Happy 1 Year To YOU + Top Blog Tips!

26th Jul 202023rd Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone,

Today’s post is dedicated specifically to YOU. Here, we are celebrating 1 year of So Effortless, and I could not have done it without you, the readers. Knowing me I would have given up by now, and with some hiccups along the way I have to be honest and say there were times where I wanted to just stop writing. But you the readers and with the encouragement of my friends and loved ones, I carried on and got to 1 whole year! I hope for many more years as my enjoyment for writing, art and photography grows with each post. I also wanted to give you some pointers and things I have picked up along the way, so today’s post I will also be discussing things I wish I knew when I started blogging, 4 main things. Someone may read this and it may help them with their blog, or some of you may already have your own blog and be a bit lost, so I am here to offer my advice to you.

so effortless birthday

Here are my main things I wish I knew when I started blogging:

Be more active on social media: When I first started my blog, I was only active on my blog account on Instagram when I wanted people to know I just posted a new post, and that was it. This was a huge mistake as it showed that I only cared about my followers on the platform when I wanted them to read what I have written, which was not the case but it came off this way. This lead me to stay at the same amount of followers and reads months on end, and eventually, I started dropping in both too. The way around this is to post more, simple. I have been doing this for a while now, I gain around 3-4 follows a day from it (it may not sound like a lot but for a small blog like me it is growth!) I guess it is a lot easier when you keep only one platform in use, but I aim to post on Instagram bout 2-3 times a day and a few times on my story. It keeps people interested, shows I am interested in my audience and that I am active and open for my followers to know me. It does not have to be anything specific, I post on my stories and account about just my daily life or if I go on a road trip, the photos I take on it etc. I also obviously post when I have a new post out too here on WordPress but you can’t just post then, be active and show you care.
Use ready-made themes and aids, such as Canva: I started my blog from scratch and I was not completely happy with it as it was very plain and boring, I also only used PowerPoint to edit my images and icons etc, which was also a mistake due to the quality. I soon came to realise that there are ready-made themes I can use that allow me to edit almost anything, this is great to use as it makes your blog look professional but also at the same time unique to you as you can change anything and everything depending on what theme you chose. There are paid themes here too on WordPress but that is up to you to decide if you want to purchase them or upgrade to a better plan on WordPress. I have also started using aids online for logos and illustrations like Canva, which is free mostly and makes great quality stuff. I use it for my logo and all of my cartoony images on my blog. Another thing that’s also great if you want to use images and other illustrations from creators, use websites such as Pexels and Pixabay, they were provided to me by my lecturer at university for my web communication unit and they offer royalty-free images and illustrations of almost anything, just check the description of the image or illustration you want to use for the creator’s rights and use away.
Check your posts and whole site for grammar and overall appeal: Always check your posts for grammar and punctuation, it is something so basic but often I overlooked as I just simply write and read too quickly. simply reading your post back slowly, giving them to someone else to read first before publishing or even putting it through a program such as Grammarly can help a lot. Also check that your website is appealing and professional, as mentioned in the last part. Make sure it is not only appealing to you but also the audience you aim for to read or watch your content. This does not mean that you should create the content of your blog just to your audience taste, as this is your blog, in the end, you just have to be considerate as this is produced by you, but for them.
Be creative and out of your comfort zone: Make sure to have fun with it! some of you may be creating a professional blog or just one for a personal benefit, make sure it always shows the true you and everything you have to offer. Treat it as an online portfolio of your appearance in a way, it needs to represent you and your content just as you want people to see it. Don’t be ashamed of your creativity or idea, no matter how big or small they are, you might just start a new trend!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post here for our So Effortless birthday, still a lot of growing to do and much more creative and new post to get out to you and I hope I still get to keep every single one of you readers with me for another year and more! If you are just starting out and want some help or advice or anything at all, visit my contact page, I am always available to help.

Love, Kasia x

Why I Am Ditching Twitter For A Week

22nd Jul 202020th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi all,

Today I wanted to write a post about habits, and one of my unhealthy ones too. I decided its time to part ways with my Twitter account, but only for a week. Twitter has a lot of benefits to it, there’s lots of online movements on the platform and many people use it as a way to express themselves, promote content, and positivity, yet it is not always like this. The platform also has many negative uses, for example as I talked about last week, a lot of cancel culture comes from Twitter and people on the platform. Other negatives can include body shaming and shaming comments, which I have previously talked about here too on So Effortless and explained how they can be damaging to our self-esteem etc. I am going to explain why the sudden drive to ditch Twitter and what I think it will bring for me and my self-confidence.

