Thursday 25 October 2012

Laugh. All the time.

We all want things. We all say we need things. We all have things. These things are scattered around the house, the new ones shining and boasting in full view, the old and less loved ones kept in boxes up in the loft. These things are placed thoughtfully in shop windows and in other people's possession. These things are thrown at us through the TV, magazines, the Internet, the radio with everyone screaming that if you do not have this thing you are worthless and behind the times and that you just absolutely need this... Thing.

We have become dependant on these things, believing that if we do not own a certain object our lives are not complete. Okay, so you really do need the vegetable peeler if you're going to peel that parsnip, but the new plasma screen TV is not a necessary item in your everyday life. It isn't necessary at all actually, it's a luxury and that is all. 

What people seem to forget is that actually, when it comes down to it and you don't count the vital actions such as eating, the only really important thing is the people you love. Everybody really needs to be surrounded by people who care about them, who know them well and, most fundamentally, make you laugh until you cry. I don't believe there is a greater feeling in the world than when you are laughing so uncontrollably with friends that your stomach muscles actually ache. I don't believe you are really human unless you have experienced this, and that you really must. Everyday, anywhere, for any reason. 

Thursday 18 October 2012

Malala Yousufzai.

Malala Yousufzai at this moment in time must be one of the bravest blogger to have lived. A 14 year old Pakistani girl denied her right to an education making the gallant decision of risking her life so that she and many girls like her could just learn. You don't hear that everyday, actually, I don't think I've heard it ever. How many young teenage girls do you know that have done something so significantly brave in order to fight for the importance of equality and education that they've been nominated for an international peace prize? For me, none.

I have an infinite amount of respect for this girl, for her intelligence, her determination, her strong belief in what is right, and most importantly her bravery. Paid by the BBC Malala began to write a blog at 11 years old on the happenings and state of the area in which she lived, a place under the Taliban's control, and to fight for the right for girls to be allowed to go to school. Despite the fact that in her village people were being executed for not conforming to the Taliban's rules, she continued to write this blog anonymously in order to show the importance of a young girl's education. However, recently her friends had begun to discover who the unknown blogger was and warned her about the dangers she was facing, this didn't stop her though and she carried on writing until finally it seemed her bravery and hard work had paid off, girls were now allowed to attend school again.

The day that she was going to return to school, to obtain the education she had worked towards, the Taliban found the 14 year old girl and shot her in the head.

Grown men deliberately went out to find this child and personally kill her simply because she spoke out against them. She had not caused anyone pain or harm or offence, and yet somehow she was prosecuted for writing a blog. These men found her bus, waited for the right girl to get off and shot her in view of all the other young children arriving for their school day. The entire concept is so unfathomable, so disgraceful, so disgusting I find it very difficult to comprehend.

Having also found this event most sickening authorities flew this injured child out to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, England in order to receive an operation she urgently needed. She is now being treated there and it has been reported that although she has a very long way to go she's also making good progress.

I think every child, particularly in Pakistan or in areas with similar situations, owes something to Malala now. Very, very few people would be as brave as she has been in these circumstances and it's so wonderful that she was. She proved to people how desperately important a child's education was and, just how powerful it could be. She became an inspirational icon, not because she was shot and that her situation is so unfortunate, but because knew that it would happen and yet she continued writing because she knew just how crucial her blog was. What she did is so brilliant, so magnificent even that every young girl should look at her and be inspired.

I don't know what I'd do in her place, I'd like to think I would write a blog like hers and have enough courage to risk my life but I guess I'll never know. I'm lucky that I will never have to know, and that this is just a theoretical idea and not a reality like it was for Malala. I feel spoilt with the excellent education I receive for free, and guilty that I should ever take it for granted. I know that now I have witnessed Malala's true courage I shall never again begrudgingly accept my education but use it to the best of my advantage understanding that it gives me a platform on which I can become incredibly powerful. I am so very lucky to have an education, thank you, Malala for showing me this.

I hope one day I meet this truly inspirational woman. And I hope that every girl will take her by example. I will never forget this beautiful girl, and she will always be in my heart as one of the bravest and most wonderful people this generation have seen.

So from one 14 year old girl to another, I wish you well Malala Yousufzai. I really do.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Anger.

I lose my temper far quicker than I should do. I have a tendency to snap or become irritated with people easily. It could be over the smallest thing, and I can just possibly show discreetly that the particular thing has angered me but I do it all the same. It happens too quickly and too easily, and I don't know if I fully understand why. I consider myself to be a very happy person almost all of the time, but for some reason I have been known to have a hot temper. I'm not the only one to react in this heated way, my family sometimes struggle to keep composure also. I think that maybe we are all quite strongly opinionated on subjects, some opposing each other's opinions within the family, or feel passionately about most of what we believe in, which causes us to become quite defensive or angry when agitated by certain people or issues. We are all also a family of very headstrong individuals meaning we live in an environment where we are constantly bouncing off each other either in passionate agreement or disagreement, and so when surrounded by others I feel I need to be listened to and voice my opinions when I believe something to be wrong. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but the way in which I react to certain situations can sometimes result in a worse place from where I was before.

