sent by une poupee

Images above by Dave Coffey

Collage above by helen Sleator : “While I wouldn’t pretend to be any great artist, this is a collage I made a while back. I call it ‘play’, all the photos are of my parents and their siblings when they where young, when the most important part of their day was having fun.”

Words above sent in by Elle F of Emma Hearts Shoes

Images above by Dave Coffey

Image by Carolyn Collier

images above from Annette O’Brien, Le Beau Beauty Salon

Image above from Claire Garry

Image above taken by Aisling Keenan of Think What You Like.

Image of Aimee Lyons‘ tattoo.

It seems that the last 49 Fancy Fridays took place in times of devastation and delirium - the darkness and the delight. To look at the starkness and survival makes me both fearful and impatient for the future. I know these days are not just in my past but variations on days to come - and so I know that no area is exempt from the external or internal troubles and opportunities that make up every single day for every single one of us.

I see the starkness, yes, and I felt it. Sometimes I felt it so much that I could not imagine any other feeling but the desolation of a lost self. I made a decision to accept no defeat to this part of me and to reclaim all that I recognised to be good in myself, and surround my mind and myself with the situations and people that would encourage the positive.

And now? Now I am so grateful for the smallest of things, for the feeling of the sun on my face through the window - while the wind howls that it can’t do anything to me now but be heard. Mostly I’m grateful for the fact that my life is once again my own, and more so the knowledge that it was never anything but that -  my life. I can always reclaim and return and choose and change.

As much as all of this, all of these words and thoughts, situations and ramblings, as much as it all defined me and continues to be with me - I know that I have reclaimed myself from myself.

xBlanaid

Images above by Alison Scarpulla, via Jeff Harvey

Images by Neil Krug, recommended by Anastasia Campion

Image sent by Claire Garry

Two images above sent by the wonderful Cathy from The Style Strutter

A mix of the things important to you, and the things important to me.  The words and images that we’ve thought or loved. There was somewhat of a realisation for me, reading everything, that we all share so many experiences, even though we can feel alone at times in everything. We all feel lost, loved, lost again, loved again, so thank you for being there through my last 49 lost and loved and lost and loved posts - while you were also living yours.

Thank you so much for your input, it was so overwhelming that  part two will be here on Saturday.

xBlanaid

Tomorrow is Friday, yes..fair point right? It’s also the day of my 5oth Fancy Friday post. I’m going through all the old ones and collating my favourite images, and adding on the quotes, mottos, thoughts, images and art sent to me by you lovely people over the last few weeks.

If you do have a favourite saying, or something you wrote, an image from the internet you love, or one you took or painted yourself, please do send to me before 6pm Friday, as I’d love to include them. You can leave it in comments below, email me to blanaidhennessy@gmail.com or facebook/tweet me.

Posts can be anonymous or linked to your site/blog! x

Also thank you for all of your support to date, and for reading my fancy Friday ramblings. They are the most personal of scribblings but I write and post them securely in the knowledge that you are such generous people. So thanks for that - it really, genuinely means a lot.

xBlanaid

It’s so easy to get consumed by how much the world is affecting you emotionally, while living in blissful ignorance as to how you affect the emotional state of everyone in your world. Next time a problem arises, decide again who you’re going to be - the one who consumes the energy and time of everyone around them, or the one who can face adversity with a certain elegance, acceptance, and ability to move on. We can be whoever we want to be in our reactions to situations. It’s just a choice. It’s always a choice. I know this is a repeated subject - but I always need to remind myself. I want to keep trying, very hard, to make the right choice.

xBlanaid

Images from behind the scenes of Mad Men via Rolling Stone magazine.

…just to touch the ground that you are on. I never thought of it that way before, but now I realise how lucky we are in the smallest of things. From the ground up, I share the world with you.

xBlanaid

It’s easy to shine by putting other people in the shade. Anyone can do that. Try shining just as you are, with all that you have, without feeling the need to stand on others to reach the top. Just be all you can be. That’s all there is to it. Everything else is just short-term glory felt only by you for a little minute before the anxiety sets in again. You’re the only person in this competition to be the best you. You’ve already won.

xBlanaid

Images by the amazing Irene Suchocki - available to buy on her etsy shop >here<