Choices: Influences

Happy St David's Day! (Confession: I thought that February had 29 days this year as opposed to only 28, so I scheduled today's post as being the final Wednesday of Feb's series... Sorry!!! However, [spoiler alert] March's series, which'll start next Wednesday, is called Meet The United Kingdom (Plus Ireland). Each week I'll do a profile of one country in the UK+Ireland, as it's both St David's Day (Wales) and St Patrick's Day (Ireland) this month.)

Anyways, ignoring my poor counting/planning, on with February's final post! Today's is all about choosing influences in your life.



Rachel's Challenge (which I've mentioned a few times before) is a set of five personal 'challenges' for you to undertake. My favourite of these is number three: Choose Positive Influences. In our lives, we are influenced by an endless list of things; news, friends, the internet, social conventions, etc to name just a few. We don't choose whether or not we see some of these things in our lives, but we can choose how they affect us.

I personally think that taking time to reflect on your life and the things that make it up is essential. We need to analyse what's going on in your lives so that we can keep the good stuff, and better/remove the bad. One big aspect of this which can be very difficult is friendships. Some friendships are harmful and toxic, and may be changing you for the worse or withholding you from being the best you can be. It's a cliché, I know, but there's a reason for that - it's true. If you have someone in your life who you don't wanting your life, then remove yourself from them. If they're holding you back or changing you into something you don't want to be, then your'e under no obligation to keep spending time with them.

My personal influences that I choose everyday are Rachel herself, my best friends, and God. I take inspiration and instruction from the people who I keep myself around, and sources that I trust and have been proven to be what I want them to be. These choices help to form my ethics and moral code, as well as guide me in dictating how I live every single day. They've helped me more than I can express, and I've changed so much as a person over the past few months that I'm hard recognisable - and I couldn't be happier. Imagine yourself trading places with your current idol - whether that be a celebrity, a friend, or an image you have of yourself. Are you happy? Happier than you are now? Happier than you would be without those influences? Are you making other people happy? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you may want to rethink your idols.

My challenge to you is to consider your personal influences, and if you feel you should, then change them. Remove yourself from the lives of people who put you down. Reach out to people you want to help, or can help you. Stop doing that one thing you hate about yourself. Start doing something productive, something constructive, something good. And be proud of yourself.

I Am... A Vegan

Recently, I've had many people I know in real life asking me about veganism; why I became vegan, what I eat, what difference it makes to my life etc. In this post, I'd like to answer these questions, and clear up some issues surrounding vegans.

Firstly, what is a vegan?

The word 'vegan' is synonymous with 'plant-based', meaning that we only eat things that come from plants. Therefore, vegans don't eat meat or fish (like vegetarians), but we also don't consume any other animal products e.g. milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, honey, gelatine etc. Also, veganism is more of a lifestyle than a diet, so we also don't use other animal-based products including leather, fur, suede, silk etc.

Why did you become vegan?

In mid 2015, I watched a video on Facebook about how factory-farmed animals are treated and killed, and it really struck a nerve with me. I'm normally okay with gore, loving horror movies, but for some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about this video, and every time I thought about it, I wanted to throw up. I just wasn't aware of what factory animals went through (and are still going though) just to be eaten. On that day, I decided to go vegetarian, and then I changed my mind - I wanted to go vegan. Honestly, it's mainly because I wanted to be different, and vegetarian wasn't daring enough for me, but I'm so glad that it worked out, and nowadays I'm not vegan just to be indie! Now, I'm still shell-shocked by the vile treatment of factory animals, but I'm also staying vegan because I now believe that life is more important than anything else in the world, and this is because of my relationship with God. Even if you aren't religious or spiritual, surely you can appreciate the wonder that is life; human or otherwise. This deep-set marvel of the miracle of life is what keeps me from breaking and just thinking 'screw it, I might as well eat meat'. So now, I've been vegan for almost a year and a half. 

What do you eat?

This is normally the first question that people ask me once they find out that I'm vegan, and I'm still not quite sure how to respond.Whatever you eat minus the items mentioned above, and with substitutes instead. Generally, there are a few different types of vegan 'diets'. Most vegans are HCLF (high carb low fat), but there are also raw vegans, macrobiotics, fruitarians, and an endless list of others. Personally, If I had to categorise myself, I'd be HCLF, because I adore pasta too much to go raw. 

