Good days and learning to be a better friend

Dear friends,



Today has been a good day, a few good days actually, I've: taken my meds consistantly, went to the gym (the first time in a long time), had a brainstorm/action plan evening with the girls (blog regulars Hannah and Cerri) and saw my lovely friend Martha (hello!) and met her beautiful daughter Pip. Isn't she so cute? Yeah it's been good and positive.

The subject of friendship has been on my mind lately, particularly mistakes I made in the past, with being not the greatest of friend. I won't go too much into it, as there are two sides to everything, but I had a solid bunch of friends a few years ago. I got pretty selfish, using my mental health as a bit of a crutch, where I just stopped trying. Directly resulting in no contact with several people. A situation that broke my heart and still does at times. Knowing that I missed: births, weddings and even hair colour changes.

However it was something I definitely learnt a hard lesson from. A kick up the butt. Although that situation is unsolvable - I'm not. Over the past few years I changed for the better, making new friendships that I wouldn't trade for the world, able to look back at better times with fondness instead of shame and understanding that I'm not a bad person at all.

What I'm trying to say, in a super inarticulate way, is that making mistakes is ok. Just remember that when you're struggling to climb aboard a raft - make sure that someone you care about isn't drowning. I think I'm getting there.

As always,
Love Mavis
Xx

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50 Facts About Me

Dear friends,

Sorry this letter is late, I’ve had a pretty bad infection the past few days and I’ve basically been hibernating. I’m still not 100% but better enough to work a shift tonight and to write a letter to you. During my time away I had a thought, dangerous I know, that we are 10 blog posts in and we don’t really know each other that well. This – as you can probably guess – is why this post is named “50 things about me”. So here we go...

1. My real name is Hannah Cowell – Mavis is a childhood nickname.
2. I’m named after my paternal great-grandmother.
3. I’m the youngest of seven children.
4. My sister Charlotte & brother Sam are my first and my oldest best friends.
5. I didn’t meet one of my siblings until I was fourteen – one of the best days of my life.
6. My father died when I was 11 – the worst day of my life.
7. I don’t understand the appeal of lemon water – it’s disgusting!
8. I identify as bisexual.
9. I went to the University of the West of England (UWE) and took BA Media.
10. Where I met my best friend Greg.
11. I want to be a writer.
12. I also dream of my own publishing company – the idea of finding new talent thrills me.
13. I work in a bar – I love it and the crazy people that work there.
14. I spent a short time in a psychiatric facility.
15. Garden gnomes creep me out – I don’t trust them.
16. Nuns on roller skates scare me (due to early exposure of the film Death Becomes Her).
17. During London Olympics (the opening ceremony) nuns on roller skates made an appearance.
18. I don’t follow a religion – but I do believe in god and an afterlife.
19. I wrote a novel at the age of 12 – I received 24 rejection letters.
20. I went through an emo phase and then an indie kid phase.
21. I can touch the bottom of my nose with my tongue.
22. I can also make a water drop sound with my cheek.
23. My favourite flavour of ice cream is raspberry ripple.
24. I used to work at Starbucks and became the sites “coffee master”.
25. I want to retire in Vienna, Austria.
26. I pretended to faint during an awkward first date.
27. I have won one award in my life – it was for the best article in College.
28. I spend most of the time on the internet: social media, freelance websites and YouTube.
29. My favourite YouTubers are: Markiplier, Bucklyfe, Zoella, Dr Pimple Popper and ThatcherJoe.
30. I know basic conversation in British Sign Language. I want to become certified in it.
31. I also want to become fluent in German.
32. I don’t drive.
33. My mother/sister/stepmother are all very talented artists – I can only draw stickmen.
34. I have a real problem with stationary –, particularly Paperchase notebooks. (Sponsor me!)
35. It takes me a long time to trust people.
36. My dream dinner party guests: Tim Gunn, Stephen Fry, Emma Thomas, Hugh Laurie and Helen Mirren.
37. I regularly take myself to dinner.
38. I have a very stereotypical English accent.
39. The first band I saw live was The Prodigy.
40. I’m a big fan of Panic at the Disco and The 1975.
41. My favourite trip abroad was Paris, France where I went with my sister Charlotte.
42. Two of my best friends (Hannah & Cerri) said they would pay for my ticket to Vienna If I destroyed my crocs.
43. I did and we go to Austria at the end of 2018!
44. The reason I start my letters as “Dear friends” is that I like to imagine we’re Pen Pals in real life. Maybe meeting once and exchanging email addresses.
45. My dream holiday is visiting Egypt and going on a Nile Cruise.
46. I believe in ghosts.
47. I also believe in psychics – but know there are a lot of fakes out there.
48. I write all my blog posts on the day of publishing.
49. I’m completely clueless when it comes to website design. You can probably tell.
50.  I have one reader from Peru – which I think is cool.

Anyway, that’s me, write in the comments some things about you and let’s start a conversation! You can also find me here for Instagram and here for Twitter. I’ll talk to you guys on Saturday!
Love always,

Mavis xoxo 

P.S I finally got round to watching The Greatest Showman and now I’m obsessed!! 

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Catch ups & Heatwaves

Dear Friends,

It's been a while since I last wrote a letter to you, a little over a month I think, I've missed it. Missed interacting with you all on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I'm not sure why it took me so long, to find a quiet spot, write down a little note and publish it. Maybe a combination of a little writer's block and the unforgiving heat.

Everything has been going surprisingly well: my mental health it better, still loving my job at the bar and have been spending quality time with friends. I've also started doing this thing called "freewriting", a practice that helps with writer's block, which I want to tell you about later in the week. As you can see the website is still a bit of a work in process, an on-point reflection of me I think, which I will hopefully finish by the time I send my next letter.

I've been thinking of shaking up the content a bit, as people are not just their bucket lists, maybe some reviews and a few videos? I would love to hear your ideas and what you would like from "Project Mavis"? Anway must dash - getting ready for the footie! Did I mention it's coming home?

Love always,
Mavis xx

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