Resurrecting the blog, a less chaotic year and a beautiful week in Snowdonia

Okay, so where to even start?

It has been a year, but I’m BACK!! I’ve missed writing longer form pieces, and I’m on the fence about whether to pursue article writing again. I guess I can be quite picky about what I write and who I write it for, and this doesn’t particularly suit the competitive nature of journalism. So for now, my plan is to write a bit more on here and see how it goes I guess. (although I’m not the best at sticking to any plans most of the time).

I’ve been fairly consistently writing poetry on my Instagram account (@angharadrosewrites), but recently I’ve tried to be more consistent on other platforms too (Facebook/tiktok/threads).

I’ll try and add links to my socials, not really sure if they’re actually on here.

It’s a little bit strange writing a blog if I think about it. I guess it’s the idea of assuming people are interested in your life/ thoughts. As a writer, especially in this competitive field, you’re almost marketing your life. Assuming people want to hear about it.

Writing became an outlet for me to:

• Rant (when I started this blog in 2019 I had a lot I wanted to express in a rant-y way)
• express emotions around my mental health
• keep an online diary on what I thought/ was doing each time I posted

The simple reason I haven’t blogged for a while is that I’ve not had as much to rant about. My mental health has been pretty good and stable. I’m enjoying work (in marketing) and create/ write a lot of things in my day-to-day role.

Looking back at when I used to blog before, it was more of a rant or processing emotions whilst I was stressed. Some of my more chaotic posts I have since removed or edited. Not in the sense that I want to censor my posts, more that I am in a much better place now and I recognise that I haven’t always seen things clearly before.

More recently, I’ve enjoyed writing poetry about nature. It’s something I find really helps me to be mindful. But it’s daunting, writing about nature, because so many poets through history have done such a beautiful job of it. John Clare, a Romantic poet that’s actually from Helpston (near where I live!) wrote a lot that comments on the relationship between poets and nature.

And little brooks that hum in simple lay

in green unnoticed spots, from praise away

shall sing when poets in time’s darkness hid

shall lie like memory in a pyramid

John Clare// The Eternity of Nature

As a family, we spent a lovely week in Snowdonia. We stayed in Beddgelert which has a local legend that is pretty tragic really. The National Trust website has a beautiful page about it here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/craflwyn-and-beddgelert/discover-the-legend-of-gelert

Exploring Wales is definitely not new to me. I was born in Welshpool and have family that live in mid/ North Wales. So I visit the country a few times a year. But it was lovely to explore parts of Wales I haven’t visited yet. It’s definitely opened my eyes to how much more beauty there is to discover, and hiking to do. A few of us managed Yr Wyddfa (Mount Snowdon). It was so beautiful and mysterious as we couldn’t see the summit until we were right at the top!

So naturally, I wrote a poem about Snowdon, which I then turned into a reel! Social media platforms have definitely favoured reel content recently and I have enjoyed turning my little photos and videos into reels.

I have definitely noticed that I have made my writing more suitable for spoken word. Attending local poetry open mic events has become a regular thing that I do, and I am lucky that there is a brilliant community around Peterborough/ Stamford/ Lincolnshire. It’s been so nice listening to other people sharing their thoughts and experiences, and there’s so much talent around!

When I started this blog, I wanted to quote/ link music that I related to as well as thoughts and quotes. I haven’t always done that but here’s to being more consistent! Here’s one of my favourite newish songs!

Even though the song is about a romantic relationship, I think of it as being there for my friends. I have some brilliant people in my life and definitely know what real friendship means, through the personal drama we’ve been through.

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I’ll be back soon (hopefully) with more life updates, thoughts, quotes & music! X