Christmas Excitement

Look - I KNOW it´s only November 23rd, but like…it´s November 23rd. 
I am one of those annoying assholes that see no shame in putting up the Christmas tree right after Halloween is over and yes, I may have listened to my Spotify Christmas playlist today (thank you, Michael Bublé!). 

Maybe it is the magical atmosphere I always connect with Christmas in my head? As a child obviously it is the most amazing thing in the world - getting presents, eating sweets, baking christmassy treats, singing, crafting, stories, decoration...everything! And so to this day I still get super excited about all things festive. Also working in advertising, this might just be the greatest time of the year for us ad freaks (apart from when they release the Super Bowl spots). Don´t blame me, okay? I get to watch the John Lewis ad, cry at it and call that „research“, so don´t be a Grinch!

I haven´t made any plans as to which presents to buy for whom or put up any decorations, but trust me, it won´t be long. Yesterday was the first time I woke up to snow this season so it does really feel like we´re getting there now. I´ve made plans for a little trip to the UK (which will definitely help with the present sorting) and since I am crazy busy with work, the prospect of a few days of food, festivities and relaxing sounds even better than they usually would.

Right, I should go and buy some gingerbread candles or something now. See ya!

Being proud of yourself

I had a very fun, very drunken night last night with one of my besties. It once again assured me in my belief that sometimes a glass of wine and a friend are better help than any therapy session in the world. We had a long chat about work and life and relationships and traveling and the future and all the bloody expectations adult life throws at you. I feel like having other people relate to your struggles and telling you they feel the same way somehow makes it a bit easier. 

 After my 4th glass of white wine I came to a conclusion: there is no shame in admitting you´ve done great in something! This might sound silly, but I always downplay anything I succeed in. I´ll say things like „Oh, that was nothing.“ or „it could have been better tough.“ or just „Really? Thank you, it´s not a big deal tough.“ I know a lot of my friends are doing this as well and it makes me so angry sometimes, because I am seriously so proud of all of them.

But I feel like people don´t really know how to accept a compliment or „admit“ they did something right. So last night we talked about career and work a lot (seen as we´re also colleagues) and it was so lovely to hear someone say „you did so well“ and „I´m sure that won´t be a problem for you.“ because when do we ever stop to think: fuck, that actually went really well? When I do something and it works out I kinda just move on to the next thing, but when I mess it up I make it into a much bigger deal than it is and start thinking I am just a shitty excuse of a human being and I´ll never get anything right. But WHY do we do this? Why do we see the one crappy thing in our lives so much clearer than all the amazing, wonderful stuff? Of course noone wants to brag or constantly talk about how #blessed they are. But I think it should be more than okay to be proud of yourself. Or at least let your friends give you a pep talk every now and again, because that´s what friends are for. There you go, now you have THAT song stuck in your head! :)

Work

The more I leave studying behind me (I am well aware I have yet to write my bachelor thesis, but for the most part, I´m finished) and have a look at the „real world“ of working, the more I find it´s completely different to what you´re brought up to think. When I was little I always imagined grown ups to do all this serious, important, grown up stuff, that I´d eventually learn about and that would be super complicated. By the time I started studying I figured I would never manage to survive in any work place, if everything was as complicated as what we did in uni. But really, REALLY, from what I´ve seen so far most of it is just common sense. And very few people seem to have that. Which kind of surprised me. It starts when I get praise for doing something I think is self-evident and ends with colleagues that I am completely oblivious as to how the hell they ever got hired. Seriously. When you´re new at a workplace and forget to reply to an email, normal people would be glad their colleague reminds them to do it. But when there´s people that in absolute seriousness say „No, I don´t want to reply to that. I just don´t see the sense in it.“ That does make me wonder.

This is not supposed to sound like I think I know everything. Obviously I´m stil baffled as to how I managed to get anyone to pay me money for what I do (which is mostly copying stuff into google mail, reading facebook comments and making coffee) so it´s not like I´m saying I am better than anyone.

Actually it´s more that I think there is so much fuss made about „getting a proper job“ and „learning what it´s like in the real world“ that especially students downplay their potential, because they think there´s huge expectations awaiting them, that they can´t possibly meet. At least I know that is how it felt to me at the time. And I just think is not true and it´s certainly not good for your self esteem. If you´re honest and polite, do your best and ask for help rather than just doing something stupid, you´ll be fine.

Most importantly: don´t think everyone that works/makes lots of money knows what they´re doing or have it all figured out. Some people do, some people don´t. And a lot of it is down to luck. But you don´t have to worry about it, it´s all gonna be okay. (I wish someone had said that to me a few years ago when I was freaking out like crazy :D )