I have seen many people give up certain habits, but Twitter is a deep issue for me. I never really used to use it but a few years ago I started out of boredom and now I am always on it! It is so wasteful of my time and sometimes damaging to my mind but at times it’s really entertaining. I always use it as a distraction when I have to do anything I don’t want to do or any work or assignments, it pulls me away from reality and I never get anything done, I just ending up wasting so much time it is crazy. You get dragged into multiple threads, some that are worth my attention obviously with the current movements online, but it can become overwhelming.

I also see Twitter to sometimes affect my mental health and well being with the information and images I am presented with. I follow a lot of the typical influencers, YouTubers and celebrities that post images and videos of the ” perfect body” a lot, now not to shame them, I am all for body positivity for all body types, even the “stereotypical” skinny look, but constantly seeing one body type being represented on a platform becomes irritating and makes me feel unincluded. Now, I can go ahead and follow a more wide variety of people on the platform like I do anyway, but still, I feel like the most popular page and the Twitter algorithm still presents and puts up mostly this image. Additionally, a lot of negative content towards a variety of different people is presented on the platform, which reading back affects me and probably others a lot too.

I see social media to be a sort of escape from reality, to see something funny and accepting but sometimes to see the harsh reality of things too, but the “sometimes” happens too often and it becomes a sort of a chore to log on and see what is happening in the world constantly. Again, I am thankful for the movements on Twitter that bring a lot of attention to crucial events happening that big media companies will not, such as online petitions and spread of important information to bring justice and peace to the public. So I am a bit 50/50 on the whole way Twitter operates because sometimes these movements are botched on the platform with false information and people not understanding and becoming disrespectful, which again this all explains why I am going to take a break from it all for a bit.

My aim to get out of this by the end of the week is to feel a bit better about myself, I know Twitter is not completely to blame for my self worth as it is made up of a lot of things, such as other online platforms I use such as Instagram and other real-life events. But I see Twitter to be a big part of this self-worth issue due to the reasons just discussed. I, a lot of the times also stay up late using Twitter, as mentioned by getting dragged into all sorts of threads and discussion on there, therefore losing sleep and thinking of a million negative things I just read or have seen, which do not aid my sleep. Having less hate and distraction in my life for a week, maybe more, will not only most likely aid my sleep but life in general. I also aim to get my information from more accredited sources, such as the news or websites with credits as sometimes I will read something on Twitter and take it as real, and I know this is a crime as a media student, but it happens to everyone, trying to make sense of something that you read online and starting to believe it can happen, it’s just important to know when it is happening and catch your self out and stop. This also happens on other platforms obviously but again, Twitter is my main issue.

I definitely urge people to do this as social platforms sometimes can bring us joy, but are not always the best choice for expression and free time either. I will try and post an update on this showing you how I did and if I did find it useful, social platforms can be addicting and distracting so make sure to always check if you are spending too much time online. Take time to step away and think about what you can do instead to fill your time, maybe a new hobby or something else that can bring you joy.

Love, Kasia x

On Your 20th Birthday

19th Jul 202018th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 2 Comments

Hi everyone,

I wanted to dedicate this Sundays post to my best friend (Simply Everything), who has her 20th birthday today. I wanted to share some memories we have made together over the 2 years we have known each other. I know for some this is not a long time but to me this is the best and most real friendship I have ever had and I am hopeful for it to last a lifetime. This girl would bend over backwards for me if she had to! Bethany, I want you to know that I love you so much, your the best, and I hope you have a fantastic birthday. Although I won’t be there, know I am always there for you in spirit and I cant wait to see you at the end of the month with our little pickle!

Enjoy some of my fondest memories of us!

20 1

The first time we ever met, it was the first day of our course at university. We were both standing outside the lecture hall, alone and minding our business in our phones, when you came up to me and said: “Hi, do you do Communications and Media?” I replied with yes and you continued with “Oh good, I’ll stick with you then”. Ever since then, we have been inseparable and at that moment I knew I made a good friend. It was hard for me as I moved so far away and I didn’t know anyone and you made me feel so much better and happier, I was very close to quitting and moving back home because I felt so lonely in this new place, but then I met you and our little group, who have made this experience so much more memorable.

