Understanding People and How They Work

Hey guys!

One of the things that has fascinated me for ages is to see how people work and why they do what they do. I was thinking about studying Psychology next year, I'll admit it aha (I didn't because the exams sounded pretty damn hard!) but it definitely is something that interests me for a few reasons.

a) I've always loved or taken an interest in analysing myself. This would help me because it would help me to spot things that got me worked up or annoyed and a few people have mentioned it being useful because it means that you can notice changes in yourself better and what causes you to get stressed or worked up and that means that you can help control yourself and how you're feeling, much better! This is definitely a reason why I was interested in Psychology before just because it feels so much more intimate when it's your own feelings that you're dealing with and it means that you can feel a bit less like an-out-of-control hormonal-teenager when you react adversely to something. I hope that made sense, moving on!

b) Of course, to understand other people and why they do the things that they do. This seems pretty obvious but I myself want to become a more understanding, compassionate and empathetic person and you can't really do that unless you understand how the person is feeling and why they may react to something the way that they do. I used to be able to do this a little too well and I must say I don't know anyone else irl who can do the same thing and really connect with a person. I have come across Carrie Hope Fletcher who goes way beyond me and actually connects that deeply to story-book characters to the point that she feels their worries and anxieties along with her own on a daily basis (link here to her channel) but yeah, understanding other people can really build your character and help you not to get angry at other people or saddened because when you can understand why something's happened, it doesn't make it as confusing anymore.

I hope that you guys liked this post! Please feel free to empty your thoughts into the comments below and I'll speak to you guys soon! I hope your weeks are going well!<3

A Couple of Videos that Made Sense

Hey guys, Good Morning and I hope that you're all well and ready for a new week!

I watched two videos by one of my favourite deep talkers on the interwebs, Carrie Hope Fletcher, whose YouTube Channel 'ItsWayPastMyBedTime' is linked here. I find that she talks about topics that really make sense and little, and even big, revelations that she faces within herself on a daily basis.

Her last two videos really hit home for me. The first video was entitled 'Where Do I Stand With You?' and the second was called 'Use Your Words'.

In the first video she talks about how it can be hard when you're in any relationship of sorts and it feels like something has shifted and something fundamental has changed. She talks about how you often feel inclined to ask the other person, 'Where Do I Stand With You?' but then she explores the fact that where you're standing in relation to the other person shouldn't have to be dictated by them because they can't tell exactly how you feel about them and your relationship. The point she made was that you should quite happily tell them where you stand and then at least you're not questioning where you stand with them because that's already sorted and you don't have to worry about that anymore because it's in your hands and not theirs. This can really help you because it gives you one less thing to worry about and you can feel more secure knowing that decision was yours and not theirs because they shouldn't be able to dictate the way you should feel.

This led on nicely to her next video where she talked about (surprise, surprise) using your words. This was, in essence, what it would be nice to get in response to a shift or a change in a relationship. She was talking about how, for example, if you've become romantically involved with someone but then you realise you don't want to have that relationship with them anymore, then you should use your words and tell them. I think this was a very, very valid point in any relationship that goes through a shift because I've had that happen to me before with one of my best friends and to this day, I don't know what happened and why our relationship shifted. I don't know if I did something wrong (which was what it felt like I'd done) - all I know is that she didn't want to be friends anymore. And at the time and to some extent still today, it hurt a lot to feel like you're not even worth an explanation; no-one should have to feel that way.

So, the moral of this post is, if you feel a shift in a relationship, don't let the other person dictate where you stand and how you feel about the other person. If you haven't changed the way you feel about the other person then make sure they know that. If you are the other person then make sure you talk to the person you're in a relationship with and let them know why the shift has happened and where you stand too. COMMUNICATION IS ALWAYS KEY!

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below and I'll speak to you soon! Ahh, also, I've had Bloglovin' for donkey's years and I don't know if you guys have too but the link to this blog on Bloglovin' is here and if you use it too, add this blog so you can be updated every time I post!

Have a great one and I'll speak to you guys soon!

Getting Up When You've Fallen Down

The title of this post pretty much sums up what I wanted to talk about today aha, today should be a shorter post.

