but anyway, i digress. life, is actually amazing. like, top notch level life. i honestly cannot complain about a single element of what i've created for myself, and for once in my life, i feel genuinely proud of me and my lot. let me tell you about some of it?
travel
i guess the biggest bit of news is that, i'm off to sri lanka in a few days on an all-inclusive tour that i managed to win in an instagram competition. yes, you read that correctly. i won the trip of a lifetime on instagram, and yes it's real - i checked. i found out at about midnight on a thursday night three weeks ago, and had 12 hours to accept my spot on the tour. 12 hours to contact my manager at work, cancel some upcoming trips i had planned to make sure i had enough annual leave, and apply for a visa to enter the country.somehow, luck was on my side and it all worked out for me - i have no idea how or why i got this lucky, but i 100% accepted my place on the tour, and i'm off on saturday. it all feels so surreal steal, as i haven't had to do any of the planning - i guess it will all feel real when i land in colombo on sunday, until then - nope. i had to use all my remaining holiday leave on this, all bar the trip to lisbon i have planned for october. after that - nothing for the rest of the year. but you know what? i'm okay with that; it's not every day the trip of your dreams is presented to you on a silver platter, is it?
work
last week i delivered a presentation to my team that was a bit of an "about me" - a way for the new members of the team could learn more about me and what's kept me at the same agency for over five years (it's really rare in media), and i finished it by saying that this job is the best job i've ever had, and the best team i've ever worked with. i didn't say that for the lols, or for the points from my managers, i said that because it's genuinely true. i get to go to work with friends who i love, who i have so much in common with, and who teach me new things everyday, and it's honestly the best.alongside that, i recently helped plan a public panel event for a not-for-profit in the uk called free periods. their campaign aims to tackle period poverty in the uk and abroad by ensuring all schools and colleges provide free sanitary products for their students, so that no child should have to miss out on school because of their period. the event was held at vogue house in london, and i helped plan and promote the event to the media - and i managed to secure coverage in the metro and the telegraph, as well as mags like grazia, huffington post and glamour to name a few. i mean, i do this as my day job, but i have never worked so hard or so passionately to secure coverage, nor have i ever gotten coverage in the metro, so that was a dream come true. it was definitely a career highlight. and weirdly, that same night was the night i found out i won the sri lanka trip - good karma, maybe?
health
after a minor set back at a new gym near work, i finally joined the gym near my place. it's not as good as my previous gym, in terms of size or classes offered, but it's right by my flat and has loads of equipment that i already know how to use, and i've actually been waking up at weekends wanting to go an sweat a bit. it's still not fun, it'll never be fun for me, but just going there and moving my body and stretching and sweating, and working out physically and mentally has been really good for me.
i've been sleeping better(ish), trying to eat better, and i've been drinking a metric shit ton of water every day too. on the whole, i feel really good. i feel very grateful, and proud of myself, and generally very content with my lot. life is good - really good, and that's been a long time coming.