I remember our first long days at university, last ones in the Fusion building, with the cleaners starting to get the building ready for the next day, we were still there trying to finish our very first assignment together, with many snacks and laughs we got it finished and got the grade. I was so happy then because I finally found someone who takes their education as seriously as I do. From then we would go to the university bar and do our assignments or just lounge around campus. I remember our first trip to the library, oh God it was terrible! Took us nearly an hour to find three books, the librarian was no help either! All these little memories on campus, I will always treasure as you were always there from the start encouraging me to never give up, you believed in me when some did not.

All the nights out, our first Christmas together, I will never forget, we both successfully did not fall on our butts on the ice skating rink, can’t say the same for Christmas 2019 😉 All the times we were in my university accommodation, drinking, having a good time, finishing up work, talking about our future. When we were house hunting for year 2 at university, we didn’t even need to ask the awkward “So… do you want to live together?” We just instantly started looking for a place together no questions asked. You have been the only friend I have ever met that I never feel like you don’t like me or have anything against me, you know everything about me and do not judge me.

We have never had a fight, ever, only when I would eat something of yours and that’s it! I always replaced it after too! You are ALWAYS there for me, you are the one who drove me to the hospital when I was so so Ill, you are the one who helped me through the passing of my pet, you are the one who helped me through the tough times throughout university. You will always be treasured in my heart and soul forever.

When we finally moved in, we got our first pet together, I will never stop remembering and watching back videos and photos of the times we had toaster with little Pickle. All of his escapes, all of our personal talks when we would just sit and play with him, all of his pees on your bed. I will always be thankful for a friend I could always talk to, I could always come in your room and ask for help or to go somewhere with me, mostly it went like this “Beth……….I want snacks”, “NO KASIA I AM NOT GOING TO LIDL WITH YOU AGAIN” *5 minutes later we were on the way to Lidl*.

20 2

All of our wine and movie nights, where I would ask you a million questions about what we were watching, just as if you had any more clue than I did! Our “Galentines” day because the boys were busy, where we sang songs from our childhood, the time I lost our spare house key, the sitting and crying on the kitchen floor because I said something stupid. This will all be with me forever. I am the type of person to remember things, even the smallest things or sayings, forever, and these memories will always be there for me.

Bethany, again I want to wish you a happy happy HAPPY birthday from the bottom of my heart, I hope you enjoyed reading this and maybe even remembered some things I have missed from our memories (please remind me what we were laughing about so much I was sitting and crying of laughter by the fridge a few months ago?) I love you lots, wishing you a fantastic day, I hope for many more memories with YOU!

Love, Kasia x

Cancelling Cancel Culture

15th Jul 202014th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone,

Today I wanted to do the odd post on the topic of media, social and online media mostly. As many of you with any social network such a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram know that cancel culture is a big topic of discussion currently. With constant feuds and scandals with celebrities and influencers, we the viewers have come up with this concept of “cancelling” someone because of one issue or a past mistake. Today we are here to debunk that, explain what it is, why it is absolutely awful and to “cancel” it.

Cancel culture is the act of attempting to worsen someone’s personal image (a famous/popular person) online based on their current or past mistakes. It takes someone’s actions and blows them into huge proportions, which leads to fake news, fake additions to the story and unwanted opinions from fans and just the general public. Cancel culture can lead to influencers or celebrities losing followers, fandom and sometimes even their whole career.

I see cancel culture to be very toxic, but at the same time, I understand it to an extent. Cancel culture is based on quick judgment, people see a story repeated by different outlets and believe it from the get-go and the online discussion begins. People start digging deeper into this influential persons past, reminders of things they have done before come up and people base their opinions quickly from that. It is solely based on the idea that we should humiliate everyone no matter what status, for any sort of mistake they have ever made. There is no basis for communication or forgiveness in cancel culture and it is very damaging to anyone participating or receiving the “cancelling”. The people who cancel the influencer start to lack basic empathy for the situation and begin to forget that this person they are attacking or publicly shaming has a life, emotions and is human just as you. Try and reverse roles and see how you would feel if someone was trying to cancel you. On the other side, you also have the cancelee, who receives this hate and has very little they can do until it dies down, trying to address a whole platform of people in the midst of remembrance what you said 5 years ago and not apologised for is tough. I am not saying that there should be no repercussions for any bad deed the influencer may have done, I am just trying to show people who participate in it that the damage done is on both sides.

cc image post

Getting rid of cancel culture would be the only way to properly understand the way that communication between fan and celebrity should actually be. There should be an understanding of mistakes and why this issue happened in the first place. There should also be respect for a certain boundary, I mean you can be a fan by all means but only to an extent, no matter how close you wish you were with this influencer or celeb your only a fan, your opinion and input on their personal issues or doing is just that, an opinion, which most of the time they don’t really care about if it’s negative. I feel that people who mostly engaging with cancel culture don’t really understand this, you can reprimand as much as you can but to them your just another person online trying to be noticed, and just trying to tell them what to do or how to act.