I don't know how many of you guys watch YouTubers at all or are even fans of the people I watch too but one of the people I always watch without fail everyday is FunForLouis because he travels so much that he's completely and utterly inspiring. A few weeks ago, him and a few of his friends Ben Brown, Steve Booker and a few others filmed around London for Ben's new Visual Vibes video which was absolutely awesome and you can check out here. After they had finished filming, Louis and Steve decided that they wanted to skate down Primrose Hill where they filmed the last shot. What ended up happening was, they ended up going at crazy speeds on their penny boards, around 40mph and Louis couldn't keep control and ended up scraping off a lot of skin. For you guys that are squeamish, I won't include a picture of his injuries but it did end up with him in A&E at 2am.

What I admire is the fact that even after that absolutely terrible accident, Louis forced himself to regain his confidence going downhill on his penny and that's something I want to implement in my life too. I got a penny imitation last summer and the first time I properly rode my board was on the path in my front garden. I was making a good amount of progress for about half an hour until somehow, I found myself on the floor and my left ankle was hurting so badly. For the next week or so my ankle puffed up around double its normal size, went bright green and was just so scary. It didn't feel too bad after a few days of having it up with an ice pack but just looking at it made it feel more painful than it actually was.

Point being, both me and Louis have had our worst accidents on our boards and I want to take a leaf out of his book and keep trying because atm, I'm struggling to even get the basics.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, empty your thoughts in the comments below and I'll speak to you soon!

An Inspiring Blog Recommendation and Life Lessons

Hey guys! I hope that you're all well indeed!

As you can tell from the title of this post, today I wanted to recommend to you a blog because despite the fact I am ever so good at rambling on about YouTubers I love to watch, I haven't really touched on normal bloggers as such. This blog is Marc and Angel Hack Life and I honestly find it one of the most uplifting blogs to read, especially when I'm having a down day or if I feel like taking some advice from people who know how to put it in the right words :)

For example, I'm just about to read their recent post '16 Reasons You're Succeeding in Life (Even if You Don't Feel You Are)' and just from the title, you can see that their posts are made to make you appreciate everything that you have and where you're headed on this little journey that we call life in spite of how you might be feeling at that precise moment. It's truly wonderful and awesome to know that you might get more upliftment and advice from reading a blog post than watching a video simply because it definitely feels like you can fit in more detail into posts than you can on videos. That, in my opinion, is because reading takes less time than watching, especially seeing as though it would definitely prevent YouTubers from having to talk at a million miles an hour too :) That isn't to say that YouTube videos aren't good sources of upliftment and advice too! :)

Anyway, I digress; the last post of theirs that I read was entitled '11 Old-Fashioned Relationship Habits that We Should Bring Back' and I really took some lessons from this. For example, one of the listed things was learning how to apologise without adding on an excuse because that, arguably, isn't an apology; it's an excuse. I was also quite bad when I was younger at just sprouting out apologies when I'd done something wrong in the hope that it would make everything better but I think that it's important to realise that you'd rather not apologise if you know you're likely to repeat what you've done because then your word is meaningless and that can be truly detrimental to trust within a relationship. This personally really hit home because in spite of the fact I don't do it as much as I did when I was younger, I think we're all culprits of this sometimes and it's really something I want to improve on this summer :)

Another tip they gave was making sure that when you're spending time with another person in any sort of relationship, that you make sure that they have your undivided attention, away from electronics and also away from time constraints, to some extent. Obviously this isn't possible all of the time, it just means that you can give that person all that you have to offer without feeling like you're holding back from them and that's really important when you want to build a strong foundation in any kind of relationship. Spending that quality time is what makes that relationship strong and as it feels like electronics are becoming the norm in social interactions doesn't necessarily mean it's a good reality.

These are some of their posts from their page on Bloglovin'

These are just two tips that I got from one of their posts and I hope that some of you guys are as inspired as I am from their tip! They've even written a book so please do go and check out their blog which is linked here! (Their book is advertised on the right-hand side of their blog)

I hope that your week's are going splendidly thus far and I hope to speak to you guys soon!