What's good about going vegan?

Apart from saving and/or bettering the lives of countless animals (more than 56 billion animals are killed for food every year, not including fish and other marine animals, are their death toll is so great that they are measured in tonnes), going vegan helps the environment in numerous other ways. For one, livestock is responsible for 51% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which means that funding the meat industry contributes more to global warming than all transportation exhaust fumes put together. Many of us are worried about climate change, but we aren't told the real reasons for it. Growing crops to feed livestock uses 56% of water in the US. 12% of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water, and the first world is wasting it mass-producing animals. Furthermore, livestock and feed for livestock covers 45% of the Earth's total land, again because of the large-scale mass-production of farmed animals. Animal agriculture also 'is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction'. Remember when everyone was freaking out because the Great Barrier Reef is dying? That's almost an 'ocean dead zone'. Speaking of oceans, fish are often overlooked by vegetarians and vegans (especially pescatarians, but let's not talk about them), but they are in just as much peril. Fishless oceans could be a possibility by 2048. I will not even be 50 by the time fish are extinct. Will my grandchildren ever be able to see a fish? Not if we keep fishing at the rate we are now. 

In addition to the worldwide benefits, going plant-based is good for your body. When I went vegan, my skin cleared up, my hair got healthier and shinier, I lost weight and felt healthier and happier within myself. Also, not eating meat greatly reduces your risk of heart disease and heart attacks due to high cholesterol and blood pressure. (Plus, it's a super great talking point, so there's never awkward silences when you meet new people. One mention of veganism from a friend and you're in the middle of a heated debate.)

What's bad about going vegan?

I had to think long and hard about this question, but I promised myself that I'd answer it, because I feel the need to be unbiased, especially after last week's politically biased post! Therefore, the negatives to veganism are: 

1) You have to plan every meal. You can't randomly choose to go out to dinner, unless you're sure that where you're going will cater for vegans. Also, when you're at a friend's and they order pizza, you can't have any. :(

2) The MEMES. I personally consider this a positive, but some people get annoyed by the sheer volume of vegan (or should I say anti-vegan) memes out there. For someone who spends as much time online as I do, you can't go an hour without seeing at least five vegan memes. Mainly because you'll always get tagged in them, no matter who by, because you're the only vegan they know. Plus, people love to talk about meat in front of you, which I don't actually mind, but it gets kind of annoying when you're told 'but BACON though!!!' for the tenth time that day.

3) Stigmas. There are so many people who genuinely believe that vegans are all hippies who just eat cabbage and talk about being vegan all day. Contrastingly to this post, I actually don't talk about being vegan that much, it's normally other people who bring it up (Lord knows how they find out I'm vegan). Also, some people dislike you straight away solely because you're vegan, which is kind of ridiculous. What I eat doesn't affect my personality. 

4) Protein. Goodness me, the number of people who've told me I can't survive without meat!!! Clearly, I'm alive. Therefore clearly, I can. It's amazing, when someone finds out what you eat, they somehow immediately become nutritionists! I don't have to take supplements for protein or calcium or other non-vegan-related essentials, but I do prefer to take multivitamins, simply because I always seem to have a cold. This isn't because I don't eat meat (it isn't helped by that either, but still), it's because my immune system has always been slightly awful. 

Didn't God create animals for us to eat?

I don't know, is the honest answer. I personally don't think so, because as stated earlier, I believe that life is more important than anything, so I believe that plants were created for food, and animals were not. I'll refer you to Genesis 1:29 'And God said "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed... to you it shall be for food"'. Obviously I can only speak as a Christian, and as for other religious people with their own opinions on meat and other food consumption, as well as other Christian's opinions, I cannot speak for their views. 

But cows don't have to die to give milk?

