Tropical Butterfly House | Williamson Park

Simple Mindfulness Tricks for Busy Minds

How to NOT Kill Your Passion

A wise blogger friend of mine recently said 'creativity is like a puppy' (thank you Rhianna for this amazing analogy). It truly is. As stubborn as one, as needy as one and to anyone who owns it, as adored and valuable.

Rhianna highlighted in her post the importance of looking after your creativity. I read this post while coming to the end of, of course, my current favourite read, 'Big Magic'.

I've talked about this amazing book a little here and here. I believe it to be an essssssential read to anyone standing on their own two metaphorically creative feet. Somewhere in that plethora of goodness, Liz Gilbert mentions "if you are alive, you are a creative person". She talks in such an inspiring way which makes you dig out the memories of poems past and paintings present, to look inside yourself and make you want to patch up that relationship with your creativity, further your passion.

An important thing to understand is that no matter how much you nurture your passion, you will always go through a rough patch. Y'know what? You might even nurture it enough to smother it. Ever over-watered plants and watched them die? *come back lil herbs I still love you*

It's okay to give yourself a break from your passion if you need to. If you see it wilting, or you're relying on it, spending everyday with it and getting bored, have a break. Ross and Rachel the sh*t out of your passion. Sleep with another passion. Take up something else for a while if you must- your passions don't require monogamy. Your passions won't leave you in the night because you decided to dabble in oil painting or Podcast making (though your partner might if you're talking to a microphone constantly at three in the morning).

Inspiration is the food you should feed it and everyone's taste is different! We all have our own palettes, it just takes a while to discover what sets a fire in you and what doesn't. Look at a million different things and plant those seeds because eventually an idea will grow, which you must grab while you can.

You can't make your passions run around after you 24/7, but exercise them regularly!

I once visited the studio of an artist in the Lake District who told me she 'makes a mark every day, even if it's just one line on a piece of paper'.

Her walls were strewn with huge colourful, messy canvases, shelves were lined with sketchbooks (goals af) and she seemed pretty content to me. Creativity radiated from in her home so I soaked up as muuuuuuch as I could, the only reason you're hearing this story now!

So feed your passion a little everyday, flex it, squeeze it, tell it that it's in your thoughts, value it and it will never die or leave you. 

What are you passionate about? Is there anything new you'd like to try?

Keep up with new posts and ramblings on Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

Mystery Tea House Afternoon | Photo Diary

I sat in this brightly decorated yet crazily calming tea house for a good two hours the other day, barely paying attention to my phone or anyone around me. I've been coming here for almost five years now, from when I started visiting Preston city to now, moving into a place of my own having graduated from university! 

No matter how much changes, the tea house stays the same. The smell of literally hundreds of different teas meets me as I walk in and I'm always greeted so so warmly, sometimes with a hug! I always sit upstairs because I'm a creature of habit, but it's also where the most beautiful paintings are displayed and crazy little old books to read.

We go upstairs and Sam, one of the guys who works here takes our order. Two vegan wraps and a pot of Citrus Rainbow tea (which I think is lemon, apple, hibiscus and some other fruits)! It arrives with agave and lemon, then before we know it, we're almost emptied the amazing bright pink tea- but not before the two wraps arrive along with homemade hummus (plus the biggest side salad you've ever seen).

Seriously, I don't know what they do with these wraps but a wrap has never tasted so freakin' good before.

The wraps were so good and we were too full to move, so ended up reading the little books that are dotted around the sofa area. I pick up a 2001 Collins book about space which was fascinating and Alex reads about British wildlife, as you do. 

It was refreshing to soak up so much information and images from a book instead of a screen! Strange how it's so normal now to head straight to Google. Making more of an effort to stay conscious of how much I use my phone in everyday life, haha.

We chilled for a good while longer before heading home. Isn't the decor here so awesome? I believe a lot of the paintings are done by local artists. The teahouse advertises lots of classes on mindfulness, yoga, meditation. It's such a hub for the hippie lifestyle and I'm so down with that- in fact I will be starting some meditation sessions in September when they begin again, just to see if I like it!

If you're ever in Preston you need to visit here as what I've shown you is only a snippet. The little tea house is usually quite busy, but we caught it on a quiet day for once which was just what I needed to clear my mind!

Are there any places like this near you? Where's your favourite place to relax outside of your home?

NEW POSTS EVERY WEEK ON BLOGLOVIN' | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE

4 Podcasts Worth Waking Up For

If you lived in my house, at 6am every morning you'd usually hear me giggling from the bathroom as I do my make-up.

