6 Tips for Enjoying the Wait for Payday!

Just to make you all aware, I have published an article on Recovery Warriors about how perfectionists meditate! Full of personal experience and knowledge of the frustrations of trying to close your eyes and stay focused. The link is here!

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It seems that more often than not I find myself waiting for a pay day. No matter how much I try to budget there always seem to be at least a few days where I only have about £1 to spend each day. From social media I gather that this is not uncommon, so here are some tips for when it happens.

1.  Make sure you have enough food.
   
   To be able to have fun, you need to be nourished. Make sure that at the first sign that you might run out of money, food becomes a priority. Stock up on freezer foods and UHT milk if you need to - make sure you will have enough until pay day.
   
   If you are unable to pay for food, and will not have enough to eat, consider asking to borrow from family or friends, or in the worst case scenario, think about going to your local food bank (there is a list here should you need to look for your closest).
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2. Find good company.
   
   If you are struggling to afford things, you might be feeling a bit miserable. Many friends might be on holiday and posting pictures all over social media. It can be nice to get out of the house, off of social media and into a real life friendship with someone you enjoy spending time with.
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3. Go to a park.
   
   The last few days have been really sunny, and in this kind of weather it can be nice to sunbathe in a park. If you want refreshments, you don't have to spend £s - for instance, you can buy a cream soda for 39p and an ice lolly for 60p from a corner shop - that's 99p for refreshment!
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4. Make art.
   
   If you have the materials at home, it can be nice to spend hours creating art. Sometimes when our schedules are busy it is easy to overlook how fun it can be to get out all your painting materials, but being limited in what you can do is a great opportunity.
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5. Write a gratitude list every day.
   
   To keep things in perspective, write out what you are grateful for. If you have a journal, write a gratitude list in it each day to remind you how much fun you have had. It can be easy to get swept up into feeling sad about having no money, so this is a great way to feel positive.
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6. When you do get money, reflect.
   
   Whenever I get money after having a while of going without, I tend to make a small gesture to ground myself and remind myself of the value of having money. For instance, giving to charity, to a homeless person, or to a church. 

Image from here

How Life Drawing Can Improve Body Image

When I stepped into my first life drawing class, charcoal at the ready, I definitely felt in awe of the models who could stand completely naked for nearly 2 hours. Afterwards, I felt grateful to them for showing me a different way of seeing my body.

I'm not the only one who's experienced this - researchers have found that attending life drawing classes has a positive effect on body image, especially for women (see link here).

My feelings before entering the class were:

• The female body 'should' be a certain way (the way portrayed in magazines and the media).
• Bodies are to be seen in a critical and comparative way.

During and after one class (and those that followed), I began to see the body differently. 

1. Seeing the body artistically rather than critically
   
   During the class, on viewing the body I was looking at the curves and shapes and how I could transfer them onto the paper in front of me. Whether the model should lose a few inches here or there didn't even come into my mind.
   
   After the class, this view of the body continued as I looked at my own. I began to see it for the shapes and curves which link together to form my silhouette. I began to look at the shadows and highlights and instead of to diets, my mind wondered to how I could represent the way the light falls on my body on paper.
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2. Seeing realistic models
   
   As I said before, I was used to seeing bodies in magazines. I had fears, as many do, that there was something unusual or 'wrong' about my body and the way it was formed. Seeing life models showed me honestly that bodies do come in all shapes and sizes. `
   
   Never once did I feel judgemental about one of the model's bodies, so why would I feel judgemental about my own? Why was I the exception to the rule I had created?
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3. Letting go of the need to be perfect
   
   When the class started, I was really surprised when the man leading the group told us we had 2 minutes for our first few sketches! At a point when I was a bit of a perfectionist, alarm bells rang in my head as I realised I wouldn't be able to do my best drawing.
   
   After just a couple of sketches, I felt able to let go of my panic. A short drawing time allows you to focus on the drawing process rather than the overall result. As a result, I found a love for sketching and creativity in general, and let go of the need to create something perfect. 
   
   Letting go of the need for perfection extended to my body image. I was able to enjoy my body for its functions and processes, rather than for its overall shape or weight, which became very unimportant, especially after a few classes.

After undergoing these processes, after a few classes this was my changed view of the body:

• The body can be seen as a series of artistic lines and shapes, rather than a 'whole' for criticising. 
• All bodies are different and this is perfectly fine, normal and acceptable.

Image from here

What Film Studies Taught me About Life

So a couple of years ago I started to really enjoy going to the cinema a lot. Over the few months where I went to the cinema sometimes twice a week, I began to analyse what I was watching, and something started to shift in my perspective of life. This had a big impact on my life and I actually went on to study film studies as part of my degree.

In this blog post I will explore a few features of film which I believe positively impacted my life and wellbeing!

Motifs

So a motif (in film) is a term used to describe a salient, recurring element in a film. This means anything which pops up quite a bit, such as a bird in The Birds or a certain song, such as the piano music in The Conversation. 

A feature of motifs in film is that they often show variation throughout the film. For instance, a red door might be recurring in a film about a family. At the start a woman sits by the door alone, and by the end she happily walks into it with a boyfriend in arm. This is an example of development - the door is the same but the story has developed, and the door becomes a symbol of development.

When I started to notice motifs in films, I began to notice motifs in my own life. For example, a friend. Say you see this friend once when you're trying to find a job, next when you've found the job and you're working ... etc. When you see them, your friend is the same person (personality-wise), but your life has changed.

When you look back and think of all the changes, your friend becomes a motif which can show you your own development and how far you have come.

Mindfulness

When watching a film and analysing it a little, you find yourself watching out for things. For example, techniques such as sound, lighting and tonality (contrast and brightness) are things you might look out for. This process is very mindful.

When you come out of a film screening having analysed the film, you might find that you feel more aware of the environment around you. You might even feel like you're watching your life as a film, and the sunset in the sky has been almost deliberately put there by a director.

This is something which also applies to art. When I first started to appreciate art, sometimes I'd look up at a sunset and imagine it had been painted by a painter. It brought a lot of beauty and gratitude into the world which I might not have noticed before.

Character

The last thing I will write about is character. Last year I read a book called Story by Robert Mckee (available here), where Mckee talks about character development. He writes about how at the climax of a film, we see a development in the character shown when the character has to make a choice.

For instance, they might start as a grumpy, selfish person, who develops into a softer and more generous person, shown by an act of selflessness through a choice they make at the end of the film. This is very common in films and you may begin to notice more as you watch films!

If you look at your life as a film, and you have to make a choice, you can make choices based on your personality and self identity. This is particularly important if you have recently gone through a life change or recovery from mental health.

Choosing to get up and dressed in the morning can be a symbolic shift when you might a few weeks ago have chosen to stay in bed and watch Netflix all day. Development in film characters can inspire us to make choices in our own lives, which when repeated have a great impact.

Summary

I have loved film studies. Sadly I am not taking modules in it next year because I have decided to prioritise philosophy, which I am really excited about. But this will be a loss, and I am grateful for the fresh perspective film studies has given me in viewing my own life and life choices.

Thanks for reading, and please rush off to the cinema as soon as you can :) If you also feel strongly about film, feel free to share this blog post, comment or like!

Image source here