True, in theory. However in practice, this couldn't be more wrong. In order for cows to lactate, just like humans they must be pregnant/breastfeeding a child. Therefore, the cow must have a child before being milked. What is done with this child? If it is male, it is immediately ripped from it's mother and sent to slaughter if it's lucky, or if not, it is brandished in a ring and bid on for hours crying for it's mother, before finally being taken away and slaughtered. If the calf is female, then it is destined for the same life of artificial insemination, disease, and entrapment as her mother. As well as the calves' deaths, many many cows die every year due to filthy living conditions, disease, improper waste disposal, and other microbes which run riot in factory farms. The same microbes which get into your milk and meat.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you've learned something about veganism. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me with them, and if you know me in real life, please do the same! I'm always happy to answer genuine questions about my lifestyle, and would love to hear your opinions on things. :D 

Statistic creds: Goodland, R Anhang, J., Jacobson, Michael F., Thornton, Phillip, Mario Herrero, Polly Ericksen, Oppenlander, Richard A., National Geographic, animalequality.net.

eleven:eleven

Today I'd like to make a post about war and peace (not the book [ew forget I attempted to make that joke I'm so ashamed]), in response to both the peaceful and militant protests which are currently happening all over America. I recently made a tweet about said protests, which for some reason has proved very popular, so take a look at it if you have a chance. Also, today is remembrance day, so this ties in nicely with the theme of today's post. This week's poem also relates to the theme of peace and protesting, so go and check it out!

I'm not afraid of death. This doesn't mean I want to die, far from it, but it means that I'm not destroyed when someone close to me dies, because I feel secure in the knowledge that they aren't hurting, and they're happy. Although I do not fear death, and I don't see death as an ending, I believe that life is so much more important than death. This belief has made me live my life in the least violent way possible, as I value peace so highly. Not just peace meaning no war, but peace within friendships and relationships, and within yourself. 

I am often at war with myself, over silly things and more important things; what to do on the weekend, whether to skip lessons or not, what religious denomination I am. But I am constantly working on becoming at peace with my emotions and actions, as you can't live a truly full life if you're at war with yourself, as a part of you would never be happy, no matter which option you choose. I debate and reason with myself daily, and this genuinely helps me feel more grounded and more myself, I guess (it's difficult for me to articulate, especially whilst maintaining proper grammar and an adequate vocabulary). 

But even when I am at peace with myself, the world never seems to be, and sometimes I genuinely think that it may never be, which makes me feel too gloomy for words. The recent protests in America have almost proved this to me. They're due to an election, in which (obviously) not every single person will be content with the outcome, as there is more than one choice. But even though someone's discontented with something, they needn't turn to violence. Change can be achieved though peace; through strong words and meaningful gestures. To make your voice heard you need only speak, your voice is not intensified by fighting. 

Even though I say this, war has still happened. And is still happening. There's no way to get around this, and to pretend that it isn't true would frankly be offensive to those who have (and are) risking their lives for their ethics and to help others. I admire our veterans, I really, truly do. I could never do what they have done - I suppose I consider myself a pacifist. But that doesn't mean I appreciate their sacrifice any less than someone who is more in favour of fighting. (Can one ever be in favour of fighting? To me it seems to be a sort of major juxtaposition. Maybe that's just me.) I, and countless others (the whole world in fact) will be forever grateful to the irrevocably valiant men and women who have taken a stand and a bullet for humanity and for peace. On this day, Remembrance Sunday, I'd like for you to stop whatever you're doing (AKA reading this),  and take a moment to think about what your life would be like had your countrymen not fought for what they believed in. No matter what country you come from or live in or have ever lived in, I'm positive that your life would not be the same without these gallant heroes, present or departed. 

Think about yourself, think about your family and friends, and think about the world. Reflect upon your relationships with them - are they as strong and as positive as you wish them to be? If not, why? At this time of remembrance and looking back, take a chance to look forwards too; if you want to change something about your life, do it! What's stopping you? If the answer to that is yourself, it couldn't be easier to rectify. 

Remember the past, contemplate the future, but most of all; don't forget to live for the present. 

I Am... 17! (and other big news)

So today, I turned the ripe old age of 17! And as it's Wednesday, I decided to incorporate this special (well at least it's special for me) day into the series! Before I begin, I'd just like to thank Jemima for the inspiration for this post, which she titled Me At 17. Also, I'd like to wish my friend (and birthday twin) Anna a very happy birthday, again! Without further ado, on with I Am... 17!

So, who am I at seventeen?