Cancelling someone doesn’t really do anything as most of the time they won’t notice specifically what you say, all you are doing is filling your life with the negativity of another person who most likely does not even see you, wasting your time trying so hard to change someone who might not even know you exist. Trying to make them accountable is only making you angrier and more stressed in life, give it up, if this influencers behaviour is bad enough then their time will come to leave the spotlight, without your cancel input. The truth bomb hurts sometimes and people need to hear it.

To finish off, I am not saying go feel bad for all influential and popular people we have in the world, they should face consequences for their actions just as many of us do in life normally, but cancelling someone completely due to mostly fake news and basic human mistakes that can happen to anyone is not healthy, and is also one of the many reasons that social media is also not the best for our mental health. I think this should be dependant on the situation, look at how big the issue is of this influencer, if it is a past mistake and they have shown change then I do not see a reason for “cancellation”, yet if this is a larger issue that ha never been addressed or apologised for, then yes I agree that there should be some consequences such as loss of followers or money. But never cancelling someone and their career. Everyone should get the chance to change and apologise for their mistakes, no matter how big.

Love, Kasia x

Distractions

12th Jul 202010th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone,

During such a difficult time, it’s hard to concentrate on the things we have to get done. As a student, I can relate to a workload that does not stop, even for a pandemic, and things just need to be done by a set time. But we are faced with many distractions now with so much time “off”, such as Netflix and online browsing (in normal time for me as well). I thought it would be a good idea to discuss some distractions I am faced with during this time, so some of you can maybe relate, and how I overcome them and get all the workload finished. Distractions are a normal thing we are all faced with, I’ll take a distraction of Youtube over finishing my essay any day, but it has to be overcome and finished at some point. We just have to make sure to realise when we are being distracted and know when the cut off point is to restart.

One of my main distractions during trying to get anything done is my phone. The amount of times I always get on my phone when I am supposed to be cleaning or doing my assignments is unaccounted for. It’s like a cycle of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter non stop until I see that I have been online for about an hour and I get a shock and put my phone down, to then again pick it up and do the cycle again in 15 minutes. Honestly, I wish I had someone with me watching me every time I have to get something done to stop me from picking up my phone all the time. But one way I have found to get around this is just in your phone’s settings (if you have an iPhone!) If you go into your settings and choose “screen time” there are so many settings in there you can adjust to improve your time away from your phone. You can simply choose downtime, which locks your phone completely at different times of your choice, obviously, you are able to unlock it for an emergency. You can also choose “App limits” which sets a time limit on specific apps. There are loads more settings to play with there but these are the 2 I find most useful. It stops me from going on my social media accounts, of course, I can just unlock it with my password if I want to but it’s the concept that counts for me. When I pick up my phone and I am met with a message “this app is locked until 18.00” for example, then I know to put it down and get on with whatever I am supposed to be doing.

Another distraction I am met with often is doing absolutely anything else than what I am supposed to. For example, if I am supposed to be doing work for university, I will clean my room instead, because I will use the poor excuse reasoning of “It has to be done anyway, so I’ll do it now and do the work later” NO! do it now! I always do this and put my work off and off and off until I end up doing it last minute. Yet, a way I have found around this is to schedule when and what will be done. For example, I will plan to do my essay from 10am-1pm and then clean my room from 2-3pm. I know this sounds over the top and a bit “businessy” but it really helps, it allows you to not think of all other things you could be doing to get out of your work and lets you get on with the task its self. Everything is planned and there is no excuse to get out of what you are supposed to be doing!