Heidi: the sweetest book that reminds us of things to be thankful for.

Hey guys! I hope that you're all as well as can be!

At the moment I'm making my way through a classic book called 'Heidi' and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. It was one of my favourite films as a child and it startles me that I hadn't yet read the book before now :)
(Here's the link to the film I loved)

This book really inspired me and made me thankful for where I've grown up and how easily available education is to us here. Heidi in the book struggles with how to read until she finds a new resolve to learn how to learn. It really reminded me just how lucky we all are to be able to read because, as it says in the book, it opens up a whole new universe of knowledge and excitement for us to experience and enjoy.
It hit me how lucky I am to have access to this portal of knowledge because umpteens of people around the world aren't as lucky.

This also reminds me of Jack Harries' recent trip to Nairobi and another town in Tanzania recently. In his blog post here, he tells of a charity called 'The School Fund' that brings school to the kids who wouldn't have otherwise have had a shot at education and he explores how we in the West even resent having to go to school and often forget just how lucky we really are to be in the position where education can be taken for granted. I personally found the post a really good burst of reality for myself and you can go check it out if you like :)

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! As always, please feel free to empty your thoughts into the comments below and I'll speak to y'all soon! :) Also, have an awesome week ahead and don't get brought down by Mondays! :) x

The Oddity of the Concept of Time

Hey guys! I hope that you're all fine and dandy and well!

It struck me one day that time is a very odd concept and the way that it drives us and what we do and how our lives run is phenomenal. Like, for example, the fact that with time you can become better at something and how, as kids, we're not just smaller versions of our adult selves but we're incredibly inexperienced and unequipped for the world that's out there and what it demands of the world's population.

It does also occur to me sometimes that it feels odd thinking that our race of organism is both very animal like in the way that everything works inside us, we eat, we poo, our bodies have the same organs as pretty much any other mammal which means that we all need the same sort of machinery, if you like, inside us to help us work and yet the fact that we're so, so different in the way that we work and think sometimes, in comparison to other animals is just mind blowing.

I hope that you guys liked this post! It's definitely considerably shorter than my normal posts but I hope that it was short and sweet :) Do feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below!

I hope that you guys have a wonderful weekend and I'll speak to you on Monday!

(If you guys hadn't realised just yet, I've managed to get into the habit of posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays so do feel free to keep your eyes peeled for the posts as they come! :) )

Embracing Your Limitations, A Challenge For the Masses.

Hey guys!

This post was inspired by Nick Miller's video called 'Embracing Your Limitations'. I found it inspiring because it wasn't meant to downplay on anyone's aspirations, it was just a reminder to be realistic when you're setting out goals you want to achieve.

I used to find this incredibly hard because I would try and push myself too far and then blame myself and upset myself when I couldn't reach those goals. If any of you guys have stuff you need to get done, please, take it from me, start off light and build because otherwise you could end up more stressed than ever, for a long time! It's not worth it, so do take care of yourselves :)

Another point that popped into my head related to this subject is slightly off-piste but go with me. In my Religious Studies class at school, I learnt that suffering is ultimately caused by free will (that is suffering caused by humans, not necessarily nature). I find this hard to deal with within myself because I hate knowing that I can hurt one person by trying to be kind to another. I hate knowing that in spending too much time with one friend, I can neglect and make another good friend feel bad. In this way, I find it hard to embrace my limitations as a person and accept that in choosing to spend more time with one friend can ultimately have negative consequences on my relationship with another. I think that made sense, I hope does to you!

Before I leave, I would love to recommend you guys to Nick! He's an amazing, down to earth guy with a vision that he's working on bringing to life with Marcus Butler. If you guys aren't really YouTube people, then maybe you would enjoy his snapchat stories at nickmillerza (which is the same as his YouTube Channel).

I feel like my next post may have to be YouTuber recommendations aha, I give them to you practically every post so maybe one place to put them all wouldn't be an all bad idea :)

I'll speak to you guys soon and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

The Past, The Present, The Future, The Now.

Hey guys!