Well, book-wise I still love my classics - Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, the Maze Runner, Cat Patrick, Jay Asher, and John Green to name but a few. However, I've also become a lot more interested in poetry. I really love Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Sylvia Plath, and Erin Hanson. I've also started writing a lot more poetry, as you can see from this blog! Clearly, I started a blog too, which has made it much more simple for me to lay out my points of view and organise my thoughts.
Film-wise I'm again still loving the classics, but have become more interested in older films and other genres, mainly thanks to my friends and my Film class. I've also tried to make my first short film; Warning Sign. Furthermore, I'm very excited to see the next instalment of the Harry Potter franchise: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which is out in the UK on November 18th, and the Miss Saigon 25th anniversary show, which will hopefully be as good as it's Les Miserables counterpart!
In general, I've changed a heck of a lot. I consider myself a Christian (for roughly 9 months now), a vegan (for a year and five months!), a feminist, a Labour supporter, a humanitarian, a Democrat (if I was American), and much more open to others' views, opinions, and prejudices (as a reminder, my aim is always to educate and increase love and tolerance, never to slander or make others feel like their views are unimportant). I've become much more politically educated, aware, and active, and feel more connected to both my local society and the world, as well as everything in between. I'm hoping that this interest will carry on, as I believe it's absolutely imperative to take responsibility for your country, and humans as a whole.

That's why I'm going to somewhat hijack this post, as today a decision was made that will affect the world; Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States. I honestly can't believe those words are coming out of my mouth (or at least from my fingers). I'm still kind of coming to terms with it, but that doesn't mean that we can't be ready for anything, and be hopeful for the future. Although I may not have wanted him to have access to the power he will soon yield, I still must accept him as the leader of the free world, and pray that his decisions won't harm too many people too badly.
If you're an American reading this, especially if you're a minority, please do not be afraid. America is still your country, you are still a human being, you still have your rights. Mr. Trump cannot and will not take that away from you, we will not let him. But I'll be completely honest with you; I am worried for everyone in America who is not white, or straight, or a Christian, or a man, or American-born, or is for some other reason on Mr. Trump's hitlist, if you can call it such.
Muslim women, to you I quote a tweet: if you feel the need to not wear your hijab for safety, Allah will understand and forgive you. Please don't put yourself in danger for reasons that could be avoided. Then again, please don't be afraid of expressing yourself and your religion. I'm not afraid of wearing a cross, so you shouldn't have to be afraid of wearing a hijab, or a niqab, or a burkha.
The LGBT+ community, stay strong. Pence will not break you. He cannot 'fix' you because you are not broken. Conversion therapy is not therapy at all, it is torture. Be safe, and hold on to who you truly are. Your real friends and family will accept you for who you are, even if that's not who they want you to be.
Women, and young girls especially, you can do whatever a man can do. You must reach for the moon, reach just as high as men. Your simple anatomy does not define your limitations, your attitude and mindset does. Please, do not be discouraged from dreaming big. Dream bigger than you ever have before, and encourage both your female and male friends to do the same. We cannot be equal if we do not first truly believe we are equal.
POC, we stand with you. History will not be allowed to repeat itself. Our differences make us who we are, and that is never a bad thing, until we start using our differences to hurt one another. Your skin colour does not define your worth. Neither does your gender. Nor your sexuality. Nor your religion. Your actions do.
Please, act right.

From a straight white Christian, we are not all the same.

I detest making my political view so apparent and admittedly biased, but I have tried to see the good in Mr. Trump, and I have come up empty-handed.

Please be safe and trust yourself and your fellow countrymen. We can make this work as an Earth, together.

The Importance Of Friendship

All too often, and particularly by the older generation, friendships are overlooked as trivial and unimportant, whereas truly they are so much more than that. I've been through a time when I had very little, if any, friendship in my life, and I'm sure that either you or someone you know has had the same. If so, then you'll agree that a life without friends is a very tough one indeed. Friends aren't there solely to make you laugh (although that's also extremely important in life), but also to pick you up when you're down, and spend those not-so-funny times with you.
When you're sad, a good friend will be there to cheer you up, just as you will have done when they were upset. When you're happy, a good friend will be there to share the joy with you - this, in essence, is the reward of friendship, if you can analogise it to a game of sorts. If you are truly someone's friend, your heart will lift when you see them smiling, and you will feel their joy as they do.
About a year and a half ago, I was essentially friendless. I was unhappy, of course, but also my physical and mental health were at their worst, and I only left my house to go to school. In contrast, now, my life is full of friendship and happiness and health, and I couldn't be more overjoyed that I have found people whom I am more than proud to call my friends.
Friendship isn't just about happiness, though. A friend is there to talk, to listen, to cry to, and to help you, almost to be your second brain. A one-way friendship will never succeed, as you shouldn't receive without giving, especially not something as precious and personal as friendship. If a friend is seriously ill, you should be there for them, and you should trust that they will be there for you. Even though this oath of trust is so integral to forming a uniting friendship, you still shouldn't blame your friends if they do something wrong, or for a moment have skewed priorities. They are, after all, only human, just as you and I are. we must al remember that everyone makes mistakes, and that's alright as long as we learn from them.

