Teenage Cancer Trust Ball

A few months ago I decided to organise a charity ball in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Although I had planned several successful charity events before I can definitely say that I did underestimate the amount of work that goes into the planning process of the event and it shouldn't be a decision that is taken lightly.

I decided to organise an event to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust after one of my close friends was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and spent time at the teenage cancer trust unit in Nottingham.  Luckily Tash is now in remission, her blog can be found here.

After hours of planning, the event will be taken place next week and has come together really well with only a few minor hiccups. Guests will be able to enjoy a 3 course meal, raffle, disco, auction, live entertainment and photobooth.

Around 13 young people aged between 13 and 24 are diagnosed with cancer every day in the UK. This proves why the work that the Teenage Cancer Trust does is so vitally important. They are the only charity dedicated to providing young people with specialist care and support when they need it most.

Cancer is something that a lot of young people will brush off, thinking it will never happen to them and I know I am guilty of this too. The truth is, at some point in our lives cancer is likely to effect nearly every one of us, whether that's through a friend, family member or colleague. This is why it's so important to continue supporting charities like the Teenage Cancer Trust as the work they do is truly beneficial to so many young people.
You can find out more about the work of the Teenage Cancer Trust through their website.

X~Jess~X

Why it's better to keep your circle small

Over the years my friendship group has varied in size. I went from being part of a large circle and being surrounded by a lot of fake people to having a small but supportive few true friends, I much prefer it this way. 

The reason I chose to decrease my circle and focus on the few true friends I have was because of three things, experience, trust and loyalty. 

I believe these qualities are the most important in any relationship, they may take years to build up and only seconds to loose which is why gaining them, as well as giving them is very important to me. 

Experience - one of the main reasons I decreased my circle. The experience that I had with the friendship group I was previously in was not a nice one, it was a group that was difficult to leave and their personality was very self-focused. The experience that I have with my friends now is a lot different, I can talk to them about pretty much anything, they're supportive and I believe they have my back which brings me onto the next section, trust. 

Trust - trust is an incredibly important factor in all relationships, anyone that knows me relatively well will know I don't trust people easily. I can count the number of people I fully trust on one hand and although sometimes I do still et hurt, it stops me getting hurt as much. 

Loyalty - loyalty is massive, I'd like to believe that to my true friends I am very loyal. I'll have their back just in the same way they have mine and whilst I am sometimes a known gossip anything they tell me in confidence will stay that way. 

Thank you to all my amazing friends, I admire you so much ❤️

X~Jess~X

Experiencing my first Rock Concert

For starters I'm really sorry about the delay in posting, this week has been quite hectic and although I could have wrote a blog post last night, I just really didn't feel like it. 

On Tuesday I went to my first ever rock concert, I've been to concerts in the past at Nottingham and Sheffield arena but never a standing concert and it was quite a different experience. 

The concert was at Rock City in Nottingham and me and my friend went to see Bowling for Soup, with support from MC Lars, the dollyrots and Lacey. 

I suffer from anxiety so I didn't think this would be my sort of thing but I actually really enjoyed the evening despite feeling a little anxious at the start. 

I know these photos aren't good quality but hopefully they give a brief idea as to what the concert was like. 

It was definitely somewhere I would go again. 

X~Jess~X

Why I refuse to accept mainstream values

Go to school, get good qualifications, go to university, get a good job, a house, a family, live happily ever after. That's what people see as the 'norm' these days, it's what everyone else is doing and the 'follow the crowd' method of believing in success. 

It's never been the way I wanted to go. I refuse to stay in a job that doesn't make me happy, your average 9-5. I have so many goals that I want to achieve in this life and the more I look into alternative opportunities the more I'm attracted to these ideas that the majority see as 'unrealistic'. 

I have three main goals:

1) To travel the world

2) To start a business 

3) To be happy 

They're my goals. I don't want to go to university. I believe that life is so short and so many people waste it doing something they don't like because they believe that the promise of money will make them happy and make them successful. 

I don't believe that money makes you happy, I believe experiences do. 

I'll never know if these goals are possible, I'll do all I can to make them work but the point is, you never know until you try. 

X~Jess~X

Why Travel?

So I understand that this blog post is a little on the late side but hopefully you'll still enjoy the read. 

I've been thinking recently about why I want to travel and why so many people are choosing to ditch their well paid jobs in order to travel the world, a word that is so often closely linked with travel is escape and I think that's the key. 

I used to think that I wanted to travel to meet new people, experience new places and to try new things and of course that still is a massive part of it but there's something more and I find it hard to talk about that part sometimes. 

People say you can't run away from your problems which is true in some ways. Ironically though people always say that a fresh start is good, and that's true in some ways too. I tend to want to travel (or escape) more when I get down, when I hit one of those lows where I just want to get away from everything and don't look back. Of course, the passion for travel is still there on those high points but I crave it more on the low ones. 

I guess all this is a little confusing and a little hard to explain. I love travel, I'm sure I always will and I'm sure that to an extent it will always be a part of my life. People travel for a variety of different reasons, for many people my age you hear it's because they want to 'find themselves', a concept I haven't really ever understood but I admire them anyhow. 

To travel is a beautiful experience whatever the reason may be and something that has created many memories for me. 

What's your reasons for travelling? 

X~Jess~X