The Weekend Edit: Attempting To Be A Good Samaritan

On Thursday, I nipped into Derby to go to the bank. Only, when I walked out of the Bus Station there was a man lying on the ground. There were about three people who'd just rushed to him, but I didn't know what to do: Whether to just walk by because these good Samaritans had got it, or to stay and help because the situation needed all hands on deck. I stayed. I didn't really help much, but I was there, regardless.

The poor man had just collapsed on the ground, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, and he really wasn't a well man. I've never encountered a situation like this before, so I honestly didn't know what to do. About five of us stayed with him throughout, and a few others drifted by for a few minutes at a time, even though none of us really knew him. It was the least we could do, because it was better than just walking by and letting him fend for himself.

One girl phoned for an ambulance. I gave him my coat as a pillow to stop his head lying on the cold pavement. We stayed with him, and tried to keep him semi-awake and talking. The ambulance took around ten minutes to arrive; but when it did, there was only one paramedic all by himself.

Because the man had fallen awkwardly and was already disabled, it was judged better to be safe than sorry. The paramedic needed to immobilse him, and therefore needed another crew to help put a neck brace on him, put him on a board, onto the trolley, and into the ambulance. He radioed the control room a couple of times, but there were no other crews available: So we had to help. We had to help hold him still, help roll and scoop him up onto the board and then put him on the trolley. Once the paramedic had got him into the ambulance, he thanked us for our help and shut the doors. That was it. A totally surreal situation: over. All in all, we were with the man, who I won't name, for about 25 to 30 minutes. I don't know how he is, and I really hope that he's okay now, but at least I'm safe in the knowledge he wasn't alone after he collapsed.

After that, I went to the bank. Normality had resumed, and it was just weird. I felt weird.

I was walking round Derby for ages in a total daze, clutching the coat that'd just served as a makeshift pillow for a poorly stranger. Derby was beautiful that afternoon, with bright blue skies that stretched for miles, blissful sunshine and unexpected autumnal warmth, but I couldn't help but focus on worrying about that poor man. I took the photos for this blog post on my phone in a (frankly) vain bid to distract myself from overthinking the situation that had just unfolded before me. Again, I really hope he's well now.

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'

Taking Things Too Seriously.

You may have noticed that my blogging schedule has been very sparse of late. It's not something I've planned. In fact, I've written several posts to the point of near-completion, but I'm too much of a perfectionist to actually press 'publish' and be done with it. 

I won't have heaps of time to blog from next week onwards, which is a shame, but perhaps less time to blog will create more focus? That's what I'm hoping anyway.

I have promised, and failed, to become a better blogger this summer and I'm not going to bore you with myriad excuses. Basically, the summer's been one heck of an emotional roller coaster. That's not your problem though, is it, lovely reader?

Most things I initially enjoy end up feeling like a bit of a chore because I later take them too seriously. I put my all into something once I set my mind to it, but that tends to zap the fun out of it. Blogging is a hobby, and a great one at that, don't get me wrong. But, it's not fun when you're constantly putting pressure on yourself to be better. When you're drowning in statistics and numbers that come to mean too much to you. When you're fighting to get your voice heard in a sea of bloggers who are better and more experienced than you. It's so hard to keep going sometimes when you're constantly comparing yourself to the big names. 

Alas, I don't want sympathy. I don't want your pity. I just want to be able to enjoy this again. To not have to worry about failing to meet that schedule I set, about letting you readers down, or about replying to all the emails I've let pile up. I think maybe the only way to do that is to go back to basics; to actually go back to where I started. More beauty stuff. More photography stuff. Less whiny personal rubbish. (You're not my therapist, after all, are you?)

Sound like a plan? So let's do it.

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'

And if you're waiting for some kind of reply from me, whether it be a comment or email, bear with me, please. I will get back to you!

July & August: In Pictures

July was an iffy month. (I'll avoid mentioning that situation in detail again.) So, in general, it was difficult to venture out with my camera.

However, in the midst of all that stress, something good happened too! Of course, I was offered a place at Uni, starting this September. I really, really didn't expect to get onto the course, so it was an overwhelming, but lovely surprise! I'm pretty much still coming to terms with the shock now, weeks later.

A Week In The Life...

Do you remember back in the olden days when I used to write a post at the weekend called 'This Week...' and I'd show off some photos of whatever I'd got up to? (Shameless plug: Read them here!) Well, I thought I'd kind of revive the same format, but film a video instead! (So you can see how much of a boring life I really lead.)

It's not technically a weekly vlog, because I don't really want to bore you by talking self-consciously and awkwardly to my camera. Anyway, here's what I got up to last week:

(LOOK OUT FOR: Mr. Potato Head! And the duck that pooed itself because I'm too scary.)

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'