A friend is a brother or sister, a family member, but one that you choose: 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb'. Society has twisted this phrase, and I bet most of you know it only as 'blood is thicker than water', meaning that blood connection are more important than relationships which you have chosen for yourself, but this is not true. That's also not to say that family bonds are unimportant, as I love my family to pieces, but for people who haven't had the rosy experience of family which I have been so lucky to have, I feel that this saying is demeaning and belittles their feelings. The true saying, however, is different but I don't believe it must be opposite. The 'blood of the covenant' means bonds made by choice, which could be either friendships or familial relationships, even though the 'water of the womb' clearly refers only to family.
Please take from this one thing; cherish your relationships with family and friends. A union formed by choice is always important, regardless of whether your DNA is similar or not! A friend can become family, as to me, family doesn't mean related.
It means love.

The Mirror As An Enemy

Young girls grow up hating; hating the mirror, hating the scales, hating the way their hair falls, hating themselves. We're taught to constantly compare ourselves to others: Is her hair better than mine? Why can't I do my makeup like that? How can I get that skinny? All these questions force young girls to measure their worth by their looks, against the looks of others.

But what we should be measuring ourselves by is our compassion, our dreams, our kindness to others. These qualities are the things that are really important, and that we should strive to better ourselves by increasing. But society doesn't teach teenagers to love others, or even to love themselves. In order to blossom and express your love for others, I feel you must first learn to love yourself, and to feel comfortable in your own skin. 

When I was at secondary school, I was constantly worrying about my makeup, my clothes, and my weight. From the age of eleven, I was dieting on and off, which was ridiculous. An eleven-year-old stressing over their figure, before they even had a figure. Society, huh? Once I got to college, where you wear your own clothes as opposed to a uniform, I thought that the judgement and ridicule would only get worse. I thought that people would be excluded from friendship groups if they didn't wear the 'right' clothes, and would be looked upon as a lesser human for the material in which they clothed their body. 

I was wrong.

At college, there is so much more unity and acceptance than I have seen elsewhere in the world in my (admittedly short) existence. Yes, there are cliques - it would be impossible for there not to be. But the people I have met are all so unique and simply acquiescent. I no longer feel worried about what I wear, or if I have a bad hair day. It doesn't matter any more. The things I should be concerned with are (admittedly) my grades, but more importantly, my relationships with other people and with the world, and the way I feel about myself. 

Even as a child, girls are taught that to be beautiful, they must wear mountains of makeup (but mustn't be fake), be a size zero with eye-popping curves (but mustn't obsess about their weight), be model height (but mustn't be too tall), and all this whilst maintaining perfect grades and a kind, funny personality. Plus, they have to have a multitude of hobbies; be an elegant dancer, a gifted singer, an outstanding athlete, and an endless list of other positive adjectives and talent-based nouns. This incessant need for perfection poisons a child's mind, causing them both stress and distress, and in many cases unfortunately leads to mental diseases like anorexia, bulimia, anxiety, depression, and dysphoria. 

How this longing for physical attractiveness is planted into a child's head I don't know, but what I do know is that it must change. I refuse to allow myself to be morphed into the brainwashed barbie that I am told I must become. I refuse to allow my child to suffer the feelings of imperfection and inadequacy that have become so commonplace in our society.  We, as a generation, need to stop this detrimental emotional state that has somehow found a home in the mind of every young person. We must not let it's squirming tentacles worm their way into the lives of our daughters and our sons. We can stop this pandemic of self-hate, leading to the eradication of all hate, leaving love. Always love.