Reflection

Happy New Year!

Before we welcome 2017, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on the year that has passed, and I recommend that you do too. 2016 has been a rollercoaster, with many lows (Bowie, Rickman, Brexit, Trump, Fisher, etc) but also many highs. Sure, poke fun at how 'terrible' this year has been, but remember all the good things that have happened this year too.

For me, 2016 was a year of growth and change. I explored the inner workings of my mind and soul more than I ever have before, and I learned more about myself than I can possibly fathom (or fit into one post!). I've tried to be more compassionate and spread more joy to the people I love, and to the people I don't love. I'd like to continue to shine more brightly in 2017 as well. One thing I'm also working on currently is honesty. I've always found it difficult to be totally honest with people, as I have a tendency to lie.
Not bad lies, but what one might call 'white lies'. I used to over-exaggerate and spin stories out of nothing, make mountains out of the smallest molehills. This is not a likeable trait. And it's hard for me to admit to people too, because then they start to question everything I've ever told them. I didn't even realise I did it until recently, but I value the truth more than almost any other trait in the people I know. So why on Earth shouldn't I reciprocate said truth? I should. And Im going to. A few people have asked me what my New Year's resolutions are for 2017, and that's one of them.
Another of my personal resolutions is that I want to grow in my faith and become more comfortable talking about it. For reasons unbeknownst to myself, I feel slightly ashamed about talking to my non-believing friends about God or Jesus, and even to my Christian friends I am apprehensive. But, the Bible states in numerous places (too many for me to source them all) that you should speak boldly and fearlessly of Christ, and I will. Or at least, I'm trying to. In fact, this blog has helped massively, as I'm a lot more open about religion on here than I am if you know me in real life. I'd like to change that, and be more honest with the world about my feelings towards faith.
Furthermore, I made a vow to be teetotal earlier this year, and my resolution for 2017 is to stick to this, and not become as tempted by alcohol as I am currently. I'd also like to stick to my guns with being vegan, and make some new friends! In addition to all these, I'd like to achieve all of my Achievable Aspirations series (minus veganuary, I'm already there) as it's always good to take up a new hobby, travel somewhere new, and have more confidence!

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Are they different from last year's?
Regardless, I hope you have (or have had, depending on timezones) a happy, fun, and safe New Year!
Happy 2017 :)

Contrastingly Human

my head is full of destruction
but my pen creates.
my actions can bring death
but my thoughts give life
to people i wish i'd meet
or be
or never have seen.
i can't stop sadness
but i still feel joy.
i choose to see the dark but the light
pierces my eyes
happily

                                        -c.h.f

Achievable Aspirations: Veganuary

The final instalment of Achievable Aspirations (taking your total to 4!) is thus:

I challenge you to eat plant-based for a month. If you can't do a month, then try a week! If you can't do a week, try and do meat-free Mondays. Eating less meat is not only good for the planet and (obviously) the animals, it's also incredibly beneficial to your health. If you want to learn a little more about veganism then be sure to check out this post of mine, in which I answer a lot of the common questions about veganism.

If you want to take up the challenge, visit the Veganuary website for more info, or contact me somehow if you have any questions or comments. Happy 2017!

To recap the Achievable Aspirations series: Hobby 'Travel' Confidence and this, Veganuary!

A Desperate Hue

A toddler stubbornly refusing to go to bed
Is the setting sun a-flaming; into the blue sky orange bled.
Then when again said sun glimpses Earth in early morning,
It's colours start to pierce your eyes to give you a forewarning
Of the magic and glory the day will bring, if only you will try
To be the oranges, yellows, and reds in life's cold, white, and blue sky.

                                        -c.h.f

A Day In The Life

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

As today is a very special day, I decided to post what would happen in my life on a very unspecial day. Therefore, here is a run-down of my typical day.

5:20 - Alarm number 1 goes off. I do not get up.
5:40 - Alarm number 2 goes off. I still do not get up. Instead, I fall back to sleep. (oops)
6:40 - My mum runs into my room and shouts at me for not being ready to go. My bus leaves in 23 minutes. I  glare out the window at the dark sky. Far too early to be awake. I get up, changed, makeuped, breakfasted, teeth brushed, and bag ready as I rush to do my snapchat streaks before I lose Wi-Fi. I get a lift to the bus station and an accompanying lecture on how I am late, again.
7:04 - I arrive at the bus station. The bus should have been here and gone again by now, although thankfully it is (as always) late.
7:07 - The bus arrives. I get on and sit down (top deck, back row, left corner) and greet my friends as they arrive on the bus. After about 5 minutes, I pick a victim from my friends and sleep. (on them).
8:05 - Arriving at college, I am groggily jarred awake, makeup half gone (sorry to the jacket of whomever I decided to sleep on) and hair astray.
8:10 - COFFEE AND 25p HASH BROWNS (yes I have already had breakfast, don't judge me).
8:45-12:00 - Lessons. Ew. Unless I have a free, in which case the time will be spent sleeping. Also probably more coffee.
12:00 - THE SWEET RELEASE OF LUNCH. AND COLLEGE WEDGES.
12:45-16:00 - See 8:45-12:00.
16:00 - Bus again, new friend to sleep on, sweet sweet sleep.
17:00 - Bus arrives at my bus stop once again. A lovely cold walk in the dark!
17:30 - HOME. HOME. SWEET, SWEET HOME.
17:30-21:00 - Honestly who knows. I don't even know what I do in this time. Sick memes? Wish my life away? Waste time on social media? All of the above I reckon.
21:00 - The late panicky realisation of the sheer volume of homework I have due for tomorrow. I still don't do any of it.
22:30 - I realise I probably should do that homework, after all. I cry. WHY is French grammar so hard?!?!?!?!
00:30- That French homework is FINALLY over, and I resolve that from now on I shall do all other homework I get the day that I get it. I don't, but the thought is always there. I vow to do the other million pieces of homework I have for tomorrow on the bus in the morning. I won't do that either, but oh well. Sorry to all my teachers (and my parents, guess I won't be getting good grades again, goodbye Oxbridge!).
00:31 - The sweet, sweet release of temporary unconsciousness.

