Saturday 2 September 2017

Who holds us back?

Listen to this song...


This song is beautiful to me, it's rhythm, it's calming and soothing tones really do set to get me into a mood which I pick, it can make me feel motivated, it can make me feel relaxed... it really is set to my mind how I want to feel after or during listening to this song, I can literally make my own world in my head just listening to this song. It's main lines of vocals are "You can do anything you want to, you can do anything" which today made me want to ask the question, who holds us back from doing what we want to do?

See for some time I have had visions in my mind about going to different places around the world, to go and explore, go and take on different activities, go and try different foods and all that jazz, but something holds me back and I can't quite put my finger on it.

When I look at going to different places around the world the idea really does excite me, everything from flying, to unpacking in the place where I am staying. I'm very much one of those people who like when I went to Turkey, we went to the places which are clearly built for tourists, but I went to other places where tourists didn't seem to be there, like one of our days out was to this small island which is only occupied by this goat which has a habit of attacking people. There was no bars, no shops, nothing. Granted, I was hungover, so I slept on the boat ride over and only managed to make it slightly off the boat, but I did manage to make friends with the goat, giving it a few rubs and saying hi... which I know sounds crazy, me talking to a goat, it wouldn't have a clue what I was saying, it would clearly only talk Turkish.

Stuff like this is what I want to go and explore in this life, but again, what or who holds me back?

When I want to go and explore one of the things I have to look at is the bank balance, and that's never in a good shape, so that holds me back. Even while working, it would hold me back because money never seems to be there for me, so who's fault is it? Is that my fault, is it my employers fault? I really don't know.

I guess with this post, there's never going to be an answer, but, to the statement "You can do anything" I reply... I can't, someone or something holds me back... what do you think it is?

Sunday 20 August 2017

Terror in Europe, are we a target like we make out?

Recently I was at a friends house when he asked me "What's happened in Barcelona?".

I of course was pretty clueless at the time, until I found out what had gone on....


The news brought with it the usual level of shock and sympathy for all those caught up in the terrible incident which should never have taken place.

Today though, I read something which kind of put it into perspective for me. Countless times I read that the west is the target, how Europe is the innocent victim in a world gone mad, yet one persons comment of "It happens daily in the east, yet once in a blue moon here" really made me think... are we the target that we claim to be?

In the run up to the recent general elections here in the UK, the UK suffered 3 major attacks in which people died, most famous attack is the one which took place at the Manchester Arena. We were targeted... but still not as much as the east.

Not a day goes by where in some places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan etc, there isn't a terror attack taking place and taking innocent peoples lives. It literally is a regular event. ISIS and all other terrorist organisations we are told target people from the west, yet, looking at the actual bodies of people, they are mostly from the east, they are mostly muslim and they are mostly not from or have anything to do with the west.

So I put the question to you dearest reader... are we a target in the west like we make out?

Sunday 13 August 2017

The uprising of the far right...

Recently a lot of my social media has been focused on a march of the white far right in America and how they can operate these days etc.


The above picture depicts a moment of dark history for modern day America and the bottom part of the picture is an image from August 2017, marching for the same cause.

I find it amazing that I can sit here in 2017 and be wondering how a persons skin colour can still be an issue for anybody, I really do wonder sometimes when humanity will kind of, mature, and get over the small stuff, for the greater good of humanity... but that's for another post.

Of course, the poster child and basically the definition of racism within America is the KKK. The political party which saw murders and awful things done to people who basically weren't a straight white male. Although the KKK is still very active these days I don't believe they had too much to do with the most recent march, however, they would have had some sort of involvement i'm sure, even if it was supporting the march itself.

The far right however is a force which nobody really seems to be able to cope with or deal with. I myself have had many battles with the far right and I am still to this day blocked on many of their social media accounts because I will call out their hatred when I see it. The focus of most of the far right has shifted as we have all seen, into being against the followers of Islam and immigration which they will use as an excuse to blame every single thing on. Economy failing? Immigration. Health service under funded? Immigration... you name it, innocent people will be blamed.

