Games that I am finding relaxing right now

I have always been a gamer. However, when my mental health dipped I found it harder to focus on video games and I haven’t really played them as much as I used to but I do want to change this. I am trying to relax more and here are two games that I am finding relaxing at the moment. I am focusing on these as these are what I feel like playing at the moment!

Kingdom Hearts Unchained X

I recently restarted this game after losing the account when my phone broke. This is a free mobile game based on the Kingdom Hearts series. You play as your own custom character and you go through levels finding items, opening treasure chests and fighting heartless (the creatures in some of the Kingdom Hearts games). You don’t need to have played Kingdom Hearts before to play this. The game is separated into short levels which is relaxing and fun.

For those of you that do play Kingdom Hearts, this game is a prequel to the original game and I think that it connects to Kingdom Hearts 3!

Renewing focus: keeping those dreams alive

Lately I have been in a bit of a slump. I had a terrible cold and my mental health dipped. I didn’t really feel like reading or writing which made me feel worse. However, I tried to finish editing a chapter of my book for Wattpad and I did it! After feeling like I had fallen out of love with writing fiction, it was a relief to actually finish a chapter and feel good about it.

After being unwell, I finally got back to the gym and I felt a bit better in myself after exercising.

I have been able to finally renew my focus on activities that I love and want to pursue further: writing, reading and blogging. I aim to continue writing chapters of my book, to read a lot more and of course to keep blogging. I intend to keep posting book reviews and discussing reading, writing and mental health so subscribe if you want to keep updated as to when I post! 

I still feel anxious but I am glad that I have reached this realisation of the things that I really need to and want to focus on. These are the things that make me happy and the stepping stones on the way to my dreams. I just need to enjoy the journey.

I hope you are all well and please feel free to comment!

What I Have Been Up To #2

Hi everyone, so the plan was to read a lot and post more book reviews. However, my health had other ideas and I have had a terrible cold for over a week so I’m a little behind with what I wanted to do. However, I wanted to update you on what I have been doing and some of my future plans.

Now We Rise Book Tag

This book tag was created by Rebecca at https://rebeccagough.wordpress.com/and is inspired by Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. I have yet to read this fantasy book but it is getting a lot of praise and I would like to read it soon. Here is the tag:

Iku Clan, Maji of Life and Death: What's a trope you'd love to see die, and one you'd love to see live, or flourish more often?

A trope I would love to see die is a love interest 'curing' another character's mental health. I would love to see more slow burn organic romances.

Emi Clan, Maji of Mind, Spirit, Dreams: What do you immediately connect with when it comes to a book?

A character who writes, reads or has anxiety or OCD.

Omi Clan, Maji of Water: If you could push a book on someone, what would you immediately recommend?

I have two! Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder.

April Goals

Digital drawing

I got a drawing tablet and started drawing different characters. I want to practice a lot more to hopefully improve my digital art skills.

Crochet
I want to learn how to crochet and try to create cute crochet animals, although I think it will be difficult and unlikely that I can create good creations but I can at least try!

Languages

I am going to try Duolingo, a language learning app. I have wanted to learn Japanese, Italian and improve my Spanish as I only remember a little bit and why waste that when I can learn more? Hopefully one day I’ll be able to use different languages in real-life situations one day!

Instagram

I want to keep posting on my book and gaming Instagram accounts because I enjoy taking pictures of books and games.

Write chapters

I would like to continue writing chapters of my book. I have been editing what I had already written of my first draft and then I intend to keep writing and finish my book.

Read and review

I would like to keep reading frequently and write reviews when I finish books.

This list is so that I actually try some things that I want to practice but just haven’t gotten around to it. I want to dedicate time to learning new things and developing my skills and hopefully I will create some great things.

What are your goals for April?

The Graces by Laure Eve Book Review

Do It For Fun: Personal Development

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I have a new mantra: do it for fun. In a past post I discussed how I wanted to stop planning because I try to plan everything, not just work-related but hobby-related too because there is so much that I want to do and I want to make sure that I am doing ‘enough’. However, this just leads to stress due to not fulfilling everything planned and for the pressure of feeling like I have to do so much all the time. Sometimes, I can be so focused on the future that I forget to fully enjoy the now. So my current mantra is to think through the lens of doing each thing for fun; not for some future goal or gain but because it makes me happy. So here are a few of the things that I would like to achieve through the lens of fun.

Art

I want to learn how to be good at art. For years I have looked at different pieces of art of all types online, wishing that I could have that skill but the thing is, art is a lot about practice. Artists are good because they have spent hours upon hours honing their craft. I would like to keep practising with my drawing tablet and hopefully become a better artist so that I can finally do something that I would love to be able to do!

Crafts

Crafts lie in a similar vein to art. This is a great skill that can span so many different areas. Embroidery, knitting, felting, sewing, mosaics… the list goes on and on. So, if you’re planning on getting involved in crafts, stock up on some supplies from Crafty Direct and start practicing! After all, practice really can make perfect!

Reading

I want to just pick up whatever my gut wants to read, not thinking about what would be best to review or books that I have already started and should finish.

Streaming

I really want to try streaming! I tried streaming a 3DS game on Instagram and the picture quality was not as great as I would like it to be, due to the different framerates of the 3DS and the camera. I want to try this again and find the best position and lighting for the best possible graphics so that I can play Nintendo games and talk to people at the same time!

I want to focus on happiness now rather than thinking through the lens of potential happiness in the future. What do you think of this idea and what would you like to achieve through the lens of fun?

What I have been up to #1

In the past, I made videos for YouTube and one of my favourite types of videos to make was vlogs. I decided to blog instead of making videos because I am more passionate about writing. However, I thought that I would translate vlogs into blog posts by posting every couple of weeks about what I have been up to lately, I hope that you like these and feel free to comment about what you have been up to!

Writing

I recently joined Wattpad and since then I have been editing chapters of the first draft of my book. I have about half of a first draft and posting chapters on Wattpad has helped to motivate me to keep working on this book that I love. I intend to keep posting chapters regularly and in the future post more books on there. If you are interested in how I edit: I printed my writing off and whilst listening to some old pop songs, I go through with a different coloured pen and cross out things and add things accordingly and then I type up these changes to post on Wattpad.

Why I love my Kindle

I had thought about getting a Kindle in the past but I wasn’t sure whether it would be okay on my eyes and whether it would be worth it. However, I am really glad that I did eventually get one. Here is why:

1.       It saves me having to hold a book open or carry a book around:
My Kindle is light and feels nice to hold.

2.       I can have as many books as I would like:
You can store so many books on a Kindle so that saves you from taking up more room in your house for books (I actually have no shelf space left) and all of your books are available at your fingertips.

Life Update!

Hello! A few things have changed for me lately so I wanted to write an update.

1. I joined a gym! I'd been thinking about it for a while. I love swimming but I would very rarely go because of the price. After experiencing an increase in anxiety and depression, I was recommended exercise for my mental health and that gave me the push to look into a gym. I was nervous and excited about starting. I am so glad that I joined! It can be a struggle to get myself there but once I am there, I really enjoy it. I start on the treadmill, which I have been building up on. I like using the rowing machine and I am also increasing my time on other machines. I find swimming so peaceful and on days where I don't feel too well, I take it slightly easier. 

2. I joined Wattpad! I have thought about joining Wattpad before but I was worried about whether I'd be able to submit my manuscript to agents if I had put some of it online. I discovered that there were some authors who had started on Wattpad. I actually messaged a couple to find out more and they were really helpful! I found out that you can still write on Wattpad and become traditionally published! So, I started posting my novel on there. It was one that I had started a couple of years ago, I recently started editing what I had written so far which is about half of the book. I am editing chapters and posting them regularly and then I will write on from there. I hope that Wattpad will give me the push to finish stories and I am so excited.