AND repeat.

Achievable Aspirations: Confidence

For this week's Achievable Aspiration, I challenge you to do something that I find very difficult: be confident!
This doesn't mean you have to be overly loud, or speak to every single person you see, or even do a bit of *gulp* public speaking. It simply means that you are comfortable in your own skin, and feel good about both your strengths and your weaknesses. This is hard, I know. But if you cant be confident; fake it! When you tell the outside world that you're confident by standing tall, putting your shoulders back, and smiling, then you feel confident inside.
When I decided to fake confidence, I started to love myself more, and I actually became confident. By the way, self-love is not synonymous with arrogance. Self-love is healthy; arrogance is not.
Apart from making yourself feel better about the world, confidence helps your relationships with others: it inspires trust, and when you're confident, you are naturally more appealing to strangers. Maybe you could make some friends simply by acting confident just for a day.

The Versatile Blogger Award

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Today's post is a little out of the ordinary: The Versatile Blogger Award. I was tagged by the lovely Anna (who actually got me into blogging!) so go and check out her version of this post! The idea is to give your readers 7 facts about yourself, so here goes!


1) Bring on fact number 1: I love to write! As in, physically write (pen and paper). For college and to save time, I usually type, however there's something about the glide of a pen forming the curves and harsh lines of letters that really gets me. Because of time constraints and practicality, the only time I actually write write is in my journal, in my Bible, or occasionally when writing poetry. When was the last time you old-school wrote? Is it a regular occurrence for you? I'm going to try and make it one for me.

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2) Mentioning the Bible previously, this leads on nicely to fact number 2: I am a Christian. I've mentioned it before on here but I still haven't done The Big Christian Post :P. The change in belief is something that's happened relatively recently and quickly to me; I felt a change happening for a long time, but I admitted to myself what was actually happening in maybe summer of this year? Was raised in what I'd describe as an atheist family with strong emphasis on science, so choosing what to believe for myself was (and is) a huge deal for me. Honestly, I couldn't be happier that this change has happened inside me. That being said, I still have a long way to go before I'm totally comfortable in my faith. This journey is being helped massively by my family (who are so much less judgemental than I thought they'd be), my friends (ditto), and the other Christians I know (in particular Isaac and Zulobia, who 100% will not be reading this but still). If you ever have any questions about religion, please please please contact me! I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have (or to pass them on to someone more qualified to answer!), or to pray for you or a loved one.

3) The topic of Christianity sets up this fact: My inspiration in life is Rachel Joy Scott. Again, I haven't done The Big Rachel Post, but I'll try and sum it up here. She was born in 1981 and lived a short life that was filled to the brim with spirituality and compassion. She lived not only for God, but for others. She always put her own needs last, which inspires me to do the same. My aim is to be as full of compassion and righteousness as she was. Her relationship with Jesus was so unique and powerful that 11 months prior to her death, she predicted it. Unfortunately, she was shot and killed in the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, leaving only her memory, journals, and Rachel's Challenge as a legacy.

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4) To get off the topic of religion: I currently have a weird obsession with the piano. I cant play it, never have and probably never will, but there's something about it that I cant get enough of. In fact, right now I'm listening to Beethoven's "Moonlight" by Valentina Lisitsa (who is one of THE MOST talented pianists out there, in my opinion). I have no urge to play the piano myself, but for some unknown reason I am soothed and yet riled up by it's delicate passion. I'm also kind of getting into violin at the moment (again listening, not playing), but the piano is really special to me right now. My favourite pieces are probably Beethoven's "Moonlight", as mentioned before, Karl Jenkins' "Palladio" by Mark Klett, and the incredibly moving "Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami" by Nobuyuki Tsujii.

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5) Staying on the subject of music: This is the first Christmas in 6 years in which I did not perform at my school's Christmas concert. It feels weird, I don't like it. I went to see this year's concert (which was so fabulous btw, congrats if you're reading this Mr Lawrenson/Veale) and I couldn't help but feel such a sense of longing to be back on stage. Unfortunately, because of the subjects I chose to do at college I am unable to perform at any point in my college years, which is kind of a bummer. Still, the concert was lovely and festive and filled with talent, but I still couldn't help wishing that I was a part of it again!

6) Onto number 6: I LOVE to travel, and my favourite ever place to go is South Africa. I first visited in the Summer of 2012, and I was lucky enough to go back to the beautiful country this Summer. I have a passion for wildlife, so a safari holiday is perfect for me, and there's something so special about seeing wild animals where they're supposed to be, as opposed to in a cage. We had a couple of close encounters with elephants, most prevalently at 3am when I was alone in an unlocked cabin with 3 huge elephants eating from the thatched roof. But still, the thrill and adrenaline made the fear worth it's while. I would relish the chance to go back, should I ever be lucky enough.

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7) And finally, number 7: I adore A Very Potter Musical (and Sequel) by Starkid. Like really, really adore it. Not a day goes by where I don't quote it somehow, be that in song or speech, and I happen to be lucky enough that a few of my friends also love it, so they understand my quotes! The humour, the talent, the Potterness! It honestly warms my heart and never fails to cheer me up. Many a free have I spent at college watching a re-watching both AVPM and AVPS (Joe Walker marry me please), and I can't think of a single more productive way of spending a few dozen frees.

I hope you enjoyed 7 facts about me, and maybe learned something! For the award I tag Minerva (mainly because of the super cool name!). I look forward to reading your post! :)