Staying in One Room..... For Ages

Hey guys! I hope that you're well!

So a few posts ago, I talked about the internet being like a house with many rooms and today, I want to share with you a new experience that I've had in this house that is my relationship with other people on the internet and something I didn't realise before.

So in the past couple of days, I've made the most awesome new friend on the internet through Facebook and awesome for a couple of reasons that I'd like to share with you before we go onto the crux of our discussion.

Numero uno, I actually know the guy irl and he's two years younger than me. We went to the same middle school and now because we're at the same high school, we can share a lot about teachers and about experiences and about the town that we live in. I've not been able to do that with someone on the internet in ages and it's been so refreshing! Numero dos, because he's younger than me, I've been able to offer him my advice and experience about exams and it makes me so happy being able to reassure someone who's going through what I've been through and being able to help. Always a wonderful feeling!

Now onto the crux of what I've discovered and that is, he replies so quickly! I don't think I've ever held out such a long conversation with such rapid responses in ages and don't get me wrong, the conversation is wonderful but whoaaaaaa. Breathe. First of all, I don't want this to come across as me complaining because honestly, everyone's different when it comes to social media just like how we're all different in our vernacular in real life. But what I've realised, especially with the socially packed day I've had, is that breathing space is so important, to have time to just relax and absorb what's happened.

Having constant awesome conversation doesn't really give you time to appreciate it because you feel like you have to respond and keep it going. I know with some of my best internet friends, I love being able to come away and just have the few things that we talked about going through my mind and not having to worry about forgetting them or not being able to process my stance on them. That breathing time just to be organically with yourself, as you would be without the internet or at least without the presence of other people is so important. I know that if I try and sustain the conversation, I will end up becoming more and more introverted because I'll crave that alone time more and more.

There's definitely a balance to be struck somewhere in the middle. Social media can be really unhealthy because it creates an environment that wouldn't happen irl, as I discussed in my other blog post. I think generally, it's really important to not be afraid offending someone and just take a break to be with yourself.

I don't know if this comes from some sort of fear of silence? I was talking about it with a friend of mine and I guess on the internet, you don't necessarily always get organic silences like you would irl. You don't have the physical cues to go off of about if someone wants to say something or if they're thinking or doing something else. It's a whole different ball game!

Finally, you guys all know this but I know with me, I'm such a big culprit of this and it's just having a lot of exciting stuff to share. If you're talking to someone and they have to do all of the listening then it's not a conversation, it's a monologue. But listening's not just not talking, it's taking it in and being excited and interested and I think it takes a lot more than you might originally think.

But anyway, what do you guys think on the topic? I'd love to hear it :D
I hope that you guys all have wonderful days and I'll talk to you very soon indeed :)

A New Mug That's Pretty Damned Awesome

Hey guys!

So randomly enough, one day I was getting something for my dad from the back of his car and I realised that he had this wonderful red mug with words on it just sitting there in bubble wrap. Just being me and my dad out of our family who don't have our own mugs, rather just the conventional ones that are more generic than the others, I was intrigued and having unwrapped it in all its goodness, I've found it a source of daily inspiration!

In spite of the fact it's actually an advert for what accountants from a certain company are like, I find the adjectives used to describe them rather inspiring and they motivate me to become better and to feel better because of the way that they are phrased and just the kind of words that they are.

All of the phrases on the mug are:

Business Leaders - Professional - Employable - Ambitious - Brilliant - Dynamic - Amazing - Respected - Dedicated - Strategic - Qualified - Thought-Provoking - Motivating - Courageous - Credible - Ethical - Pro-Active - Empowering - Fearless - Bold - Influential - Decisive - Engaged - Priceless - Passionate - Game Changers - Global - Skilled - Smart - Inspiring - Innovative - Dedicated - Forward-Thinking - Tireless - Profitable

