⋆ gratitude journal 2017 ⋆

We all have that one friend who is so wholesome white mum and never stops telling you to do yoga and eat salad and write a gratitude journal. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE PAL. About time I listened, hey? Last year was pretty bad for a whole host of reasons and what better way to celebrate and put the trash in the bin than to write about the things I am grateful for. First, I want to acknowledge my privilege and how grateful I am for it. I grew up in Australia, my family was low income but we got by and I never wanted for anything. I live in Melbourne with my sweet partner. I have a stable job which I'm good at. I have access to health care. I have access to education. I have the ability to travel. I have a support network.

Mental health, Gratitude, A year in reviewSam McKenna2 January 20182017, a year in review, gratitudeComment

life update: december 24

Hello friends!! I'm supposed to be cleaning and preparing to go to Brisbane tomorrow, so there is obviously no better time than right now to write a blog post. I have a couple of blog posts on specific topics up my sleeve but today I just want to write about how my life has been the past 3 weeks and my plans for the next two weeks. SO first thing - I accidentally dyed my hair red. This was actually before my last blog post and has been fully documented on my instagram & facebook for those who are friends with or follow me. I bleached my hair one night, as you do, and it was still super duper brassy and orange but I couldn't wait because I had a job interview the next day (ha-dee-ha) so I put pink dye right on top of the brassy orange hair and it went bright red. I actually grew it like it a little bit, despite vowing to never have red hair, but I think having accidental red hair is okay. It faded out to orange which I loved, but I've since redyed it.

Life in general, Mental healthSam McKenna24 December 2017brisbane, christmas, hair, mental health, update, work Comment

part two: more than I can take

Hi friends! It's the blog you've all been waiting for. I promised to write part two of my journey seeking help for my mental illness, and here it is. If you missed part one, here it is. Warning: there are descriptions of self harm in this blog. Previously on the mental illness diaries~ I left off the last blog saying that I didn't seek help again for my mental health issues for aboooout another two years. During that two years, my mental illness didn't just lie dormant - it probably got much much worse (aka it did get worse, I know it did, you know it did, we all know it did). Things got worse - and that's not to say that I didn't have good and happy times too, because I did. I had some wonderful times, but I also had a lot of times where things were just really bleak and I didn't want to exist.

Mental healthSam McKenna4 December 2017anxiety, depression, mental health, mental illness, psychologistComment

♡✧ december ✧♡

Today is the first day of December and I am excited for a couple of reasons.

Every Friday, my fav Em and I go on our morning coffee run and we get donuts! Our regular coffee haunt only has donuts on Fridays, and we like to indulge ourselves. Admittedly, we indulge ourselves far too often (Daiso, amiright?) but this has become a weekly routine and I look forward to it all week. Last Friday I had this incredible caramel donut and I was so happy.

Mental health, Life in generalSam McKenna1 December 2017anxiety, december, depression, mental health, mental illnessComment

make-up diary: november

I've only written one blog post this month and it was a bit of a sErIoUs blog so I thought I'd switch it up with something a bit happier. Make-up! Make-up makes me very happy and I really like sharing with other people. I still feel so new to make-up and I'm trying to become more serious about it. I actually wear it on a daily basis and it's honestly magical. Make-up gives me a confidence boost that not many other things do. I feel like it's one of the only creative things that I've held onto in the last few years and I want to keep getting better at it. I feel naked without eyeliner. I've had a very taxing last couple of weeks which was a mix of work and not-work stress all bunched together in a giant life-sucks-punch-to-the-stomach. ON A POSITIVE NOTE, I finally had my first (and second!) psych appointment after waiting for what felt like an eternity. It was actually only a month, but a month is a long slippery slope when you are a quaking ball of depression. I've actually really enjoyed it so far (weirdly). My psych, Becca, said it was so unusual that I was excited for my first appointment. I guess seeing a psychologist is only exciting when you've spent seven years actively avoiding it. I promise to write a continuation of my seeing-a-psychologist-journey, but for now I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures of my face because it's excellent and I love it.

Make-upSam McKenna27 November 2017cosmetics, diary, make-up, novemberComment