If someone or something really angers me, I make sure that they or someone knows. I am not the sort of person to let something of the moment that I take offence to or feel effected by slide past. If I feel an individual has said something I strongly disagree with or something deliberately aimed at hurting or insulting me, I become quite passionate.

 I have in the past become so infuriated that I actually got the urge to act with some sort of violence. I never have, and I sincerely hope that I never will, but I have genuinely felt awfully close to hitting or causing someone pain just because I have got so heated. It's a truly horrid feeling, your whole body suddenly becomes literally very hot and you almost shiver with anger. You're practically blinded with this urgent need to get at this person, to cause them pain, to make them understand that they are wrong or they have hurt you and that this is how you feel and the need to know this. It's so important that they know this, you cannot just simply walk away having become so worked up it's like your whole body has been effected by the anger and you must let it out. And you do, but you say the most ridiculous things and nothing you actually wanted to say or do happens because your mind is so occupied with this passion that it's barely able to think. Then you come back down to reality and you look at yourself and the situation you're in and you feel so ashamed, so embarrassed, that you allowed yourself to become like that, to let go of your dignity and become an unrecognisable version of you. And then you run away and cry because it felt so horrible, and you feel exhausted from the intensity of the emotion and you just can't bare it anymore. You end up, eventually, far worse off than before you lost control and that huge amount of effort and emotion was just a very big and very embarrassing waste of time.

I allow myself to become the lesser person even if I know that I'm the right one, and I truly, truly hate it. It isn't often that I feel this way, in fact, I rarely ever become so angered but I still loath the fact that I ever have or do. I genuinely feel ashamed of the fact I let that happen to me, that I actually lost control of my senses. It really upsets me. But I understand that when people come to be this way it is rarely out of choice, or without impulsive and impetuous decision. I just wish that I had more restraint when I get angry or hurt, I certainly will try to be calmer and more sensible the next time I am involved in a dispute. I suppose I just need to take a deep breath the next time I am on the verge of losing myself to anger and think of the consequences I will cause for myself more than the other person, because I know it upsets and embarrasses me when I do let it happen.

I am not saying that it is wrong to feel passionately about things, or to act on your anger if you feel you have been wronged, but I am saying it's important to stay in control and composed because it will only be harder for you if you don't. I'm proud of the fact I don't let myself be bullied, or am brave enough to stay true to my opinions even when the majority disagree. My parents have taught me that, and I am extremely grateful that I have been brought up in a family full of people who make themselves be heard. I believe it to be an important skill to have. I just wish that sometimes I wasn't quite so passionate about things that really don't matter, and I would be better off just walking away from them.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Top 5 Songs you Love to Hate.

You know those songs that are gob-smackingly awful and yet, miraculously, either make it to the top of the charts or are very close to doing so? I hate those songs. And yet, there's a little part of my brain that has a soft spot for them and decides that remembering all of the lyrics and replaying them over and over again is a wonderful idea. You then get weird looks from people when you suddenly mutter in a low voice "I'm sexy and I know it" because you stopped concentrating for just a moment and let the horror of the song that won't leave your mind out of your mouth. It's just embarrassing. Although, we all do it. Either out of choice or pure accident. The following songs are in order of what I find the most terrible and yet have at some point in my life repeated itself numerous times causing me to be on the verge of going insane. Okay, maybe not that far but it feels pretty darn close.

5. Black and Yellow - Wiz Khalifa

I have this song in my head right now. It's torture. And yet for some reason millions seem to genuinely like it. Why? I have no idea. What I do know is that it's unbearably repetitive and makes very little sense. Okay, I get it's about his hometown but I definitely didn't learn anything more about Pittsburgh from listening to it.


4. Barbie Girl - Aqua





Man I love this song. Ahem, I mean hate it. It's a truly awful song. Right? But if I'm honest, in the best interests of my childhood, I really, really like it. Year 2 discos are brought to mind when I hear this song, wonderful memories of tacky pop songs booming out of the speakers whilst running around manically for no reason at all. It's horrific, but it's close to my heart. 

3. Gangnam Style - Psy


This is... New. I hadn't actually heard the song until very recently, and by god do I regret doing so. How on earth has this become viral? It's annoying, weird, no one apart from Korean speaking people know what it's actually about, vaguely sexist. You get the picture, it's one terrible song. And it managed to get to the top of the charts. I worry about our species sometimes, I really do. 

2. Baby - Justin Bieber


I'm not going to rant about Justin Bieber's music or hair or general self, because that's not the issue here. The issue is the song. I hate, I mean really hate, when artists warble their voice around because they think it sounds good. "oooaaaooohh" is not clever nor talented nor tasteful. And that's just the beginning. The lyrics are just completely generic and improbable. "I had my first love when I was 13" Oh, I'm sure you did. And the tune is borderline 2 year old's tiny keyboard type quality. This song is just one of the lowest of the low. It's just... No, just no. It's just awful. 

1. Axel F - Crazy Frog



I don't even have words.