A Trick of the Mirror - You

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

So today, I've been inspired by this little beautiful video by Dottie James aka thisbedottie on YouTube. Before I delve into why I absolutely loved this video, Dottie makes awesomely beautiful poetic videos, usually no longer than two minutes long but that are packed full of wonder and stories and imagination. She conveys meaning without feeling heavy and makes you think in an entirely different way. Definitely worth a look if you've got a spare few moments!

So onto this video - A Trick of the Mirror.

I loved this video because it explores the opinion that you are not your physical being, you can't express your determination completely in the colour of your hair or your passion for the extraordinary in an eyeliner wing, to quote the video.

The most truest expression of yourself and reflection of who you are, comes from what you put out to the world. It comes from, the impact you have on the people around you, from siblings that you love to tease, to friends that you try and make laugh and cheer up, to the creative stuff that you put out. Your stories and your imagination and your art. Those will always better represent you and who you are compared to your physical qualities.

Having said that, you can express yourself through tattoos and through other forms of self expression that visibly manifest and these can bring you closer to showing the world and sharing with the world who you are.

I absolutely loved this video because I think it brought me right back down to earth and to the reality of how things are in many ways. There are many things that you can't change about yourself but that doesn't necessarily mean they shape who you are and represent your personality and who you are from the inside. It's what you choose to put out to the world and who you choose to be to the people around you that shows your true colours. And that's what ultimately matters and what you should keep in mind.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! I'd love to hear what you think :) Have a wonderful time doing what you're doing and I hope to speak to you very soon indeed!

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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

Today, I've been inspired to make time to blog from this video which I would thoroughly recommend you go and watch. It's ten minutes of mindfulness, KABOOMS, 'soul-stirring' stuff as a friend of mine left in the comments and in a different light, some well and truly beautiful editing.

John Green inspired this video with his video and talked about the fact that being human isn't really something we can define because often by trying to define what it means to be human, we cut off part of mankind like those who are less fortunate than us in different ways. If we say that communication is what makes us human, what about those of us who are unable to read and write? What about those of us who aren't blessed by the ability to hear or to see or to talk? Are they somehow less human than the rest of us?

The conclusion that John comes to which I find so beautiful is that we're human because of our empathy and our belief in each other's humanness and being. At the same time, this means that perhaps being human is something that we kind of have to aspire to because being that kind and empathetic towards those around us isn't always something that we do and therefore we should always try and become better.

So before I start on the video this post is therefore inspired by, I'd like to say to John, I agree with what you're saying! Quite often, we wouldn't know if we were right or wrong without someone else to help us to understand that and therefore we cannot quite become ourselves without learning from other people and that's incredible! Thank you for your video!

So onto the video this post is inspired by. This video talks about how being human isn't really something that should be defined because we're all so different and yet we're all still human. We don't somehow stop being human because we don't conform to society or to the expectations that we create by trying to describe what it's supposed to be like being human. Just by being, we form a part of humanity and what it means to be as a collective consciousness and just being part of creation in general and that is so powerful in itself.

We have the choice to be however we want to be, how we are human and how we express that being within us. We all have dark and light within us but we are able to shape how that expresses itself outside and how that makes us our version of human. The fact that we're aware of ourselves and the fact that we have that choice and that we can define ourselves from that choice and how we make it is mindblowing.

The other part of this that we all have to remember is the fact that we're never really not a part of creation and humanity because of this being that we share with one another. Because of the fact that we're all intrinsically valuable in the fact that we all have this choice and this opportunity to create meaning in our lives. We can all express ourselves differently, often depending on the society that we grow up in, the inspirations that we have in our lives from friends and family to more well known characters. We all are human and we all contribute to what it means to be human.

Pretty sure that the video is definitely a lot more eloquent than I am and covers a lot more bases which I'm sure that you guys can enjoy much like I've done. Definitely go and check it out here!

I hope that you guys all create wonderful meanings, whatever they are and I hope to speak to you very soon indeed :D

Sharing Passion

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

One thing I've learnt from my friends both recently and over the years is that it's never difficult to be passionate about more than one subject or about more than one thing. My best friend for example is one of the most talented mathematicians as well as artists that I've seen and that shows that you don't have to be bound to one passion. You do you and you go forward with what interests you.

