hoarder, but sometimes you should hoard more and not throw away that list that is now very important for you to find.

- You may still get anxiety about phone calls, but you can do it. It's okay to hate something, and you're strong enough to get through it.


- Chatting to fellow bloggers is so much fun. Always try and make time for that.

- You are more appreciated and valued than you know.

- You always totally deserve that Mocha. Have another Mocha.