Flowers in the Garden

The sun is finally out in Brighton, so of course one must act fast before it disappears again. I love off-the-shoulder everything, it's my version of cleavage being part of tiny-titty gang. You can look feminine, elegant and kinda sexy all at the same time! Plus I have a cute little back if I do say so myself, it'd be a shame not to show it off. This embroidered off-the-shoulder crop is from H&M. I love how fluffy and light it is, sometimes it's nice to have clothes you can actually breathe and eat in.

Now ironically, the skirt I've paired it with is not an eating skirt. It's not that its uncomfortable but lets just say I bought it a few years ago and so I do have to 'think thin' to get into it. I love the zip going all the way down the front and the old school bleached denim. Its fitted-ness offsets the fluffy top nicely. Be warned though this is not the skirt to go prancing around in with reckless abandon- the zip is real people. On me, at least, it does have the tendency to unzip itself from the bottom when I take really big steps.

Originally I was going to wear my black leather jacket for this but I thought it'd be a cop-out. I want fashion to be about being creative for me, not just playing it safe all the time. I also never wear brown ever! But contrary to my previous beliefs, brown and tan do look good on brown skin, so I will definitely be investing in more brown in the future.

This sunny day was a great one, but some of the other ones after it, I can admit, have been not so great. Lately I've definitely been feeling the pressures heaped on by comparison. Our generation is so ambitious and connected which I like in a way but it means you don't even have to look hard to see all the other people around you. The people studying the same course as you, from the same area as you, same age, even having the same hair as you.

The similarities between others and us can be comforting but can also make us compare. Sometimes it's hard not to watch the one growing next to you and wonder if you're doing things right. Wondering why you don't look like that. But that feeling of inferiority is like pouring bleach on a flower. It'll eat it alive and drain all its colour. Recently I had to face the fact that I am constantly comparing myself to others; in everything. I was constantly looking to the left and the right and feeling like I always come up short. I'm still working on it and boy has it been hard! But I've felt lighter and more content than in ages since I've started focusing more on my own petals, seeing the goodness in who I am and what  I want to do in life. It's been said to death but I'm seeing it's actually true. Run your own race. It's way more fun now that I don't have to follow anyone else's path or catch up to them, I can carve out my own.

If you feel you can relate, work to free yourself from the burden of comparison. Find out about who you are.