Also, distractions mostly occur in my life when I try to do too many things at once. I’ll try and do some coursework but at the same time read emails and talk with my mom, it’s too much going on and neither of the things I am doing gets done properly, my mom gets annoyed I am not paying attention to her, I delete an email I might need and my coursework will become filled with gibberish. Try and focus on one task at a time, I know it may be easing to know you can finish doing many things at once but doing things half bothered is not the best, when you can make time to do things properly it makes things more fulfilled and well-done. Try and space things out more, as suggested in the paragraph above, it always works for me when you have more time to put more care into your tasks instead of getting distracted with doing too many of them at once.

A very basic thing we can also get distracted with, without even knowing is our own thoughts. If your mind is not with you on the task you are doing then whatever you are thinking about becomes a distraction. Sometimes we need to push certain thoughts and ideas aside in order to concentrate on one thing. Of course, don’t suppress thoughts as most times this leads to enlarging problems or even forgetfulness, just kind of put them aside to deal with them later so you can complete the one task needed to be done. Thinking of too many things at once can also become tiering which is also distracting and can make the task you are doing even more difficult to complete.

I hope you have enjoyed reading some of the advice I have on how to overcome distractions, this is part of everyday life and sometimes are difficult to overcome and get things done which is understandable. Do not rush, with most things you have plenty of time to finish them if spaced out in time correctly. Make sure to not stress too much over distractions, just acknowledge them, get rid of them and get on with whatever you are set to do.

Love, Kasia x

25 By 25

20th Jun 20206th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi everyone,

As my self-isolation is coming to an end soon, I am starting to run low on free time to do things I never do, for example, gardening and more artwork. During this time I have also been having a think about what my future holds ahead for me and came to the realisation that I have no idea what’s coming (blog on that next week!).

So I decided to hop online for some ways to help me visualise what I want to do in the future, you don’t have to know what waits for you, no pressure, I am just the kind of person who likes to have perspective and some sort of ideas for the future. So I found this idea; you pick an age and list the number of things all the way up to that age you want to do before you turn that age, makes sense?

So I decided to choose 25, I have always thought that by that age I will have some sort of hit of achievement, even though most see your 20’s to be the most confusing part of your life, I just started mine so only time will tell I guess.

Below is my list of 25 by 25, most of the personal, some generic, just somethings I thought to share with you so you can see where I want to be in 5 years time, maybe ill do a post at 25 reflecting back on this? I’ll try and remember to do that, unless I have done absolutely nothing on this list and be too ashamed.