I've just watched Will Darbyshire's new video which is entitled 'The Now'. Before I go on about his video, I would love to just give him a shout out to you wonderful people reading this post. His videos are always insightful and he just talks about a topic that has struck him and inspired him and I honestly think that the honesty and passion and drive with which he talks makes his videos completely and utterly awesome. On the upside too, they're never all that long, roughly around 3 minutes long so do check out his channel here :)

So his video (which is linked above) was talking about how important it is to live in 'The Now' and it's something I personally feel is important for us all to actively do. As I mentioned in a post previously, this coming September is probably the most daunting thing that I'm facing at the moment in my life. And yet, for me, before September lies two months in which I can have the time of my life. What I want to challenge myself and anyone else who's reading and has got the whole summer ahead of them, is to try and do something new or try and push yourself and make the most of everyday that comes at you.

For me, yesterday I went skateboarding with my best mate Chloë and then got on and did work and that for me was awesome because the more and more time I get to spend with her, the more I appreciate how absolutely blessed I am to have her in my life and the more time I want to spend with her this summer because a) being able to try (and unfortunately fail) at skateboarding with your bestie is probably the best way to do it and b) I've had so few awesome memories with her the past summers that I wish I could do more with her this summer.

Also, it feels like from now onwards, there's going to be more and more that's going to separate me from my friends, whether that just be the fact we go on to do different things in the future or even just from the onset in September when we start doing different subjects. Point being, I don't want to be afraid to create memories with people who make me happy and that is something I want to change from here on out :)

So what do you guys want to get from the present? What kind of new things do you want to experience? Is it something from the comfort of your own bedroom (don't get me wrong, a lot of my summer will be spent there too) or will you try something even more challenging? :o

I'll speak to you guys soon and thank you so much for reading!

Connor Franta, Changes, Identity

Hello guys! I hope that you're all well!

So on Monday, all of you O2L/Connor Franta fans will know that Connor released his last video for O2L onto YouTube. For me, I think it affected me more than I thought it would despite the fact Connor was the main person I personally would watch on O2L. The reason I thought it would affect me less was because the other guys are still absolutely phenomenal people and I'm sure they'll go on fine without Connor but I think the main thing that struck me hard was just how raw and just plain sad Connor appeared in the video.
I think it just goes to prove that we really don't see enough of a person to get to know them.

For me, the one thing I wanted to take from this and present to you guys was the fact that, of course, change is inevitable but the point I wanted to make was that you don't have to be tied down to something. You don't have to have something define you as a person. You're still yourself even if you're not affiliated to that thing and you're still you, an amazing person without your YouTube addiction or your music taste, or in Connor's case, being a member of O2L.

Point being, we all change in who we are and that is ultimately inevitable but who you choose to become and how you decide to go forward is what will define you for who you are, not necessarily what people see of you but what you think of and see for yourself :)

I just wanted to add before I close, it's important for all YouTube fans to accept change though I think for many of us it is probably harder than any other change we have to experience simply because of the fact we get used to seeing the same persona for months and even years straight. When that changes, it can be the weirdest most odd experience and I think that's what really shook me seeing Connor's video yesterday.

If you want to see the video, click here. For those who don't know Connor, his videos are awesome and he'll still be posting on this main channel which you can find here!

I hope that you have a wonderful day and week and all and I'll speak to you soon!

New Beginnings, Change, A Topic Stretched Beyond Recognition.

Hello guys!

This post was inspired by a few things.
a) the fact that I have technically finished High School, having finished my GCSE's and will
b) be going into Sixth Form to do my A-Levels in September.
c) Also this video by thisbedottie who is Patty Walters' girl friend :)

On Tuesday and Wednesday last week, I have my two day induction into Sixth Form which for many of the people my age is something that's quite an experience for a number of reasons! For one, you experience an A-Level lesson for each of the 4 subjects that you have chosen to take next year. This can be quite nerve racking because you sometimes have to go to a different school for some of your lessons which can then lead to you not knowing whether you're going to settle well or even like the subject anymore. Not knowing anyone in a new school can really lead you to hate a subject that you once loved and despite the fact I'm 'lucky' enough to not have any lessons based in another school, I've friends who both love and hate the new experience.

