#AprilLove2015

Today's post definitely falls into the self-improvement definition of 'Grow' and is a round-up of the photo challenge I took part in during April. Susannah Conway administered this under the tag of #aprillove2015. She set the challenge with this message: 

The theme of the challenge, as you’ve probably guessed, is LOVE — love for ourselves, our lives, the world around us. LOVE expressed in gratitude and kindness. February might have Valentine but we’ve got April LOVE :)

There was a list of photo prompts for each day and an invitation to share them with others taking part via Instagram. I've read some of Susannah's previous work and felt really inspired to commit fully to this challenge, so I posted a photo every day. You can see all my photos on my Instagram account here.

I really enjoyed the month, it definitely made me more aware of the world around me and helped me think more clearly about myself and how I can try to take care of myself better in an emotional sense. My phone is now full of pictures of all the things I noticed, often things that I would have just walked past or missed entirely, and is something I want to continue to do - I even chose my new phone based mainly on the quality of the camera!

I have a very busy job at the moment, and lots going on at home and often feel exhausted and demotivated, but by taking a little bit of time, especially on my morning and evening walks to and from the station, and time spent on trains, to take notice of the world around me I've found a simple way of literally and metaphorically taking a pause, a deep breath, and reconnecting with myself. There's so much beauty around, especially at the moment with nature bursting back into full life during the spring that I feel like I don't want to take it for granted, but want to acknowledge that beauty as it really does make me feel happier and more at peace.