The Big 2 0

Hello my lovely readers, I hope you're all well and happy!

Well it's that time of year again for me when I add another year to my age. 20 isn't exactly a special age, compared to for example: 1, 18, 21, 50 or 100, but it's the end of the era known and feared by all: the 'teens'. 

I'll always be the first to say 'age is just a number', well maybe after my Grandma who doesn't let anything stop her from bungee jumping or tobogganing down from the Great Wall of China, and I will never let my age prevent me from living my life. Even if that means acting like I'm in my 30s when I'm a teenager (or even 70s - I can act like a grandma myself sometimes), or having fun and feeling free like a teenager when I'm in my 40s, 60s or when I'm 90!

Life is too short to be limited by anything, let alone just a number (for the Mean Girls fans out there, we all know that "the limit does not exist").

Now there are a lot of things wrong with being a teenager, it's when you realise that life sucks, (there are "highs and lows" as my Dad just corrected me) and a lot of crap happens - mostly in a concentrated place known as high school- plus a lot of changes and big decisions take place, not to mention the exams, I mean, come on whoever thought that was fair! The worst phrase you can ever say to a teenager: "this is the best time of your life" - cause that really doesn't make the future look promising!

But you know what, now that I can look back, a lot is good about being a teenager, apart from the fact that there is a lot less to worry about, it can be ONE of the best times of your life if you make it one. It's a time to make mistakes and to learn from them, a chance to grow, to try new things, opportunity to discover and create yourself, and to try and work out who you want to be.

And in the spirit of "age is just a number" who says all that discovery has to be limited to between 13 and 19. Life is about discovery and creativity so don't stop doing that just because you're not that age anymore, I'm not just because I turned 20. And who knows maybe this will be the "the best time of my life."

The Shadows that Define our Every Sunny Day

Hello my Lovely Readers, 
I hope you are enjoying 2016 so far!

Having finally caught up on the awe-inspiring, breathtaking show, that is, of course, 'Sherlock', the latest episode inspired me to think, and therefore write, about our behaviour towards the past.

As Sherlock Holmes rightly said, "we all have a past"; there is no escaping or changing it, in fact, why should we?  The past shaped us and formed our present, the very person we are, without our past we have no today. So why are we afraid of it?

The other statement that Sherlock also proclaims in this episode is: 

"There are no ghosts in this world. Save those we make for ourselves....They are the shadows that define our every sunny day". 

Aside from proving the incredible writing of this epic show, it also speaks a truth that I think we can all relate to.

We haunt ourselves with the mistakes of our past, we create our own ghosts, but why? Why do we spend time fixating so much on what has already gone? I believe than one of the main reasons, goes back to one of the most common fears; fear of the unknown. We cling to our past because we know (to a certain extent) what happened then, but the future however, what an unfolding, terrifying mystery that is. 

What is to be done then? I think the answer is we have to face and conquer the ghosts we ourselves created, which means defeating the fears we have, not only about what has been, but also about what is yet to come.

Bucket Lists

Hello my Lovely Readers, I hope 2016 is treating you well so far, 

I'm sure by now, you've already broken all new years revolutions, eaten the majority of the christmas chocolate and have taken all the christmas decorations down and found that your house looks suddenly very plain; yes, that's it, the festive blanket of sparkles, excuses and denial has gone and we are again plunged into the tinsel-lacking reality once more. So how do we spruce up the beginning of 2016 without those fairy lights?

I decided to be very sentimental and stereotypical new years (5 days late but shh) and get out my bucket list... as I said in my last post I've got lots of good memories to look back on from this year, and I was proud to be able to tick off a few from the list, a trip to Japan, and seeing a broadway show amongst them. However, I wasn't able to tick off as many as I wanted to, so I made another, slightly belated revolution (perhaps if you make them a few days into the new year they're less likely to get broken) which is to tick off at least 5 things from my bucket list in 2016, Challenge Accepted! We'll see this time next year whether or not I will be successful...

Reading my list, which I wrote a few years ago, also made me realise that I have definitely changed, for example, now having met one, I no longer think it's such a good idea to OWN a pigmy goat (despite a cute they are). There may well be a few things on bucket lists that change over time, things that no longer need to be on there (By the way; not an excuse for chickening out of something), or perhaps things that need to be added?

I'm sure there will be things that I'll add to my bucket list, maybe you're the same, your bucket list might need revisiting, to realise what the person you are now wants out of the life you have, maybe you need to challenge yourself to stop procrastinating on checking of those dreams and desires.

I hope our 2016's will be full of bucket list dreams and dares coming true!