summers last words - what I've learnt this year so far

It's freaking me out a little bit to say that we're now in September, the past few months, actually this entire year has just completely flown by. I'm fairly sure I don't remember June or July happening and I don't think August lasted more than 48 hours, at least thats what the weather made it feel like. You can always rely on Britain for a hormonal summer. Even though time has passed at 100MPH I feel like I've learnt a hell of a lot, maybe that's down to the planets moving around so much and my horoscope telling me for the past few months to be prepared for my life to be flipped on it's side. Thanks for following through with that btw planets, throw a girl a line in September will you?

I never expected the last few months to bring such dramatic change, you may have seen me speaking about it on my insta stories a few days ago. So much happened in such a short period of time and I feel like my outlook on life matured by about a decade in the space of ten days. It's true that they say you never know how strong you are until you have no other option but to be so.

1 - my gut knows more than my mind does

you know those situations where you have the stomach turning feeling, you know something just isn't right but you ignore it and then a few days down the line you're telling yourself 'I knew I shouldn't have done that, I should've listened to my gut' < I don't know how many times we've all felt like this, hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think our gut can give us hindsight before our minds can even suss what the hell is going on. Over the past month I've really listened to what my body tells me and it's not failed me yet, it's helped me to clear my head, get rid of toxicities, and get back on the right path with a clear view. Listen to what your body tells you, if something doesn't seem right, 99% of the time it's bang on.

2 - don't feel bad for being unapologetically you

I saw a quote on twitter along the lines of 'if the one thing you learnt from high school wasn't that you shouldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks of you and what you're doing, then you didn't do it right'. I think in todays society it's becoming easier to be exactly who you are without judgement, of course there are still those idiots that will send hate via their keyboards but a beautiful button can stop that #block #getouttamyvibe. This summer more than ever I've followed exactly who I know I am, what I want to create and the path I want to pursue and you'd be amazed how freeing it is to get in to the mindset of 'you know what honey, you might not like it but this ain't your damn life and you ain't living it so, you, door, go.' BE you, DO what you want, LIVE how you wanna live.

3 - there's nothing wrong with being a little guarded

I've made friends this year that I genuinely treasure and would be at the end of the phone if they needed me at 3 in the morning, bbygal you need some retail therapy and some scheduled time for a mini breakdown, okay I got you. I've also learnt to keep my guard raised when making friendships because things aren't always as they seem to be and things will be said when your back is turned that will hurt and can never be taken back. Over the years I've learnt that to have a guard up when building friendships anyway, but it's important to know you're always able to step away from any situation when it becomes toxic and it's in times like those you realise what's good for you, and whats' not. Not every friendship you make in life is going to be sunshine and daises, it's not necessarily anyones fault, sometimes people just don't fit in each others lives and things are better left unsaid than causing any more hurt.

4 - men are not a priority.

HELL TO THE YES. guys, you're not on the top of my hit list right now. This has probably been the first summer where I haven't been involved with someone in such a long time and it's equally one of the best I think I've ever had. I used to feel like having that special someone in your life was the be all and end all, but I never thought too much about it being the RIGHT person and I spent a lot of time investing in to relationships that I knew probably wouldn't work in the long run purely because I thought I needed someone there. Being single for the past year now has given me the ultimate growing room, one of the best lessons that I can pass on is that you'll never truly be happy with someone else until you can be happy by yourself, I read that a lot on the internet after going through my first break up and I don't think it ever really registered until last year. After learning that, my priorities changed, I put myself first and I know that when the right person does step in to the spotlight that I'll be in the best place I could be in myself to make it work.


It's incredible what 8 months can do for you, what you can learn and how much you can grow. Even though the sun is going to be dimming and the leaves are going to start falling, I'm going in to autumn feeling brighter, more positive and I'm able to say I'm in a place where I can wake up in the morning and smile. Remember your happiness and health should always come first, you should always be your first priority, take care of yourselves honey bees, we all deserve self love.

PHOTOS BY Phillipa Knight / @inkaknight