What's up, Clark?

“What’s up?” is technically my slogan at this point. I seem to start every conversation with those two words.

June has passed, now it’s time to pick out the highlights and reflect.

Achievements this month

• I have finished my last batch of A Level Year 1 exams! (woohoo!) I’ve got some of my grades, which are similar to my predictions; I’m still waiting on politics. I will be writing a big reflection blog post on this once I’ve gotten all of my grades.

• I have landed a placement at Sheffield City Council, and I now have the fancy title of ‘Digital Media Assistant.’

• I have now been voted in as Under 18s Officer of Sheffield Young Labour. Do you believe we need to change the course of Britain? » https://join.labour.org.uk

• Recently, I’ve been pushing myself to more social and naturally uncomfortable situations, and it’s felt very rewarding.

• 📚 I just finished re-reading The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle. In a blog post, I will put some of my highlights and key takeaways from The Power of Now. To sum the book up in a couple of words, it’s about staying present, and you do that by channelling all of your attention into your body and “watching” emotions.

• 📚 I’ve started reading Indistractible by Nir Eyal

• I have blogged quite consistently this month (except last week!)

Things I’ve found cool

• This song: https://youtu.be/dqJ8oud7l2Q

• Coldplay, just Coldplay.

• My sisters have turned 26. Happy belated blog birthday to them :)

• This insightful documentary on Bloomberg Quicktake about how racism has creeped into design: Watch From Aunt Jemima to AI, How Racism Creeps Into Design - Bloomberg

• Labour won in Wakefield and the Tories lost two constituencies in the last by-election. Slowly but surely, Boris Johnson will be kicked out of Downing Street.

Things I need to work on

For the past few months (especially after I was hit by a truck-full of burnout and a deadly plague), there have been three main things I’ve been needing to work on:

• Focus: I need to start focusing on staying present and not letting emotions overcome it.

• Discipline: I need to be able to do the tasks I need to do even if I’m not motivated

• Self-esteem: I need to push myself to feel positive about myself again

I have seemed to become more and more drained as time goes on, a stark contrast to my overwhelming optimism in September 2021. I’m hoping, with the summer coming meaning less responsibilities and more time to do things I love and finding myself, I’ll be able to regain that energy and motivation going into next September.

Wisdom of the month

“Most people don’t want to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that distraction is always an unhealthy escape from reality. How we deal with uncomfortable internal triggers determines whether we pursue healthful acts of traction or self-defeating distractions.”

Eyal, Nir. Indistractable (pp. 26-27).