Hello and welcome to my blog! It feels both weird and wrong saying that…the phrase ‘who do I think I am?’ immediately springs to mind because I’ve probably just started my first piece like a helplessly uncool new blogger, but in the spirit of this whole thing, let’s go with it. I wanted to use this first article to summarise why I’ve created Another Harriet and what to expect from it, basically so you can decide whether you want to continue reading (but please do).
I was furloughed in March 2020 during the first Coronavirus national lockdown and still am to this day, and in all honesty it’s been a far greater struggle than I anticipated. I felt that my whole life had been put on pause because I wasn't working. I experienced what felt like the dictionary of emotions. It took time but I eventually started realising that the world quite literally is my oyster...I can, technically, do anything I want which has helped me see things in a different light. I went from feeling totally alone with furlough-itis (OK, not a real thing – drama queen – but IF it was, it would be my diagnosis) to realising how totally opposite the situation is. However alone I felt, I took comfort from stepping back and realising that there are countless things I perceive as silly idiosyncrasies confined to myself, that in fact so many people experience.
After many months of trying what felt like hundreds of different things to keep my mind busy, and regretfully wasting many days too, I found myself brainstorming ideas of where to go next. Jordan floated the idea of freelance writing which got my mind whirling; why hadn't I thought of this before? I’ve always loved writing as it’s such a great way to offload thoughts and feel that bit lighter afterwards. I’m also a lot better at conveying what I want to through writing, as opposed to actually stringing the words together to form a verbal sentence. Thoughts often leave my mind with great intentions, but then have a habit of exiting my mouth in a somewhat different way.
With this in mind, I considered voluntary journalism, copywriting, proofreading and then blogging came to the surface for a moment before being pushed to the back – mainly because I didn’t understand the potential of it and importantly, what it really is. I began to do my research and the more I learnt, the more I realised that this is the ideal opportunity for me to embark on a writing journey that I am in complete control of. Combine this with the amount of time being furloughed has given me for reflection and we have this blog: my new little personal venture!
I hope to use this platform for genuinely honest, open conversations – sometimes more serious topics – but also (a lot of the time), more light-hearted relatable content that should hopefully trigger something in people at the same life stage to me. Another Harriet is a snippet of unpolished reality, all stemming from the past year and how it got me thinking; we’re really all quite similar. I believe that we share many of the same struggles, worries and everyday boring traits, but often convince ourselves that they aren’t normal or may seem silly to others if they knew. At least I really hope this is the case...otherwise this is going to be a very short-lived blog!
To feel somewhat standard or normal, like nothing extraordinary distinguishes you from others is common. Of course we all are completely unique, but sometimes it’s hard to see this amongst the sea of people seemingly doing better, more impressive things. My drive for creating the Another Harriet blog, and entire brand for that matter, is the amazing feeling of reassurance that engulfs you when realising that someone else (usually someone you’d label as having their sh*t together) does that same stupid thing you always do. We are really just ‘another’ of the billions of people around us, many with the same name as us, all equally lucky enough to try our hand at this wonderfully normal life. I believe that being a normal person in a sea of normal people isn’t such a bad thing.
As a self-professed overthinker and worrier, I have a huge list of topics to incorporate that I hope will provide a sense of relief, comfort and relatable resolve when needed. Another Harriet will essentially be the place to read about things we all do and feel but for some reason, don't speak about. For instance, claiming to be an organised person whilst the washing basket is overflowing and that urgent email from your energy provider still hasn’t been looked at is absolutely OK – we can't always have everything in place, on track and progressing well.
Nothing on Another Harriet will be done ‘for the gram’, it's about real-life stuff, so everything included will be because I genuinely wanted to share it. After all, people’s online persona is almost always the part of them they want to show off, the part they feel comfortable letting others into. In fact, this happens in physical situations too; when two people meet at a party and have that usually quite awkward first conversation, they’ve normally both brought along the version of themselves that they want others to meet. I do this without even realising, surely we all do, and it’s perfectly fine because it makes us feel comfortable. Plus, the chances of being liked are far greater this way because the ‘socially acceptable’ you is of course way cooler than the boring real you.
But why aren’t we talking about this more? Why aren’t we laughing at ourselves more freely and realising that if we say or do something that makes us feel insecure, the truth is nobody else cares (or even remembers it) anymore? Saying something impulsively to someone can often come with a dose of 'I can’t stop thinking about how much of a weirdo I must seem', but the reality is they’ve probably completely forgotten by now or better yet, didn’t even think it was weird at all. Surely we’re not as dissimilar as we feel sometimes.
Being a twenty-something year-old woman can be hard work. There’s a lot of pressure to find your calling, settle down, earn money and build your life’s foundation so I hope this blog can form a community to provide reassurance that we’re all in this together (yes, I managed to get a High School Musical reference into the first article). I don’t want this blog to seem as though I’m trying to say what is and isn’t right, how something is done or how we ‘should’ all be feeling, I just want to provide the basis for conversations and a relatable giggle.
I like to think that we’re all totally individual but really a lot more alike than we may realise too, and it’s OK to feel a certain type of way. It’s also OK to sometimes want nothing more than to watch someone’s hair or skin care routine vlog, with absolutely no intention of changing yours because that’s just effort...I do that too, a lot.
Have you ever sat on your sofa, full from dinner, yet remain fixated on the packet of chocolate buttons you know are in the fridge and then genuinely had a debate in your head about how you really don’t need them, but may as well eat them to get rid of them? Flash forward 20 minutes and you’re still thinking about them, eventually give in, eat the bag, and then feel a mixture of proud, satisfied, uncomfortable and slightly regretful? Well yes ME TOO.
Side note – yes, I do keep my chocolate in the fridge and no, I will never change.
