Amy Roullier is a British writer and author of Silent Reflections of a Fragile Heart. Through her blog, she challenges the negative stereotypes surrounding being single, while candidly sharing her experiences with mental health, personal losses, and the complex, often misunderstood realities of adulthood.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of our words. Like how the negative ones can have a harmful effect, if someone said, ‘I hate you’ or ‘you are stupid’, that hurts. But the positive ones, well I think those guys do something really quite special. They can change a day, offer a glimmer of hope in a time of need, or encourage, support and create a connection. …
Last week I was defeated by a rogue flu type thing. I didn’t look like shit, but I felt like a truck load of shit had been thrown at my poor broken body. I phoned my Mum the night before on the way home from work, and said I was feeling pretty rubbish. “Take a day off, get some rest,” she said. Easy to say, I thought. There was no …
Shopping stimulates a rush of happiness and dopamine, which can create an addictive habit. Maybe it was the buzz of the purchase, looking forward to that shiny new thing arriving, or the satisfaction of a good shopping spree. Whatever my reasons, that moment of buying stuff felt really good. Unfortunately the happiness never lasted long. Because there was always a new upgrade, fancier features, new styles, more things that felt …
Many a night I’ve spent hours watching videos and reels, scrolling through feeds, losing myself in the comments on social media, and googling apparent need to know there and then answers. Subconsciously, I’m aware my absent phone scrolling before bed makes me feel like shit. That it’s like self-harm for my mind. That the automatic draw to check multiple social media platforms and lose hours in that online world as …
Recently I read an article from Annie Mac on the ‘insidious nature of WhatsApp’ as she describes it, and how it’s likely the cause of her feelings of disconnection from her friends and family. She wrote, “In that creeping, insidious way that tech has of influencing our behaviour, WhatsApp has become all-consuming. When it first arrived, I didn’t have a burning desire to replace my real-time phone conversations with texted …
It’s nearly New Year, that time where people post about all the awesome things they did in 2022. The social media ‘my year’ summaries are both great (because genuinely it’s pretty cool to see people had such a great year and accomplished their goals or did amazing things). But it can also be a good old kick to the self-esteem. Because no matter how great your year was, it can …
It’s really difficult when you realize that you need to walk away from someone. It’s even worse when that person is a friend. Letting go of unhealthy friendships might be necessary, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t painful. And if you’re like me, someone who likes to avoid confrontation at all costs. Plus an optimist at heart, so you’re always hoping a situation will get better with time and that …
I wasted a lot of time believing a lot of things in my 20s. Like that everything in my 20s was forever and that decisions were permanent and unchangeable. That how a boy treated me or how much he liked me, should represent my own levels of self-worth and confidence. That the career I chose at 25 would be the same as the one at 35 and there was no …
University is the place to make lifelong friends, live your best life and create memories that will last a lifetime. When I got my place at Nottingham Trent University 18 years ago, that was the dream. Well it was definitely the image I had in my head anyway. The real start of my life and an amazing few years ahead. Everyone said to me, “You’ll have the time of your …
For the last ten months I’ve been working on some serious (-ly lacking) boundaries, prioritizing self-care and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Part of that journey has involved getting really comfortable spending some alone with myself. So far I’ve tackled solo cinema outings, unaccompanied gigs, coffee and dinners by myself, solitary UK weekends away, and a whole heap of unaccompanied adventures and events. But I hadn’t yet tackled …