As you can see, these sorts of things are the qualities that all of us, wherever we want to go in life, want to be. We all want to be dedicated and professional in what we do, we want to become the best that we can. We want to have the courage to go forward, be as fearless as we can and being bold and through that, even if we don't succeed, we can motivate and inspire others to try something new. You can see how this works and how having something as simple as a mug can really help anyone really on a day-to-day basis to feel better about themselves and to give them goals to work towards, qualities that they want to have within themselves as they develop.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this little burst of inspiration today! If you did like it or dislike it, as always, feel free to empty your thoughts into the comments below and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll speak to you soon!

p.s. I went away this week and if you're lucky, some pictures'll be on your way some time soon! I'm so excited! Also, please do let me know what you think of my photography, I'm an amateur! :)

Judgements: Reliable or Nah?

This has been something that's swum through my mind over the past few years: when someone tells you something is 'wrong' with you in the way you are, or the way you do things, how much should you have to feel obliged to change because of what they've said.

I guess it can all come back down to what they've said I guess, whether it be something you've done as a one-off that was an accident perhaps because you were having an off day. Or is it something that goes that little bit deeper like 'you talk too much', or 'you always talk about yourself' and that sort of thing. I've picked these because I've experienced them before but there are countless othet things that can be said that can get under your skin.

I think we should always be wary but here are a few things to take into consideration:

1) Why have they said what they've said? Would they have good intentions for having said what they've said? Can you trust their word?

2) Ask someone close to you if they agree with what the person has said. If you're not sure whether to believe the person or not, feel free to ask someone who knows you well and ask for their opinion - if there's any truth to it, maybe they can shed some light on it.

3) Watch out for yourself: do you see any truth in what they've said? This is really important - if you're honest with yourself and you detect a problem within the way you act then you can feel more self-aware and make steps towards changing yourself.

However, what I do want to make clear here is the fact it is entirely up to you what you consider to be something worth changing.

As a personal example, I was told by a person who I used to be close to that I talked too much about myself. After much deliberation I realised that wasn't the actual problem - it was the fact I interrupted too much and didn't allow other people to talk and let out their problems before sharing my own. In this way you can see that I wanted to solve this problem because it was a matter of manners, not necessarily something that was personal but a characteristic that would be considered rude no matter who I was talking to.

In my opinion, if you're polite and considerate, who should dictate what kind of person you are from there onwards but yourself? Don't change yourself to please others because you'll never be good enough. Be happy with yourself and no-one can take that away from you.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this blog post! Please do feel free to tell me what you think in the comments and please do feel free to suggest topics for future blog posts!

Thank you ever so much for reading and I'll speak to you soon :)

Unrequited Kindness

As the title suggests, unrequited kindness is something that's been playing on my mind of late.

There are many times and many people to whom we don't give what they deserve, whether that be members of our family, typically our parents, or whether that be our close friends and even more so the kind stranger who you may never ever speak to again.

It can sometimes be a case of karma and therefore, by showing love and kindness to other people without the promise of them doing something in return, perhaps we can get some more goodness circulating around society :) Sometimes it does feel like there is an awful lot of hate in the world that can sometimes drown out the small kindnesses that people to do to us on a daily basis and I personally feel uncomfortable with that fact.

One person who clearly demonstrated to me something that you can do to someone kindly, was Carrie Hope Fletcher who makes YouTube videos, for all of those of you who aren't familiar with Carrie. That isn't her primary profession as she's also a Broadway singer and is currently playing Eponine in Les Mis which is absolutely phenomenal and a dream come true for her. Little biography over, she suggested to her viewers a wonderful idea called the Hopeful Notes. These would involve writing a kind word on a piece of paper, a post-it note if you liked, and just leaving it in a public place for someone to find. It was wonderful because it was a simple idea and yet you could completely change someone's outlook on the day by doing so.

Despite the fact the idea may not be for many of us, it just goes to show that though there is a lot of bad in the world, good still has it's rightful place and small kindnesses can still go a long way, even if it feels insignificant at the time.

For those of you who'd like to find out more about Carrie, her blog is here (x) and her YouTube channel is here (x) :)

Thank you ever so much for reading and I hope that you have a wonderful day! :)