For me, it was an awesome yet slightly daunting experience. I found out that two of the subjects for which I was anticipating tiny classes actually turned out to be quite big classes, one being French which turned out to be full of people I don't know. However, the other lessons were pretty gosh dang awesome and I'm really looking forward to taking them next year. I did enjoy French (just to clear that up) and I'm also taking Biology, Chemistry, History and Maths. Those of you who are calculating people will realise that yes, that means I am anticipating taking not four but five AS Levels next year. Hence the anticipation. And the nerves. And the what-on-earth-have-I-got-myself-in-for-four-is-hard-enough feeling.

Before I go onto the second part of what I wanted to say, I wanted to say that Sixth Form is awesome otherwise. I'm so looking forward to meeting the new people in my classes and making new friends as well as enjoying the new responsibilities and liberties that being in Year 12 gives you as a student.

Here comes the second part to which the video links to. I am incredibly afraid that I'm not going to be able to cope and to do well in the subjects I have taken. Many a knowledgeable person has informed me that in order to fulfill my dreams of becoming a Doctor, Maths is unfortunately probably my best bet but when I was told this, I already had my heart set on doing History and French too, hence five was born. The video really helped me to see how other people see their worries and it made me think about how I want to change myself and to improve the way that I work to make sure that I can cope with what I want to do and what that'll mean for me and the way things have worked with me thus far.

So, in conclusion, I am determined to survive the next year, come what may, and it's always a relief to know that you're not the only one to have doubts about yourself and your abilities. This video by Bertie Gilbert also explores how you can change negativity in your mind into something positive (like his awesome new short film 'Tick Where it Hurts')

I'll speak to you guys soon!

YouTube, Forums, Friends

Hey guys!

I just wanted to talk about another amazing upside to being a fan of YouTube.

My first YouTuber, Damon Fizzy has a forum website and I found that becoming a part of it really gave me a lot of confidence in feeling good about how I talked to people and how I could actually help people despite the fact I'd never gone through much myself. I've been rather lucky I think in that regard, I've just been so lucky and I've felt that I've been giving back to the world through helping other people.

I've also made a couple of good friends over forums and I wanted to say, it's not wrong to make friends over the internet at all, just be careful aha, just don't underestimate those friendships either!

It has made me wonder if they're as genuine in real life though, as in if I met my internet friends in real life, would we have become as good friends? I genuinely don't feel like I'm as socially apt in real life and having the safety of a screen and keyboard and time between yourself and your friends means that you can really choose exactly how you want to respond. It makes you wonder how different you actually are to your accidentally created internet persona.

I also love the JacksGap website because of the fact the twins and some of their close friends share such awesome things and honestly, I wouldn't have heard as much about things if it hadn't been for them. They really took forum to another level and if you ever want to read about something interesting, do take a look here. It's just awesome, so many things that you might want to see, all in one place. Their posts are varied and eye-opening as well as completely and utterly just awesome.

I hope that you guys liked this post! The point I wanted to make was the fact that forum websites are awesome for a host of different reasons and you can both make a difference to other people as well as be affected yourself :)

I'll speak to you guys soon :D

An Inspiration of Mine: Zach Sobiech

If you guys haven't heard of Zach Sobiech before then I would strongly suggest that you watch the following two videos because I can almost fully guarantee that you'll cry.
Go on, please, even if you're not one for 'inspirational' videos, it'll still be something to watch :)

If you don't have the time to watch the videos, here's a written version of parts of the video I loved and what I learned from it :) Zach is a 17-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer during his late teens. He was told that he'd either have life saving surgery that would take out his left leg and part of half of his pelvis which, would mean he'd not be able to sit up, or he would die within 6 months to a year. He chose to live his last few months to the best of his ability and these videos just explore how much he touched the lives of everyone around him.

A friend of his at school said 'He's just a person that you can trust will be smiling.' Some of his other friends said that he helped them put their problems and complaints into perspective, that a bad day wasn't really as bad as they thought :) This is just one part of how he touched other people's lives. For me this little snippet is so good because it's not great spending more time feeling down because of your day rather than enjoying it and having someone who can remind you of that is just amazing and I wish I could do that for my friends :)

He was a best friend to his younger sister and he was just a person that would make you feel better just by being in his presence.