Visit my dream destination: Egypt: Me, my family and boyfriend have a holiday booked to go to Hurghada in December, although the current pandemic is going on currently and Egypt are not taking any flights in, I still hope we can go. I have always had a fascination with Egypt and their history ever since I have been a child, so this will literally be a dream come true. If we don’t go then I will try again, before 25 of course!
Get my own dog: I already have 2 dogs currently that are family dogs, but I really want my own dog with my boyfriend one day. I know it will happen because I simply cannot live without them. I don’t know what breed right now, me and my boyfriend have been looking at Cockapoo’s, they are very cute, but whatever comes my way I guess.
Start my career: I want to have a good head start in whatever I choose to do with my degree, I like the idea of working in marketing and lately an editor role has come to mind too. Whatever I choose I want to do well in it and excel up the job titles.
Get my own flat with my boyfriend: We have been talking about this for the past year now, when we finish our degrees and find well-established jobs, we want to move in together, we are planning about 2 years from now but only time will tell!
Get engaged: Another thing that has been discussed lots of time between us two, I hope it will happen within 5 years!
Furnish my first place exactly how I want to: Like everyone, I have my dream design ideas, and I intended to make them all come true in our first place. I want it to feel like home and I want to love coming back there after work or outings.
Learn more editing skills: I want to know more and how to do editing things better. I know the basics of Photoshop and InDesign and other film editing software, I just want to find the time and place to learn more about them, another thing to add to the CV!
Start saving money to build my own home: My boyfriend is keener on this than me, I want to own my own house one day but I’m not as into it at the moment, not really thinking about it, but just in case I change my mind one day I might as well start saving.
Visit the death museum in LA: This is an odd one, I love true crime and horror, I don’t love that it happens obviously, but I like listening to stories about what happened from the past. I watch a Youtuber called Bailey Sarian and she does true crime and makeup videos, and she mentioned this museum, and now I am obsessed and very dedicated to go there one day.
Battle my anxiety: Just in general and my flight anxiety too, I want to know more about it and work on it a little more, I hate that it has such a hold over my life.
Start planning children?: I have always wanted children, but now that I am older and I see how much work and knowledge they require I am a little off-put, one day definitely but not in my 20’s! My friend recently had a baby as I mentioned in my last post and that is also the reason why I am a little off-put, they are so much work!
Gardening: I want to know more about it I guess? I want a beautiful garden one day and that is not going to happen with me only sometimes remembering to water 2 houseplants every other day.
Learn another language: Spanish in particular, I already know English and Polish so having another one under my belt will make me more full I guess! I just like how they are so different so I want to know more.
Learn to dance (somewhat): Anyone that knows me knows I hate dancing, I HATE IT, dancing at weddings always ends in an argument with my boyfriend, I avoid going to clubs because I just hate dancing so much, and considering I want to battel my anxiety and get married someday, which includes doing a first dance, I need to get a grip on how to dance.
Do a small tour of America: My parents always spoke about doing this one day but so far have not got round to doing it so I really want to do it with my boyfriend one day, he has always wanted to go to America and I’m curious too, maybe New York, LA and somewhere else, not sure yet.
Do more photography: My grandad was a photographer, and I come from a creative family all together so it is something I enjoy doing but not really push myself into it as much, I love writing more but one day I want to get a good camera and focus more on photos too, ie my photo stories.
Yoga or meditation: I always think of doing this but I always think my family and friends will laugh at me (anxiety, hello?) I feel like it will make me happier and calmer in life so when I move out in a few years time it’s something I definitely want to try.
Self-happiness: I have a lot of issues with self-confidence and its really something that goes up and down for me on a weekly basis, I want to feel happy with the way I look, be more healthy and just not worry so much about my appearance to others, growth in this area comes with time so I hope by 25 this is under some sort of my control mentally.
Like mornings: Another thing I hate, mornings. I hate waking up early or sometimes even getting out of bed all together. I am a nightmare without coffee and will not speak until I have one, so I want to change that and be more pleasant during that time of the day, for the sake of my boyfriend.
Learn to cook: I am a terrible cook, I maybe know how to cook 5 things, so I need to learn some new stuff, again this will come with time, I hope!
Go out more: I am such an introvert it’s crazy, I have been self-isolating for a week and a half and doing very well without people, my boyfriend, on the other hand, is an extrovert and is going crazy in the house. I want to be more like him, be more open to meeting new people and going out to the town to do things with others. Because right now its: boyfriend – best friend – boyfriend – best friend – my bed.
Re-do my whole wardrobe: Something I always dream of doing and most girls do, I want to have enough money one day to throw away all my old rags and buy everything new in the one style I love.
Cut people off: The unhealthy ones, of course, people who hurt me and I secretly don’t want relations with, I hope the courage comes with age.
Be more involved in animal rescue: I love animals, if you have read my blog before you probably already know that. Currently, I sponsor a dog with Dogs Trust but I want to do more and help.
Graduate, obviously: I want to graduate with the best grade possible. I work hard but I just need that extra push to get into that top grade boundary, I want to do it and be proud of my degree, that I finished, and was top of my class.

I know there has been a lot of “I’s” and “My boyfriend” in this post today but that’s how I picture my future, with the one I love, sorry! I thought this would give some insight more into who I am and also show some of you a good way to set some goals if you need to.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post, there might be a lack of posts now for the next week because I will be finishing an assignment I have for my uni instead of doing a placement year, so I will be back next week definitely! (I will be active on my Instagram: @soeffortlessblog)

Love, Kasia x

Self-Isolation Update

17th Jun 20207th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi All,

As you may know from my last post, I am currently Self Isolating due to the law in place in the UK for travellers. I travelled to Germany after this new law has started and now I am stuck at home! And let me tell you, I am dying of boredom.

I wish I could even go for a walk, but I am not even allowed to do that which is driving me insane. 2 days ago I sat in the garden for a while doing some crafts, as the day before I had a really bad mental health day (which happens to the best of us!) because of this self-isolation. I am used to seeing my boyfriend and his family a lot when I am home and when I wasn’t living at home I lived with my best friend (Simply Everything) so it really is meddling with my mind a lot. I know I have my parents around currently but it’s a different type of social interaction if you know what I mean? My friends don’t tell me to do the dishes, for starters.

