The question everyone, ever wants to know the answer to.
And here it is...
You don't.
Yup, there you go, there's my gem of advice. It sounds like a pretty crappy one right? But honestly, when I embraced that, things changed.
I am a perfectionist, and I give it a whole new meaning, I am brutal to myself if I don't meet my own standards and always doing the best thing, choosing the perfect words to say at the exact right time, singing every note perfectly with no pitchyness, never making a silly mistake in a relationship. Wouldn't we all love it if things just fell into place like that?
Well they don't and you can't mould and shape everything around you, and that's what makes it so fun to be human.
Four years ago, I would have laughed at you if you told me I was going to be in an incredible relationship that, 3 and a half years in was as strong as Jay-Z and Beyonce. I would have laughed even harder if you'd told me he would be away for 6 months at a time playing drums in random countries whilst I stayed in the UK. Yet here I am, sat in Bahrain, taking 10 days out of my crazy (Boss Bitch) work life back in London, to see my amazing drummer boy 3 months into his 6 month stint.
Yeah, I've made some bad choices, some very very bad choices, that landed me in hospital for long periods of time (A story I may or may never tell on here, we'll see) but no matter how bad things get, there is always a path to take to rectify it. I also believe that any bad path can be turned into a good one. You learn from everything.
Somethings may seem like the worst at the time, yeah maybe you did something really bad or someone did something really bad to you, but thats the beauty. Great things can come from tiny screw ups, there is always a next day and there is always a chance for something awesome to happen.
I feel like this is turning into a full on hippy, peace and love post, so I'm going to shut up now. The point, however, still stands.
Sometimes just shut your eyes and walk down a path. Who knows what will happen, who knows who you might meet...you just need to put yourself out there for these things to happen...
Much Love,
Chloë Rona
XO
I don't even know where to start with this week...
Firstly, I have had such a good week, it has been quite eye opening.
I am going to start by letting you into my little personal world a bit, by telling you what my best friend said to me a couple of weeks ago. With completely good intentions she said 'I love you, but you have so much bad energy around you recently, it's just not good for you or anyone else around you.' At first, as you can imagine, my reaction was something a long the lines of 'I am going to listen and pretend I care, then in five minutes I am going to not talk to you for a week because that was mean.' In all honesty, I am a horrible person, because that is exactly what I did, at first.
It took about a week before what she had said to me resurfaced in my mind again, when I was sat in bed on my own. She was right. I was letting everything get on top of me and weigh me down, sap the life out of me, I kept relying on excuses to not do things. I was not happy.
I am a singer, as fun as that sounds (and it is), it is also a labour of love, you have to push so hard with networking, songwriting, vocal techniques, into such a teeny tiny space of about a 2% chance of success. Cat, my best friend, is a singer as well, so she understands the commitment you have to put into it, which I hadn't been for such a long time. I had just been dampened by the fear of putting in my all and getting nothing back, which in itself was scaring me because it was even less likely I'd get anywhere. Approaching my last year at uni, that is not good.
What Cat said to me really made me think, yes it sounds very 'hippy', but surrounding yourself with good energy is so important.
Just that one committed moment, that I decided to change my mind set, changed everything in just one week. I prepared for my exams in a much more productive and involved way (anyone who has tried to sing jazz harmonies will feel my pain), I got half of my Christmas shopping done, I completed my to-do list that had things lingering on it for a while and I spent a day in the studio recording my first cover, which will hopefully be up soon. Above everything, I have been so happy this week, my relationships with Parents, friends and my boyfriend have all picked up and for the first time in a very long time, everything has felt promising and bright.
So what I am trying to say is, listen to and trust your close friends (if they are worthy of it!), and always try and take some 'you-time', your mind is an incredibly strong thing, you need to own it. So, get a cup of camomile tea and some candles, to think about where you are at the present moment and finely tweak the energy surrounding you. You will be surprised what a difference it makes.
I am now going to leave you with one of my favourite quotes to have a little think about, by the one and only Dr. Seuss:
Much Love,
Chloë
XO
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