This particular event which happened in Virginia however is to do with skin colour, and it's a scary sight to see, because racial tension is still sky high and events like this will only put salt into peoples wounds who have endured a whole life of being judge by their skin colour and it will teach younger children to be divided and judge others on skin colour.

It has still got to stop.

What needs to be looked at though is how the liberal and far left deal with the far right. I like to think of myself as being in the middle of left and right, I like to be able to see issues from all views, but when it comes to skin colour, I myself will always look down on those who use skin colour as a reason to hate somebody in any way.

The far left however, and much of the middle, will always refuse to engage with the far right, because they're just seen as racist idiots, which ok, might be true in many cases, but to end this kind of thing we need to engage people in talks and education. This really is the only way forward. We cannot allow racism to continue, it has gone on for long enough now and I as a white person am saying this from the bottom of my heart... but we need to TALK to the far right. We need to understand WHY they feel the way that they do and what their goals are, then, and ONLY then can we begin to talk to them about changing their point of view. If we listen to them, they will listen to us more and it is difficult, sure, but it is the only way for things like this to end.

From the bottom of my heart, to all those who were affected by what they saw at the protest please keep in mind that these people represent themselves, they do not speak for the majority of white people.

Now, i'm willing to talk to the far right... let's see who is willing to talk to me, from the far right.

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Is life amazing?

So here I am, sat back at my desk, windows open because it's warm, even though it's cloudy outside and i'm again questioning what is my life.

I've not long completed a course of CBT to deal with my own problems, call that the reason I've been quiet on here... But in truth, I've just been getting on with life as best I can.

At home I become bored too easily, nothing to actually do apart from surf the internet, play games or watch tv, all of which grow boring after some time. I can go and see friends, but usually that ends up with me drinking and spending money I can't afford. I mean for the past few weeks I've had literally no food in my flat. My boyfriend has helped me through the tough times, of course he would, but I have to wonder... what am I doing with my life.

I've semi given up on reading about the world because it's all bad news every where you look. Only last night there was a huge fire in London which has claimed lives when a tower block of flats became quickly engulfed in fire. One of my worst fears about living in my old flat was how to get out if the stairway became covered in fire, and that was only on the first floor!

If I look up over at Manchester you're just reminded of the bombing which took place while I was away on holiday, London has had several terror attacks in recent months, so you look further away from home, we're still bombing Syria, Turkey is still at war, America is still trying to deal with Trump and... it just gets to the point you go, I can't cope with all this.

So, sure, this is a short post. Call it a mid afternoon release of steam. I'm going to go and mow the front garden, I think that'll give me something to do.

Sunday 29 January 2017

The box

A small time ago I discovered a company which offer a subscription service for about £20 a month called a buddy box. The idea behind it is that once a month you the subscriber would receive a box through the post full of item's you weren't expecting, which give focus to mental health and well being. I love this idea.

I love the idea because suffering with mental health the way that I do I often find myself unable to cheer myself up. I become very disinterested with objects and general day to day things and I need something to keep my mind active or something to waste my time on. I can be a very difficult project!

When I moved into my new home I was very short of storage until my first Christmas here. As a present off my family I was given some storage units to go in several places around my home. As I began packing things away into these boxes I decided that maybe indeed I did need to create my own buddy box. Just one box which would be full of things for me to see and things to do. I guess during better times in my mind idea's like this are wonderful, but today for me is yet another boring day. I have nothing to do and nobody I know is available to even come around for a coffee.

It is times like this where I need my buddy box the most. Something to help me pass the time until something comes along for me to go and be busy with. I mean don't get me wrong theres plenty I can go and do in the real world, but when your brain is lumbered with depression, forcing yourself to do anything can seem impossible, even though some people do point out the obvious that it is only me who can improve my mood... but sometimes even I don't know how to.

Anyway, I guess that's it. Here is another 10 minutes filled up, and yet, it is in itself a waste of time.

I hate days like today.

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Am i a trump supporter?