Below I have inserted an image of what I ended up making in my escape to the garden, I have always wanted one of these but my mother would never allow it, she says its bad energy, but now she likes them so I guess opinions change. I haven’t been into my pastel arts as much lately, I have periods of time when I am really into it and that’s all I do but currently I don’t even know where my pastels are! So if the art part of this blog goes a little dry you know why! I am not going to force myself to do it, just have to wait when the inspiration hits I guess. If any of you have any inspo images, send them my way.

Also, I have been kept busy by playing Sims, I know some people may think its a really childish game but I really like it, keeps me occupied and allows me to bring my creative stories to life in a different way other than just writing them. I have lots of mods and additions so its cool to play to keep my mind off the current issues. When I was in Germany I played on my boyfriend’s laptop, which is a 10000000x better than mine, so now going back to my 2010 laptop, the lag and slowness is driving me insane! hoping to buy a new one for the new academic year as I will be writing my dissertation, but we shall see.

sim 1

I have also been watching a lot of Polish TV (because that’s all we have in our house) and the elections are driving me crazy! Don’t get me wrong there are some good candidates, obviously not perfect as always with politics, but the current president (Andrzej Duda) is running again and I have always been the one to say that Poland is always 30 years behind, and this election proves me right. Some statements that come out of his mouth are as follows:

“LGBTQ+ people are not people”
“LGBTQ+ is just an ideology that is ruining Poland and the idea of family”
“They are sexualising children”

When I saw this I was in absolute disbelief. This is disgusting that people cannot just be people simply because of their sexual orientation. Taking away basic human rights and outright outcasting people is not right and it makes me ashamed to be part of such a country that treats people this way. These are people and they deserve as many rights as anyone else who is straight, of colour, not of colour or anything else. They are not hurting anyone and Poland’s idea of protecting the family is just absolutely old fashioned and outdated. The worst part is that people support this? there are people at his debates supporting him and his disgusting ideas, which makes me even happier that I will be voting this year and kicking his butt out of his position.

All of these emotions and other things have also gotten me more into my current therapy I am in for my fear of flying. Me and my boyfriend have now booked to go to Poland in August to see family, which has opened my eyes that I need to be more active in my fear. I have started a journal for my emotions and just daily things that happen to keep track of and started thinking about flying more, for example simulating the experience just before I got to bed in my head, to get used to the feeling. It has been helping a little but I know I have much more work to do.

Nothing else to report otherwise, just my friend had a baby, cant wait to go see her after this is done! I will be stuck at home for another 8 days now, but I think I can deal with it. If anyone else is self-isolating too, make sure to keep your self busy, otherwise, it might start to get daunting!

Stay safe,

Love, Kasia x

Traveling During CO-VID19

14th Jun 20207th Jul 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

*Note: Sorry this post is very late, I got stuck in Germany for a week so I was busy stressing over that situation, more on that below, enjoy!*

Hi everyone,

During crazy times like these, I see many people are not up for travelling. This is mostly due to restrictions and obvious concern for personal safety, which is understandable. Yet, nevertheless, I decided to travel to Germany by car with my boyfriend, he was an exchange student but had to rush home due to the virus and he left a lot of his things in his apartment there, so we decided to go and collect them and give the keys back for the flat.

I thought it would be a good idea to show you what it was like travelling during the current circumstances. Not by plane but by car and ferry, show you what restrictions and checks are happening and what countries are doing to keep their citizens safe.

During this time, I was filming the process and I was going to post it here in a vlog format, but I found out quickly I am not good at vlogging, I hate myself on camera and scraped the whole idea, maybe next time!

Also, as mentioned in the note above, we got stuck in Germany. We were supposed to only be there for 2 days, to pack and go. But as we were packing up the car to leave on the 4th we noticed something leaking from the car, and it was the engine coolant.
The part had to be delivered from France to fix the car (as we have a right-hand drive car) so we had to wait a week and then finally made it home. But originally we were supposed to make it back to the UK before the new self-isolation rule, but we did not, which kind of makes this more interesting to write as there were a lot more checks at border control on the way back!

Enough explanations, below are the experiences from travelling during CO-VID19 by car and ferry, enjoy.

LEAVING THE UK:

When we arrived at Dover port, we were asked for our passports as usual, but before we got there we did some research and found out that while travelling through France and Belgium, you need to have this document filled out, it consisted of your name, why you were travelling etc. Also, it was advised to have some sort of proof of residency or any other document to prove your reason for travelling through the country. So we did as asked, Dawid had his residency agreement and proof of being enrolled in the university he was in. None of that was asked for, nothing, just passports and that’s it, just as if there was no pandemic, we got on the ferry and that was that. The funny thing was that when we drove up the first checkpoint, we passed the man at the widow our passports, which are Polish. He said, and I quote, “Ah Polish? you can go”.