What I've been learning recently through The Art of Possibility as well as through a friend of mine is that it's perfectly possible to be passionate to some degree about everything. To see a project that is promoting something absolutely awesome and something new and something that's going to do amazing and positive things in the world and to feel excited about it and to want to see it go forward and do well.

I don't think it's the easiest thing to do, as I've found myself, but I think this is for a couple of reasons. For one, your ego doesn't often like to see other people doing well because that can lead it to believe that it's not going to be remembered and can make it jealous. However, as always, that doesn't have to be the case because honestly, where would we be if those who had the ability and the resources didn't help people with new ideas? Where would we be if we couldn't share our passions with one another, if we couldn't get excited with our friends and share our successes and help each other through failures? Where would the world be?

I think another reason can also be because, especially when you're young and you're not so sure about what you want to do, it can sometimes feel intimidating to see other people who are so passionate about something because it can feel like they've got a direction to go in which you don't have. It can feel like you're going to get left behind whilst they go on and use their passion to create their success story but that's also I think, derived from the ego. The ego wants to see that end goal, believes that money and fame and success in the end that passion can bring but it also tends to forget that these success stories come from teams of people, not just from individuals.

What I love about sharing passion is the fact that it can ignite in you passion that you never knew that you'd find, never knew was buried there, perhaps never even knew existed. By not being afraid to share passion with someone else, to share their success and their ideas and to appreciate what they see in their work and where that rocket fuel comes from, you can really build your own character and ideas. But you also have to remember, you can work with them to produce a success that you can share together. Sharing someone's dream is never a bad thing because it just means that this dream is so much more likely to happen because you get to be a part of it and to support that dream.

There's so much awesomeness that can be achieved by sharing passions and dreams and if you don't think you've found what you're passionate about, don't be afraid to share other people's passions. You'll find your way soon enough, whether that be finding your own rocket fuel from seeing the light that burns from other people's or finding someone with whom you want to share your rocket fuel.

Don't worry. Trust the process.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! I'd love to hear what you think down below or wherever you prefer! I hope that you have a wonderful time doing what you're doing and I hope to speak to you very, very soon indeed!

Why Not You?

Hey guys! I hope that you're doing as well as can be! :D

Today, I've been inspired by both an awesome friend and also an awesome video from a speech by Jim Rohn entitled 'Why Not You?'

Let's start off with the video. Jim challenges us as the viewer to go home today and to ask ourselves 4 questions.

First of all, why? 
Why go so far and learn so much and put yourself out there more and more than ever?
Why try and earn and share as much as you can, meet as many people and touch them both physically and with your actions as much as possible?
Why become the best version of yourself as is humanly possible?
Why try and do it all and see it all?
Why take on so much responsibility?
Why give that much away?

This then leads onto the second question; why not?
Why not see how much you can learn, how much you an earn?
Why not see how many skills you can develop and what kind of person you can become?
Why not see what kind of influence you can have and how many people you can motivate and inspire?
Why not?

Jim challenges us to take this personally - we're here until it's our time to go, so seriously, why not?

And from that comes question number three: why not you?
You've got the brains, you can make decisions, you can change your life, you can make your dream come true, you can become anything you want to.

And then the last question: why not now? There never was a better time.
Take the time now to not let your dream die and to constantly fuel it, constantly give it life, kindle it and watch it grow into a blazing fire. Breath your spirit into it until it becomes a fire that burns everywhere around the world.

Now I want to take the motivation and the truth behind that video and combine it with the idea of resistance that we often have against what is. We resist things that put us into discomfort that are disliked by our ego because it's hard and not easy and the ego doesn't want to have to be in that position. But you have to remember from that speech is it's only possible if you're willing to go as far as you can go, to do more than what you've done before, to not be afraid of discomfort and of failure.

It's so much harder said than done, believe me I know but what would happen if you accepted the discomfort and accepted the challenge? What would happen if you went into your work towards your dream, expecting hard work but being fully committed to doing it and completing it and achieving that goal? Where could you end up? Anywhere you want. Anywhere.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post and could relate to it! For me, the ideas of both being the driving force of change in my life is coupled with the fact that I'm personally often so afraid and unwilling to put hard work in. You know you have to but you resist it and resist it and it creates so much stress. But imagine if you weren't afraid of putting in the work and getting a bit tired and worn but seeing the results? I'm incredibly excited to try it out and see where it leads me!

