Alice Catherine

I feel as though I haven’t delved into many ‘personal thoughts’ on here this year, and I’ve been trying to evaluate why that’s been the case over the last month or so. I think it’s difficult when you work in a sphere that gets a lot of negative attention, and I often find myself trying to justify the work I do, or find the positives that lie within it… 

There’s no doubt that the online world can be an extremely volatile place – I feel like we have been bombarded with a lot of bad news this year, and I think that’s maybe knocked me off course a little bit. I’m the type of person that feels things quite deeply (it’s both a blessing and a curse), so catching sight of something on Twitter, or reading a certain type of news article can really alter the energy of my day before it’s even begun.

There are long periods of time where I completely fall back in love with what I do and the whole creative process, and then there’s other times where I feel like someone has pulled the rug out from underneath me and I have no idea how to get up again. From speaking to others, I think this is totally normal – it almost comes with the territory of working in a fast paced industry that’s constantly churning out content. New imagery, new clothing, new ideas – it can feel like treading water until you just decide you’d rather float off for a while and catch your breath again. I guess that’s sort of what I’ve been doing – catching my breath. 

It’s important for me to take a step back every now and then and evaluate my position within the online world. I want the content I create to be meaningful, beautiful, or just to offer some kind of escapism for those that need it. It’s just a case of taking a break from the weight of the opinions online, and reminding myself of all the great things social media has to offer. It’s completely changed my life and provided me with an amazing sense of community, but that doesn’t mean it won’t feel heavy and dark at times…

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s very easy for me to feel disillusioned by the online world, and I feel like these negative feelings can often consume any positive motivation. That combined with the constant gloomy weather we have been having lately has left me feeling ‘a bit flat’. I know it’s just a phase and one of those things that I have to see through until something new sparks joy and motivation – it always comes around again eventually. 

I’m excited for spring to make an appearance. The change in season always feels refreshing in every sense of the word. My body feels lighter under less heavy clothing, and my mood tends to feel lighter thanks to the sun rays peaking through the clouds again. I just wanted to leave this as a little reminder to any of you that might be feeling similar – be kind to yourself, be kind to your body, be kind to those around you. All we can do is try our best, and sometimes our best needs a little time to recuperate…

Photographs taken by Catherine Booty 

Jumper c/o – Veter Vintage, Jeans – vintage Levi’s (similar here), Glasses – Celine 

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