FERRY:

While also doing research as mentioned before, we found out that DFDS (the ferry company we were using) required you to wear a mask and gloves while on board. So me and Dawid were prepared, got out the car in gloves and masks, and then looked like absolute idiots. No one else was wearing masks or gloves, not even the crew! We kept ours on just for the sake of it, I mean we went through the effort might as well follow along now. Other than that it was just like any other ferry ride, which was common for the both of us as we travel to Poland by car a lot, there was just not as many people as usual, which is understandable due to the virus.

FRANCE AND BELGIUM:

We didn’t stop in these countries a lot, so not much to say here, we stopped at one service stop in Belgium, same on the way back, and people were just wearing masks and as in the UK, social distancing. So obviously we did the same and were back in the car on our way.

GERMANY:

When we finally arrived in Germany, we first went to do some small shopping for the expected few days we were going to be there, we went into the store and everyone is wearing masks, everyone except us. At the time we didn’t know the current rules so we just did our shopping quickly and went home, to then later find out that it is mandatory to wear masks in enclosed spaces, but outdoors you don’t have to wear them. Now for the rest of our time in Germany, we followed these rules and it was all okay. Also, we found out that when you go to restaurants, you need to sanitize your hands, sign some paperwork with your details on there (not really clear on why as it was all written in German) and wear masks until you were seated, same with bars.

BORDER CONTROL RETURNING:

After a stressful time in Germany, we were finally on our way back, and this was during the mandatory UK self-isolation period (which I am currently on day 4 of, 10 days to go!) So we went through about 4 different windows, 2 of them were France border control, where they just checked our passports, asked if we have the documents the UK now requires and that’s it. Then when we entered UK border control, they checked the car, asked us to open the boot, checked all of our documents and made sure we understood that we had to quarantine for 14 days. So due to the new self-isolation for travellers in the UK rule, it was a lot more strict than on the way there, I even got a call the following day checking up on me seeing if I am home but for now that’s all!

So finally, the restrictions of travelling during CO-VID19 are not that bad, other than the now self-isolation in the UK. You just have to be well prepared, safe, and follow the rules in place. Of course, it is not like travelling used to be, but for now, if you want to travel then this is some of the things you will have to abide by!

Stay safe,

Love, Kasia x

P.S. They didn’t even fix the car properly, the engine coolant is still leaking from somewhere and we had to keep filling it up on the way, on to the next mechanic I guess.

Art: Reflection

3rd Jun 202030th May 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The breeze of cool air flows, the leave rustle as the moonshine creates a reflection in the nearby waters.

Quarantine: May 2020

31st May 202019th Sep 2020 by Kasia x ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Hi all,

Quarantine has been driving me crazy, I am used to going out with friends and my boyfriend all the time, so since been at home and not having the ability to do that, I have decided to redirect my energy on some other things. Pick up some old hobbies and have some me time, anyone else?

Trying to see this as more of a “holiday” rather than a bad situation has been helpful, focusing on time with my animals and self-care has been nice to do as normally I would not have time for this. Below are some images of what I have been up to these past few weeks!

(Again as mentioned in the last photo story, images are unedited and out of theme but thats to keep their quality top noch!)

Pet Obsession:

Like I said, I have been focusing more on my pets, taking care of them and playing. Makes you forget some worries.

Cancelling Plans:

Like many, the virus has ruined many plans for me and my boyfriend. As I mentioned in my other quarantine post, we both lost our placements and our anniversary holiday. Also had a lot of problems with money for university and online teaching, but slowly getting through it!

Self Care:

I have been taking extra time to have some time to myself, I have anxiety and difficulty with over organisation and planning so during a time like this when nothing is certain, it’s hard for me. Taking some time to relax is needed. Plants and E-Girl hair galore.

Socialisation:

I have been staying with my boyfriend over this period of time, so having his company is making this better. Although I miss having privacy and seeing my friends, having him by my side has been keeping me sane. Enjoy some videos below.

Let me know if your quarantine has looked similar or even message me for a chat on how you are, would love to hear.

Love, Kasia x