I think it's official. 2016 was seen as a bad year because a lot of really well known people passed away, Brexit happened and of course for America, Trump won.


This was supposed to be shocking news, but in truth, we had all been warned that IF it came to Hilarious Clinton and Donald Trump going head to head, he would win... and he did. Now since then, arguments world over have taken place about how trump didn't win the popular vote (which doesn't count towards anything to be fair), how trump hired Russia to hack something so he would win the vote (even though the vote doesn't take place online at all)... you get the idea, a lot of stuff being said.

While I can accept that some people will be worried for the future of their country, I, as an outsider of America actually feel quite calm about him coming into power. I mean let's look for a second at one fact, he hasn't even become president yet and already more people than ever before are now interested in politics and those same people are going to be watching every single thing his government do, waiting for them to slip up.

Now i'm not stupid here, I know he is a republican, I know that the republican party don't really have the interest of you at their heart unless you're a straight white male, but I don't think Trump himself deserves the amount of hatred he is getting at the moment. It's kind of like standing outside your local McDonalds complaining at future employee's are going to mess up orders and so they shouldn't be hired... you can't say that because you don't know it for sure, you might have a strong hunch, but you can't be 100% sure. Same thing for what people are doing at the moment, and this is what makes me wonder...

Am I a trump supporter?

During his running time for the elections the man made some very idiotic comments. I have even wondered myself if the only reason he ran was to try and make Hilarious Clinton look like the better candidate since they are good friends, but if this were true then wow did that plan back fire. It has to be said however, I am willing to give him a chance. Does that make me a supporter of his? I don't agree with a lot of what he has said, I think some of his idea's that he spoke of pre-election were the most crazy I have ever heard, but i'm still willing to see what he does in the role, given that since it was confirmed he won the vote, he has gone back on several of his election promises.

Look, the world over was more than willing to give Clinton a chance, even though her past is filled with war, oil robbing, money from some very questionable sources and of course the laws she has passed for said money... but America was willing to give her a chance, yet, not a man who frankly, spoke his mind during the election campaign. If we agree with him or not on his points of view, we have to admire that this is one man in politics who will call stuff as he see's it, and the truth is, it has been a while since a political figure has been like that in the west in a long time.

So, how do I finish this off? Well, all's I can say is... join me. Sure, watch him, question every thing he does, but stop moaning already. He IS going to be the next president of the USA, and he is going to have years in power, so simply typing #NotMyPresident on your social media makes you look slightly stupid (unless like me, you're not in the USA and so it is the truth)... But all in all, give him a chance. When he does something which makes you angry, then i'll be right there with you shouting for change... but let's see what he does first.

Saturday 7 January 2017

Mum's advice

Recently online I have seen a sort of surge in the amount of my friends and family joining websites and groups which are designed to give mum's the best advice on how to raise their child. Everything from what to feed your child right through to what clothes to get them and for the best price.

On the whole there's nothing really wrong with these sorts of groups, in my opinion, when they are used in a supportive manor, but part of me cannot help but wonder if these groups are making other mums stressed... let me explain why.

When it comes to feeding a child of course any mother is going to want to make sure her child receives the best food possible, that it's all fresh and healthy and cooked to perfection... but some mothers cannot afford the finest in food. Some mothers cannot afford the time to spend all day getting everything ready for one evening meal.

When it comes to clothing, having your child wearing good looking clothing items and of course making sure that no animals were harmed in the making of that clothing item are what every parent wants to have their child in... but at what point does that stop and the attitude of "well at least that child is clothed" comes in.

Look, this isn't going to be the longest post in the world, but I do have some advice for all mums.

 
Keep doing what you're doing.
 
 
That's it. All mothers raise their child in a different way to other mums, they all have different styles and different rules, but nobody and I mean nobody can force you to be the perfect parent, because simply put... one doesn't exist.
 
 
A mothers job is stress filled enough, without feeling more pressure from other mothers or doubts over your ability to do a good job. So by all means, if something is wrong, then ask for help, but never feel as if you're failing your child.