Pixie says: focus on your happily ever after

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:37:07 +0100

Buenos Dias, chicas y chicos.

Mi nombre es Leonie Ann Garlick, o Pixie.

As this is my first blog for Pixie & Franx, I am going to write you something that is very close to my heart- something that I don’t usually get the opportunity to express within the crazy, fast-paced flurry that is my Journalism work- and that is my love for self-improvement, which I adapted from my daddy and ever since live my life by it.

As a travel writer, I know how hard it is to make it in a field so competitive. You’ll want to knock yourself down, pull yourself back up and push yourself around until you’re where you’ve envisioned yourself to be. Wanting something so badly feels like a mass of butterflies, accumulating inside your body and mind- eager to chase you somewhere you never thought you’d end up. It is mind blowing, confusing and ego battering- and the more you want that something, the harder it hits you.

There are a million and one things that inspire me to carry on with my dream to be an International Journalist. My number one inspiration is self-belief; belief that I can look at a photograph of my biggest aspiration and end up doing it/being there during the time that I planned I would. If you don’t believe that you can do it, then you never will. I apologise for saying it sin sugar coating, but you honestly won’t succeed if you don’t put your entire heart and soul into it.

Believing in yourself can seem impossible at times; especially if you are going through a bad patch at work, you’re flat broke or you generally don’t feel good enough to complete the task you set out to do. But as one great philosopher (my cheerleading coach) once said, “You’ve got to have something to hold onto”. And he was right. And for me- that something is having even the tiniest hope that I will end up reporting hurricanes in the United States of America one day (a day during the winter of 2016, to be exact). So, every night when I’m walking home, I’ll watch the airplanes as they fly over my head towards Leeds and Bradford Airport; and I feel those butterflies with their gigantic pearlescent wings fluttering around in my body. It’s not fear or uncertainty, though- it’s knowing. I can watch that plane and I can imagine myself sitting on board, right next to the wing where it is less frightening- and I can feel what it would feel to be like if I were on that aircraft. And do you know what? Nothing matters as much as it did before, because when I see that plane- I know that I’m still heading in the right direction regardless of the bumps in the road. So where is your plane taking you? And are you giving the hostess your ticket; sitting your bum down and being wished a pleasant journey, or are you not?

What is driving your heart right now?

Omens are also great inspirations; photographs, charms, coins, mottos, songs, maps- even silly little drawings that you draw from your mind’s eye one afternoon when you get bored. All of these pictures can then be tacked to your wall, set as your desktop, set as your Facebook background, stored in your make-up bag- so that every day you are surrounded by your occupation and your dreams. Omens are also a sure fire sign that you’re heading in the right direction- if you are open to a little fate.

People can be your biggest inspiration if you choose wisely. Parents, lecturers and friends can hold ten thousand times the amount of support than what you may be holding for yourself. You may even find somebody else out there in the big wide world that does exactly what you want to do with your life, but be careful- imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but envy will kill your passion and squash those ever growing butterflies!

For me, it’s Virginia Woolf- a passionate writer; Marie Colvin, the beautiful and extremely determined Journalist who was killed in the midst of her dreams- and my own dad, who taught me everything I know. So you see… role models don’t follow a certain prototype; they are purely people who make you feel good, proud, determined and excited to be yourself.

Look around you.

Who is driving your brain right now?

I’m sitting amongst my whirlwind of papers, pens, and files- listening to Sara Bareilles ‘Breathe Again’ and the light rain hitting my window, whilst sacrificing myself to the taste of Milky Way Crispy Rolls and thoughts of my little house on stilts in the Southern Outback.

What is driving your body right now… is it strong enough to make you hold your pen that little bit tighter?

Believe in yourselves, bebes- because it will be the making of you!

Love, Pixie

Hello!

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:36:00 +0100

How are you? Good good. Yeah, I’m not too bad myself. Thanks for asking.

ANYWAY… This little post is here to explain what this blogs about.

In short, it’s about two girls with a passion for writing.

In long (wait, what?!) it’s a way for us to broaden our writing horizons and write about more than our specialist fields (Pixie= Travel, Franx= Music).

You can get an idea of what we’ll be writing about on our individual pages, as well as links there to our other sites and networks.

But here’s a sneak preview, seen as it’s you: beauty, fashion, animal rights, vegetarianism, health & wellbeing, food…Ooo allsorts.

So… off you go then.

They won’t read themselves you know.

xFx xoxo