He was just a joy to his parents and made them proud with all that he did and he was really kind and compassionate. He inspired his class mates and made them feel good about themselves. He would never put other people down and in the first video his Mum talks about how they went to watch a basketball game together. She made a comment about how one of the players was running funny and he replied with a list of things that the same player had done well. That in itself is really inspirational, to not be satisfied with putting someone down but making sure that they are praised where it's due. His mum said 'He's always been very empathetic and compassionate.' It really shows that we shouldn't be happy at the expense of someone else's dignity, that we should celebrate them and through celebrating each other, be happy :)

He was described by his eldest sister as 'happy, always smiling.' and I think we all need to spread the joy, we hear it all the time but there's so much we can do and all we've got to do is take that step :)

His eldest sister also said: 'Zach is a testament to the fact that everything's okay when you believe in something greater.' I don't know whether it's easier or harder to be in Zach's situation and to have or not have faith in something greater though with me personally I would definitely say something greater because it would help you realise that everyone goes through something different and because Zach was such an amazing person, he had a harder test. God wanted to be reunited with him :)

His youngest sister said: 'Well, I've got to live life, like well as if Zach's going to die tomorrow.' The odd thing is, it's the same for most of us because we don't know when we're going to die and I guess for them it was easier to have that reminder in front of them but if we live with that mentality, maybe we can experience the same richness that the Sobiechs experienced knowing that time was precious. It made beauty so much more beautiful and moments just that much more precious.

His brother said: 'It's imperative that we stick together as a family because we've got to make it through, as a family.' It just shows how much support is important, whether you be going through something as life changing as the Sobiechs or just the normal flow of life, you've got to stick it out for your family because you can't choose your family :)

His girlfriend said: 'He's shown me that it's not all about the grades you get or how cool you are in high school, it's about doing what makes you happy and no matter when you're going to go but to live your life to the fullest, every day of your life.'

I also loved these videos because it proves what you can do for another person - Zach got into cars and found out that the Nissan GTR was the car that was the least expensive with the highest performance and his family organised for him to be able to drive it for a week. When he found out he described the sensation as being 'like you've been dumped in cold water and you can't breathe, but in a really good way.' I think it just proves to us that it's never late or the wrong time to do something for someone else.

It just feels like, watching those videos, that Zach just left an enormous impression on everyone that had the pleasure to meet him and being able to hit people, not just with is words and actions but with his music meant that he understood that it would be hard for those people who were close to him once he was gone. He created songs to help his family with closure. He didn't stop dreaming big because he was dying and that was awesome - he didn't give up and I think a lot of us who aren't limited with time and capability would dream a lot smaller than Zach.

Here are some of the Zach quotes from the first video that I just love :)

'It's kinda like you're sitting in the dark. You can either choose to be freaking out in the dark and thinking okay what's out there or you can just relax and fall asleep and just be happy and content with everything.'

'I want everyone to know that you don't have to find out you're dying, to start living.'

'What makes you happy, is seeing someone smile and knowing that you put it there. That's what's so awesome about living in this world.'

'You can either sit in your basement and wait, or you can get out there and do some crazy stuff.'

'Mum and Dad, I wish I could have kids and raise them like you raised me because you've done a hell of a job.'

'It's really simple actually, it's just try and make people happy. Maybe you have to learn it with time, or maybe you have to learn it the hard way, but as long as you learn it, you're going to make the world a better place.'

'I want to be remembered as the kid who went down fighting and didn't really lose.'

Thank you so much for reading. I'm sorry but not sorry that this is such a long post but I really think Zach deserves as much for being such a ginormous inspiration. I've not even really scratched the surface with the amount we can take from Zach but I hope it inspired you! The first video was released on the 3rd of May in 2013 which was Zach's 18th Birthday. He died on the 20th of the same month and if there's one grave I would love to visit in my life, that'd be one.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments and I will speak to you soon!