What's your lens?

By Megan Gamble

Here we are… my first ever blog! Although I’m completely a newbie to this, I have done some journaling, mood diaries and reflections before but definitely not a blog. So please do forgive me if this isn’t quite your cup of tea (I’ve become ever so British!) but I’m learning and have found this to be very therapeutic. I shall try to keep it short and sweet and hopefully the title will become clearer as we go on...

I wasn’t really sure where to start so I thought I’d begin at the end of last year. 2018 was a mixed bag. There were some incredible highs and naturally, some really low times too. To be honest, I’m not really one for looking back on the whole year and summing it up in a few words as I always find my dominant emotion in that exact moment kind of overrides my rationality. I’m very much an ‘in the moment’ kind of person. Either way though, following on from graduation, the launch of #Me and a Christmas altogether with my family, I was determined to make 2019 a really great year.

Well this is where I have to burst that bubble as unfortunately January hasn’t exactly been the best start to 2019. There have been several small bumps in the road which is to be expected and well, fairly normal actually. But the bigger challenges include when my neighbour of 17 years, and surrogate grandfather, passed away rather unexpectedly within 24 hours. This left me with a big hole in my heart. My dad’s dad died before I was born and I was very young when my mom’s dad passed away so Brian really was the closest thing to a grandpa for me. And he was the kind of guy that you thought would live forever.

Now fast forward to a cold evening on an almost frozen hockey pitch where we were in the last 40 seconds of our final drill before 10 minutes of shooting and home time. This was the first hockey session after our 2 month break for indoor season – call me crazy but I was rather looking forward to running around again! Unfortunately, in those last 40 seconds, a hockey ball was hit straight up into the air from 5 metres away and got me straight on the nose. I won’t give you all the nasty details but rest assured that it hurt, very, very much.

The third event was when we lost another loved one who had been touch and go for 2 months and sadly, passed away on Monday night. Although this was a bit of a relief for everyone following a difficult few days, it still does not make it any easier to say goodbye.

And of course, without dwelling too much on the negatives, starting up a business is hard work to say the least.

Now to switch lenses….

The passing away of family has really brought us together and it’s made me cherish those close friends, who I consider to be family, even more. I feel so grateful to have such supportive and wonderful people in my life who have provided much needed love and comfort. We have been able to look back fondly on both of these remarkable people’s lives and cherish the memories that we have.

In terms of my face… I’ve had a skew nose with a lump on the bridge of it (rather unsurprisingly, 4 broken noses will do that for you!) for the past 6ish years and it’s something I’ve always been extremely conscious of. In the past 3 years I have really struggled to breathe properly as my left nostril was blocked due to a deviated septum. This meant I got sinus infections far too easily and was always a bit ‘bunged up’. Now after the swelling had gone down and the bruising was less, I really did think my nose was looking a lot straighter and thinner… but perhaps this was just because I was now used to seeing a black-eyed puffy nose in the mirror?! But fortunately, the consultants confirmed that my nose is now straighter and that my septum is actually deviated ever so slightly to the right instead! I can finally breathe out my left nostril again! Essentially I got a free nose job… what a blessing in disguise!

And in terms of #Me, yes it’s hard work and I do often face setbacks, but it’s also so incredibly worth it. I cannot be happier with how much progress we have made and am so excited for what’s to come!

So I just want to reassure you that whatever you may be going through, however you may be feeling, there is something good in it. It might not be obvious or provide much comfort right now, but please don’t lose hope or positivity. In time, and from looking at my situation from a different perspective (lens), I began to see and understand why things had happened. Life will always have its challenges and difficult times, but those who fall and get up are so much stronger than those who never fell. Keep being strong. Keep being hopeful. And try to stay positive.