Why I've been DIS(S)tant

I've been away from the blog for longer than I've wanted to be now; what started off as some innocent time-off writing over the summer turned into a whole 6 months away, but now that my Christmas deadlines are behind me, I have the time to dedicate myself to my blog again and I'm really excited to do so. I have a few different topics I want to cover, most of them inspired by things I've experienced in Falmouth in the recent months - some of which will be Christmas related (oh yes) - so thank you for bearing with me whilst I've been away and I hope you enjoy the posts that are to come.

Where I've Been Hiding

These past few months I've spent my time in multiple different coffee shops around Falmouth writing my dissertation. As most of you know, I'm now in my final year of university (a rather scary thought), which means one thing...the dissertation. My dissertation gave an insight into homosexual representations within cinema; exploring over-sexualised lesbian representations and why male homosexuals receive more in-depth character development than females. It was a topic that I've found interest in throughout my time here at university and I have to say, I actually really enjoyed writing it. Admittedly, when hand-in started to loom it wasn't quite as pleasant, balancing my dissertation along with a 20 minute presentation to prepare for, but over all I've really enjoyed this term and all of the writing that has come along with it.

As well as a dissertation, I've also been preparing for next terms production of my final year film ExChange, it's a film following the concept of 'bodyswapping', touching on issues of identity and technology. As part of our final year hand-in we each have to take on a role within a crew to produce a film, for this film I'll be the editor, it's a role I started university knowing I wanted to do and a role I'll probably take up when I leave. Either way, I'm excited to get back next year and start production on the film, it'll be a nice way to end my university experience, alongside my friends in a crew, creating something we are proud of at the end (we hope).

Asides from uni-work related topics, I wanted to talk about a few things I've focused on outside of my work this term at university. One of those things has been my focus on sustainability. Sustainability is something that I wasn't really aware of before coming to university, I never really had to think about it back in secondary school but since living independently I've noticed a lot about how I live that I've wanted to change. Things like buying locally grown fruit and veg, taking old jars down to our local re-fill store to fill up on things like rice, nuts and oats, being conscious of consumerism, buying from charity shops instead of online stores, using bars of soap and a flannel instead of face wipes - I could go on - but these are all little changes that have made such a positive impact on my life for little extra effort. It's fair to say that Falmouth has been the biggest influence behind my shift of mindset, with it's Plastic Free Falmouth schemes and accessible refill stores like un_rap, it's really allowed me to explore sustainability. Now before I go on, I think it's worth addressing the fact that living 'sustainably' is a very privileged lifestyle, it's not affordable for a lot of people and it's also not accessible for a lot of people either. However, I think it's also worth highlighting at this point that it's not all about living completely sustainably either, the 'perfect sustainable life' doesn't exist, there's always something more that someone could be doing (in theory), but that's not the point, every little helps and I believe making smaller changes is the more important thing to stress here, making little changes like sticking to shopping lists, shopping in charity shops or packing a keep-cup in your bag, these are little things that can help. I really do recognise the privileged position I find myself in however, with access to re-fill stores and local produce sold just a few minutes walk away. I also realise that a lot of people simply don't have as much time as I do as a student. I have the time to walk down to these shops, I have the time to come home and cook my meals from scratch and I know that possibly next year, when I'm no longer in Falmouth, I'll have less time and access to these things. My point is, it's something worth thinking about and maybe even looking into more, you'll possibly surprise yourself with how much you could easily change. Anyway, I didn't come here to preach sustainability (although my next blog post will be on the topic of a more sustainable Christmas...) it's just something quite prevalent in my life right now and something that's inspired me for the future, but more on that another time.

Moving on, another thing I've started doing this term is sea swimming! Something I never thought I'd do, and by no means am I as frequent as others to do it - nor will you find me in a bikini on the beach in December - BUT, putting on a wetsuit on a Sunday morning to go and swim in the sea has been something I've really enjoyed doing this term. That feeling when you get home and warm yourself up is something really special and I'm definitely going to carry it on next term after Christmas, it's something I want to make the most of whilst I'm still living here in Fal. Other than that, I've been really enjoying running to podcasts, particularly that of: Venetia Falconer's Talking Tastebuds and Fearne Cotton's Happy Place, I just think it's a really lovely way to learn new things whilst getting some exercise in too. It's been a real stress reliever from deadlines this term so if anyone is into podcasts I'd definitely recommend those two. Below I've also inserted some photos of Cornwall in all it's glory during some of my runs, one of Swanpool Beach during sun-rise a few weeks ago and the other of the nature reserve near my house nearing sunset. Again, I'm so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of England and I know I really will miss it next year.

I return home for Christmas this Saturday and I'm beyond excited to see my family and friends again. I really love Christmas time, I love the generosity and appreciation that comes with this time of year, it's all about spending time with people you love and doing things for each other which I really value. I'm so happy to be back writing this blog again and I'll return soon with a post on 'A More Sustainable Christmas', for now though, thank you for sticking with me, good luck to anyone who has deadlines looming and as always, if anyone has any suggestions for blog posts let me know, I love hearing about what people are interested in!

See you very soon!

Emily x