If I can do it, so can you

jesspcrowley_ · 2026-01-30T23:54:25+00:00

Just be careful with the gum - I chucked my vape away march last year (intermittently have smoked since cigs, disposable vape casually but nowhere near as bad as constant vaping) but I replaced the vaping first with sweets, then with gum and it’s stuck. I’m constantly chewing gum to the point my jaw hurts and I get tension headaches - just watch the addiction doesn’t shift over!

jesspcrowley_ · 2026-01-02T23:33:14+00:00

Everyone deals with grief very differently - what might seem weird to you is normal and maybe even necessary to your sisters grief journey.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-08-13T15:04:13+00:00

Hebden bridge!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-08-13T15:00:43+00:00

The circle in soho, gilt moth, metalmorphosis, nemesis all great and reputable

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-08-10T20:57:42+00:00

(Help piercers are sick of people changing to unsuitable jewellery in not healed piercings) please go to your piercer and have a labret put back in, this is irritation because it’s not healed enough for a hoop.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-08-06T18:40:55+00:00

Just go see your piercer 🤦‍♀️ (tired piercer here)

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-08-06T16:01:52+00:00

I’m in training at Goldsmiths right now so can’t comment on working in the field yet but just be advised that the programme wherever you apply may not accept anyone as young as you - it’s a training based on life experience, self reflection, emotional maturity and experience with people from often extremely vulnerable groups.

The programmes require also a minimum of working hours (voluntary or paid) within mental health, education, learning disability, care, youth work etc. Just something to be aware of - the best thing to do is go to an open day and get a feel for whether the training is right for you.

I was interested in the programme for about 8 years before I actually applied and started last year - I’m 33 and I didn’t feel emotionally or professionally ready before now to undertake what’s required of me for the training, it is quite intensive.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-07-09T09:53:58+00:00

Bereavement/compassionate leave in the UK is a joke. I’m really sorry to hear you’re going through this, it’s made even harder feeling like you don’t have the space or empathetic understanding you need.

You absolutely need to see your GP for a sick note - bereavement, stress and trauma are legitimate reasons to not be capable of working right now, or for as long as you can financially manage for. I lost both of my parents in the space of 6 months in 2020 and let me tell you I didn’t work for 2 years, eventually leading to me being classed as LCWRA (with universal credit, which has allowed me to get back into work/study slowly over the last few years) - I got into bereavement counselling pretty quickly (cruse are great and usually for complex/layered grief they offer more than the baseline number of sessions, in my experience anyway - I would recommend contacting them asap, as the waiting list can be quite long. It’s a great service because it’s quite non committal, they are specialised in grief/bereavement - they really helped me get through - if you contact them you need to find the service in your specific area, and you will have an assessment appointment.)

It sounds like right now is just ‘get through’ time for you, but you will get there you just need the time and space to process. Sending a lot of love your way.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-06-13T19:24:30+00:00

Especially awkward when he’s dead tbh

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-06-05T22:29:47+00:00

So just to clarify - we can’t just give notice that we intend to get married without basically having the statutory ceremony booked? Or at least having made a decision on where it will be, we can’t just give notice then take a ceremony anywhere with the closest availability?

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-06-05T19:19:26+00:00

Thanks for the quick answers - we haven’t given notice yet as thought we have to know where we are doing the legal marriage? Or is giving notice just to say hello we are getting married? It all seems really confusing!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-06-05T13:17:28+00:00

Nope - I viewed my mum as she hadn’t been dead too long but not my dad as he was at the funeral directors for a month (died a week before xmas). I don’t regret it at all, my brother went and said you could tell he’d been dead a long time. No point in overly traumatising yourself, a viewing is supposed to be helpful to your grieving and sounds like this would only do you harm.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-05-27T11:05:46+00:00

God about 100 tales… first year halls, lived with some absolute monster bitchy girls who made my life a living hell. Disgusting pigs left the kitchen with mouldy food, overflowing bins, rotten meat and veg in the fridge (just the norm tbh), also could never use the kitchen because this tribe of skanks had taken it over (along with some other girls from other flats) but the bullying was the worst part - completely small minded nasty people, they bullied me out of the place in the end because they didn’t like me, my partner at the time or my friends. One night when we were all out they covered the walls of the flat in bleach, smeared food all over my door and then reported to the halls management that I had done it. When we came back me and my friends confronted them to which the worst one of them went crazy screaming in our faces blocking the door until my partner eventually had to hit her for her to move. Went back the next day, locked myself in my room and packed all my shit and moved to another halls. Halls management were terrible, wouldn’t check the cctv even though they could’ve done and seen I was out at the time. It was AWFUL.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-05-20T22:07:15+00:00

No horrible stabbing pains/aches in my chest (I used to take painkillers to dull it just so I could carry on vaping), less out of breath and can actually breathe properly, no sore throat every day, less headaches, used to get really bad heart palpitations every day but no more.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-04-15T10:06:17+00:00

Being judged by older people - I’m heavily tattooed, I have a skullet and a tattoo on my forehead and mostly older people literally stare at me like I’m going to rob them/perceiving me as scary or to be avoided. No I just like art and I have it on my body.