Just before I go, this channel here does a beautiful compilation of numerous both motivational and thought provoking speeches with mind blowing graphics which is where this speech was from so I'd definitely recommend checking it out! There are others too but we'll get to those some other day.

I hope that you're all doing well and I hope to speak to you very soon indeed!

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 :)

What can you give your friend?

Hey guys! I hope that you're well!

I've wanted to write this post ever since I saw a specific video from Soul Pancake and the awesome Julian and their series 'The Science of Love'. This video specifically intrigued me from it's title (of course) which was 'Can Men and Women Be Just Friends?' which of course is probably one of the most asked questions ever. But when I watched the video, what intrigued me most was how the pairs reacted to one particular set of question right at the beginning of the video and whether you have a friend of the opposite sex who you're close to or not, I honestly thought that it'd be great to share with you guys!

So right at the beginning of the video, each of the partners were shown a velcro board with qualities on it and they were asked to place inside the circle what they thought they needed from the other person in their friendship. That, of course, was the easy part!

Afterwards, the partners were then asked to consider what their partner needed out of their friendship and for many of them, they hadn't actually consciously considered this before! This led to it taking more time than you might've expected from good friends! However, it was also nice in some ways for them to be able to take the opportunity to actually consider the question because so often in friendships, we're so much more concerned with what we're getting out of it and if we're having our needs met, but what about the other person?

The awesome thing about this video is that they then brought the couples together and put together two Venn diagrams - what they each had thought the other needed and what they actually needed. So you may both think you need say, emotional support or flattery or an ear to complain to, but is that all you need or what you really gain from the friendship? I think it's really important in all friendships, to really think about what it's like from the other person's point of view because then you can really begin to appreciate how you can help the other person and not just how they can help you.

I think it's so easy to lose friends from being unintentionally selfish - we all do it sometimes I think, but that's our choice. Do we have to continue in that vain? No! But it's our choice if we acknowledge the other person and their needs and how much we want to develop the friendship. This would help make it sustainable in the long term and help to make sure that the give and take is equal. It shouldn't be imbalanced because that isn't really fair at all, but until you realise that, will you be able to address it?

I hope that you guys enjoyed this post! I would thoroughly recommend watching the other videos in both the Science of Love series and also the Science of Happiness because I learn a lot from them and find them really thought provoking. I may even blog more about them in the future so do stay tuned! I hope that you all have a wonderful time doing whatever you're doing and I'll speak to you very soon indeed!

P.s. I loved this still from Julian at the end - I feel like he's a cross between Colin Morgan and Thomas Brodie-Sangster - anyone else see it? :D

Teachers + Interwebular Discussions

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

So on Monday I had the most awesome discussion with my French teacher about the internet and whether it necessarily takes over your life. This was completely related to my work which is rather odd but it did lead to some awesome discussion!

Like for example the fact that internet addiction can be seen as a very bad thing and in many cases, it really can be. But what a lot of adults fail to see is the fact that people can often be brought together across the internet by things that aren't necessarily internet related like events happening across the globe as well as films and TV shows and books! The internet isn't something that takes you away from enjoying life because in many ways, to make friends on the internet you have to be active in the rest of your life.

I know that for many of you that would be blatantly obvious but also the opposite, like for example the fact that I love blogging about YouTube videos. Without YouTube being on the internet, I wouldn't necessarily have as much to blog about and that shows that of course, there are definite internet connections that can only be made through content on the internet. What I love about my life is the fact that the internet can play such a big part in my life and yet still not take over. I have that flexibility and I don't have to be attached to it all the time.

Thank you guys for reading this post because it doesn't necessarily feel relevant but the fact that it does have an impact on us and the way that adults then go on to perceive us and our relations to the internet made me want to write about it. The internet is too broad to not have real life integrated into it and when you meet other people, it's much like meeting irl - you can't say that internet friendships are somehow less valid than irl ones because they still require the same skills.

Anyways, I hope that you all have wonderful days doing whatever you're doing and that you're able to be present and at one with everything :D