Part of my routine is to watch whatever shiny new video catches my eye from my Youtube subscription box while I get ready, but lately I've been stretching into Podcasts for a more 'enriching' alternative (because who doesn't love to feel productive when really they're doing nothing).

They're so good for learning new things. Did you know that 'unschooling' is a thing? Parents take their children out of school and let them choose the base of their learning through what they're interested in. How cool is that? Imagine learning outside, counting with geckos like Ellen Fisher's children, instead of reading out of a text book!

I've also learned why patience is a virtue in the baby steps to self-love, how to go freelance and what happens when you travel alone for a year. Most of the podcasts I listen to are 40-60 minutes long and amazing to have on in the background while doing- well, pretty much anything. Here are my favourites at the moment!

A Beautiful Mess - Steph Yu

Stephanie is a young woman but a wise soul at heart. She's been through a lot in her mind and body, most recently eating disorders and adrenal fatigue, giving her life experience beyond her years. So uplifting, inspiring and interesting, listening to this podcast is like having a heart to heart with a friend! My favourite episodes have to be her discussions on self love, not taking life so freakin' seriously and any with a guest podcaster(er-erer?). I could lose days listening to this one!

The Ricky Gervais 'Guide To...' Series

This is an oldie but a goldie. Pre-Idiot Abroad, we meet Karl Pilkington in allllll his grumpy, Northern glory. This podcast is basically Ricky and Steven Merchant taking the p*ss out of Karl for hours while discussing crazy fascinating topics like medicine, history and science. It's absolutely hilarious and great if you're more visual as this was also animated! You can check out the audio at the link above. 

Earth To Us - Hannah McNeely & Evan Oliver

Hannah is hilarious. From Orange County, California, this vegan college teacher provides us with an ethical discussion dream. Not only does her attitude towards life brighten my day but her words crack me up. I recently listened to her talking about the difference between goals and dreams, whether it's a good thing to have them and how we all work differently in the hopes of reaching these goals.

Every episode has a unique topic, so maybe listen to one that you don't know a lot about! This is where I learned about unschooling and alone world travel!

Make it Then Tell Everybody - Dan Berry

Dan Berry has been in the creative industry for a while now, and his podcast really represents that. With every episode having a new illustrator, artist, designer on, this really makes for an intriguing and motivating listen. Often funny and always uplifting, Dan and his interviewees share a lot of creative secrets. It's like peeping at sketchbooks, but in stereo. 

What podcasts have you been loving lately? I can't get enough.

Keep up with new posts and ramblings on Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

If You're Reading This, I'm Back Baby

Sometimes my blogging mojo decides to curl up in a corner and die only to be resurrected in full force, overflowing with ideas while begging for more hours in the day to nurture this passion. 

You may have noticed eerie silence here for the past few weeks (I am a bad blogger, I know).

A couple of months ago I began planning for a relaunch with the aim to whittle down my niche, reformat old posts (getting there) and bring you all some fresh regular content with a new design and new vibes to boot. Hopefully, if you're reading this, I've managed just that. *self high five* 

A loooot of killer work went into this reboot and I know that you often like to see behind the scenes (sketchbook doodles anyone?) so I thought I'd throw some images your way of the work that went into this relaunch. I really, really hope you enjoy the new content coming your way and the new direction I'm taking this space in!

The Scarlet State is slowly manifesting into a place where you can come to relax. a place that I hope you'll get to know inside out.

I'd love for more conversations (one of the nicest things about blogging is getting to know more beautiful, familiar personalities) where we can give advice, discuss, debate or simply listen to one another.

I'll be tackling some more taboo topics, feeding your soul with yummy vegan recipes and taking you on my travels everywhere I go. There will be lots more on mindfulness, living yo' best life, having a calmer mind and living in a positive light. Some exciting ethical beauty and lifestyle giveaways will be appearing here soon too, to kick things off. I've also switched up the design, logo, gadgets and categories so have a good explore! The only thing the same here are the old posts.

On the way also are more creative posts than ever, occasional free illustrative downloadable packs for you to use as you please, with a couple of secret Etsy codes dotted about the site. See if you can find one!

Honestly I'm so excited to be sharing my life more in depth with you all, to be back in the blogosphere again is an amazing feeling! With graduation and moving house I've really felt a change in myself and wanted this little corner of the internet to truly reflect who I am, being a platform for us to all share!

Tell me what you've been up to lately in the comments, I'd love to catch up!

Keep up with new posts on Bloglovin' | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube