Dealing With Social Anxiety Online



I wrote and published the bare bones this post sometime last Summer, but I deleted it within minutes. I didn't feel comfortable with it, I'm not sure why, but I've been experiencing some pretty crippling social anxiety related to my blog and social media this year and I figured it was time for this post (now expanded upon and revised) to see the light of day.

 

I've always had difficulty making friends. I'm always very quiet, shy and observant when around new people and because of this I'm usually branded rude or arrogant before I've really had a chance to get to know someone. This isn't completely the other person's fault - I'm not very good at eye contact or small talk, and even when someone is trying to talk to me I get so nervous and lost within my anxiety that I just don't know how to reply. Since writing this blog and becoming a lot more active on social media, I've noticed that this trait also extends to my online world.

Fluffy Vegan Biscoff Pancakes

At the beginning of the year I had an idea: to go through every celebration this year and veganise my traditional recipes in order to create my own recipe bible. Now that I’m doing better with food I’ve rekindled my love of baking and I can picture myself, aged 60, teaching my grandchildren how to bake vegan cupcakes and biscuits and muffins. As for the present, I dream of being the person that bakes everyone’s birthday cakes & for people to just know something is going to be good because I’m the one that made it. Gifting my bakes has given me a real sense of purpose and accomplishment and has proven to be a calming and welcome distraction from my crazy anxiety brain.

The Happy List 12

Pretty things are beginning to grow ~

 

I don't know why but every time I've tried to write a 'life lately' type post this year, my fingers have seized up and my brain just cannot bring itself to string sentences together. I'm not sure where this sudden paranoia and need for privacy has come from so I'm not quite sure how to deal with it but in the mean time I'm going to put together another Happy List. They feel safe to me right now, I don't have to talk too much if I don't want to and I like to record happy things so here we are!

4 YouTube Channels I'm Loving Right Now

It's quite funny how little time I spend watching live TV these days. You'll more often find me watching YouTube videos or scrolling Netflix if I'm in the mood to watch something, and today I thought I'd share with you some YouTube channels that I've been loving lately.

New To The Shelves 04

I haven't posted a book haul in a good ol' while and that's literally because I haven't bought books in ages. I went through an awful reading slump last year and I can feel my taste in books evolving (which I'll touch on in another post if you'd like?) which has meant more books have been leaving my shelves than joining them - until recently, when I bought five books within the space of about a week. Today I thought I'd share them with you, along with some DVDs I've also added to my collection! Yay!

21 iPhone Wallpapers to Comfort & Inspire | Self Care Sunday

source | source | source

{ Self-care Sunday, volume four }

In my first Self-Care Sunday post I mentioned that I'd revamped my iPhone using different wallpapers and it's made such a small but positive improvement to my day. Think about how many times you pick up your phone in a day - twenty? Thirty? Probably more. Now imagine each time you click to check the time or to go on Twitter you're met with a positive, affirming quote. You're constantly exposed to it and I find that over time the words begin to stick in my mind, whether I'm aware of it or not!

DIY Washi Tape Jars

One of my new ~ life goals ~ is to flex my creative muscles doing something other than writing. Things like painting, drawing and any other creative pursuit that requires hand-eye-co-ordination doesn't come easily to me at all but I figured that I shouldn't not do something just because I'm no good at it, should I?! Over the past few months I've been attempting very basic DIYs and today I thought I'd share with you my latest try!

Not only is this DIY incredibly straight-forward and budget-friendly, it's also a great way to recycle and reuse things that would otherwise be thrown away. Allow me to introduce you to my washi tape jars.

Vegan Double Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Icing

If you don't follow me on social media you may have missed my birthday last Friday and the abundance of vegan junk food I shared on Instagram. The star of the show was definitely my birthday cake, though, and today I'm here to share the recipe!

My February To Do List

Hello February! Let's do this.