Dear me, I wish you looked after me sooner.
When I was younger I didn't really need much help, a bit of gifted kid in looking after myself, my half siblings were older and didn't live with me so otherwise I was basically an only child.
And since I travelled so much I was queen of "entertaining myself" I would read, taught myself different solitaires, and such this how my love for art came about. Don't get me wrong my mum was so hands on in my childhood but a lot of the time I was by myself.
This lead to two things. One I am fucking fantastic at cards especially racing demon. Two I really thought I could look after myself.
Oh how wrong I was. I could do the basics, etc etc but man here are some top tips on how to look after yourself sooner.
It's going to be HARD. But make a routine out of hygiene! Most people will be like oi Niamh we've been doing this since we were kids anyway. However, at some point you will let it slip and suddenly you have to convince yourself to do your teeth or wash your hair etc. Buy yourself some really fun and smelly shower stuff. I am now genuinely excited to smell like my body wash, and I have a scalp scrubber and man is that a game changer I love it. Can't wait to use it. Skincare doesn't have to be hard - wash, cleanse, serums, moisturise. don't forget SPF too.
Get yourself 5 recipes you can make REALLY WELL. This one is pretty explanatory but goodness this super duper helps knowing you can make something you really love if nothing else is going right.
I used to laugh at all that "get into nature" malarkey but god they were right. If I haven't seen the sky in more than a day outside my house then I know my mh is suffering. I'm not talking hiking etc. I mean go for a 10 minute walk, go see the sunset, go stand in the rain, pick flowers from a local field, grab a coffee from your local cafe, see if your granny wants the paper. None of these things take very long but man I used to spend days inside at uni and then would wonder why I felt so shit.
Find one hobby that you can do that you don't want to monetise. Can't stress this enough, right now everyones got a few side hustles but give yourself a break especially if you're creative. You don't need to sell every painting, every knitted hat, every hand calligraphy designed card. You just need one thing you can do with your hands that can quiet your brain.
This ones a hard one. Let go of mean friends. They aren't your friends.
So a slightly heavier topic today but sometimes you need to let things out!