2021 has arrived at last, although it’s not quite the shimmering dose of sunshine and rainbows we had all hoped for. Tier 4 in the UK is bleak, like trudging against the rain with your umbrella inside out, knowing your house is still a few streets away. Sigh.
Like a lot of people, I spent the lull between Christmas and New Year sat in my fleecy pyjamas, drinking frothy hot chocolates while reflecting on the year that was, and replaying all the highlights (there were a few, believe it or not) and unpicking my mistakes (there were quite a few of those, too).
It turns out, despite living through a pandemic and spending the majority of my time hidden inside my flat - ‘stuff’ still happened. Good and bad. Happy and sad.
I had a mini meltdown over Easter, where I spent most of the weekend in tears. In this pre-bubble era, I was completely overwhelmed by my feelings of loneliness, sucked in by all the illusions I was poring over on Instagram of ‘happy’ loved up couples and picture-perfect family life. I felt completely cut off from the world and craved nothing more than a big hug, but I had to do without…
Asking out a guy I’d liked for quite a long time, only for him to turn me down and - as it now appears - lose him as a friend in the process, was another one of those ‘can I just retreat under my duvet for a week’ kinda moments. Although in true Taylor Swift fashion, it inspired this newsletter on rejection, which was my most read post of 2020. I learned that channelling raw emotions into my writing can produce content that really resonates with others. So thanks for that revelation, Mr Wrong.
And then there’s the incidents I can now cringe and laugh at in equal measure. Like the Saturday in late summer when I indulged in a bottomless Caribbean brunch at Turtle Bay, only to think - a few coconut-laden cocktails later - that it would be a good idea to try and say hello to my ex as he walked past me and my mates, with his wife in tow. (He blanked me, in case you’re wondering.)
On a more uplifting note, landing my new copywriting job before the pandemic struck, launching The Monday Oops, and creating a website to showcase my freelance work were just a few of my ‘yay, I’ve achieved something pretty darn good’ moments from 2020.
But not all of my personal wins were tangible.
Overcoming the day-to-day emotional challenges of this pandemic, learning where and who to focus my energy on, gaining recognition for my work, and realising that, yeah, I’m actually okay with being single - these are all the things that I want to build on this year.
I haven’t made any new year’s resolutions as such, because I don’t want to start over and revamp who I am.
I already know that I’m never going to be a morning person who’ll unroll my peachy pink yoga mat before work, or that I’m ever going to be able to - or even want to - bypass the confectionery aisle in my local Asda. No matter how organised I am, I’ll always work best under pressure when a deadline is looming, and despite my love-hate relationship with dating apps, I’ll always end up unpausing my profiles…eventually.
This year, I’m plotting and crafting little projects to keep me busy, as lockdown life isn’t going anywhere soon.
I want to focus on my lifestyle blog, Newcastle Sparkles, as it’s long overdue a makeover and some new content. I’ve even roped in a friend to help me refresh my branding. I also want to work on creating new opportunities for myself, both personally and professionally, because if you can’t fulfil yourself - who else are you gonna rely on?
As I’ve come to realise, stuff will always happen around you, by you, and to you. We just have to learn how to embrace it all, lockdown or not.
January 4 mixtape
Quote of the week
For me, fitness has always been a bit of a slog, but this quote from Joe Wicks really struck a chord - we should shift our mindset and view exercise as a way of making us feel good, and not as some form of punishment.
Ad of the week
I spotted this on Twitter the other day - it’s an outdoor ad campaign from McDonald’s in New Zealand that cleverly uses reflections from street lights to create fuzzy depictions of favourites from its food menu. Shame they didn’t feature chicken nuggets though!
Until next Monday
Alexis 💕
www.alexisforsyth.com
Catch up on my recent issues…
Don’t trust your inner narrator