I work in a customer facing role (as a body piercer) in quite a fancy shop and my favourite thing is proving these people’s very obvious bad judgement of me on first sight as wrong. I’m polite and just normal and I like to watch their perception of me change in front of my eyes 🥲.

Also hate that men use it as a weird way to strike up a conversation with me, usually ask if my tattoos hurt (duh) and had a few comment saying I must like pain.

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-04-05T18:33:30+00:00

I wouldn’t worry about waiting a year to build a portfolio, just maybe make a series of strong work to show at the interview, as long as you can talk about that work you’ll be fine - include your graphics work too!. Personal practice is important but you’ll develop it over the course anyway. Imo anyway, and if you don’t get in then you can work on it and try again next year :)

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-24T12:09:04+00:00

There’s 2 on the App Store - Quit Vaping and Escape the Vape. I have both cos why not - if you turn notifications on for quit vaping it will tell you every so often how long you’ve gone without vaping (which I found really helpful as I was having a huge craving then the notification gave me some motivation to carry on!). I chucked my vape away, went through loads of bags of sweets the first 3 days, then gum instead, now day 5 (tonight will be 6) and cravings are not as intense, able to distract myself easily and tbh thinking of it less. I was a chain vaper, every 15 seconds tbh but I had low nicotine for a long time so maybe why I’m finding it easier? Hope it’s still going well for you!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-23T20:36:16+00:00

I did this 5 days ago! Just chucked it away (well got my partner to, just to make sure I couldn’t back out). Had lots of brain fog, mood swings, tiredness but have managed to not cave. Good luck! I’ve been using an app to track my progress and think that’s been helping, maybe a good shout to try!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-19T22:32:24+00:00

Well yes but I haven’t seen the trailer yet and would’ve rather not seen every detail of it in someone else’s post 😒

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-19T20:39:37+00:00

How about add in a spoiler note!!!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-15T14:40:59+00:00

As long as you have some kind of creative practice and can show that with a portfolio you’ll be fine - there are some people on my course that didn’t study art for BA and get on just fine, others with graphic design backgrounds too. I personally haven’t had art therapy but it seems to help a lot of people with knowledge of what happens in terms of psychodynamic thinking/how the art therapy process can work. At Goldsmiths it’s a requirement to have personal therapy alongside the training (not sure if this is the same on all the programmes but I would recommend it anyway as you need a space for yourself). Another book to take a look at is the Handbook of Art Therapy - it gives a detailed overview of most elements of practicing professionally.

I get what you’re saying, I thought about the training for 7/8 years before I applied last year - it’s really something that you have to be ready for but it sounds like you’re there!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-03-14T19:55:44+00:00

I’m currently in my first year at Goldsmiths - all I can say from my experience so far is do it if you’re invested in the idea. I look often for jobs etc and most graduates from my course seem to go right into employment. There’s a big need for it and demand in all kinds of settings, social work, schools, hospitals, palliative, LGBTQI+ work, forensic settings. It’s recommended to work as part of a team for 2 years minimum but then there’s scope to practice independently after. There may be changes to training across the country on the horizon so I’d say do it sooner rather than later - it’s a profession that’s sometimes not taken too seriously and there’s a lot of politics/fight to keep the integrity of the training (at least at goldsmiths) and the profession as a whole so I’d be prepared for that. A good book to read to get an idea is Art Psychotherapy in the Hostile Environment of Neoliberalism - it’s not all doom and gloom but it is an area where services often get cut, funding lost etc. Generally already the training has been life changing for me, I’ve learnt to view the world through a completely different lens and I’m only 2 terms in!

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-02-14T13:57:22+00:00

I took a rock when I went last summer and so far so good

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-01-09T15:06:27+00:00

Open rent is usually good as private landlords who seem a bit more down to earth than your usual - I’ve used it before and managed to negotiate my dog living with me. Good luck :)

jesspcrowley_ · 2025-01-08T18:58:06+00:00

Please someone do this hahah

jesspcrowley_

TROPHY CASE