Sunday, March 23, 2014

#nomakeupselfie

So this past week my news feed on Facebook has been laced with no make up selfies, or alternatively made up men selfies, or even men who've stripped to nothing and hid their bits, in aid of  Cancer Research and Awareness. And low and behold amongst all this chaos of course we have the people who completely object to this 'insane' project and can't understand the idea of the 'latest craze'. Well people this is my response to all that negativity out there. I will admit when I first saw these no make up selfies I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, I didn't really understand the concept of it. But once it was explained to me and I saw how much good it was doing all over the world I quickly hopped on board. Yet, even after the phenomenal amount of money this project has raised and the overwhelming support from all walks of life there are STILL people who want to give out about it, posting status' or commenting on pictures. Normally I'm one to say each to their own, and everyone has a right to their own opinion, which they do, but I just don't think they need to be so vocal about this particular one, even when there's so much evidence that its working. And I'm sorry, I don't normally think opinions are wrong but on this one they are wrong. It's like they never even took the time out to see what it's all about and as a woman and a human being it actually insults me that they are so negative about something so positive.

Let's take a few steps back shall, to how this 'craze' started? It all began with a woman, who had suffered from Cancer herself, taking a selfie, completely bare, make up and wig free, to promote natural beauty and being proud of what you've got. Obviously somebody in her list of friends saw this and decided to do the same, regardless of whether they had been through the whole ordeal or not, and also donated money too! This created a spiral effect on various social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It really just shows the power of social media, and what it can do! I mean through this project alone has raised around £2m in the UK and €500,000 in Ireland, and who says it's a waste of time? Okay, I agree that it won't cure cancer, how could it? But it definitely provides funds with which they can continue to research a cure. Baby Steps eh? Nothing happens overnight. 

So no, it's not just girls 'fishing for likes' or 'wanting attention', these are people who care about this cause, who have either been affected by this horrific disease or know somebody who has. These are people who want to make a difference in any way they can. While they might not be in a position to make regular donations, or large sums, they do what they can, we all know that little saying; Every little bit helps. And by God is that the truth. Now what I suggest is people stop complaining, take their heads out of their behinds, accept that this works and donate themselves because at the end of the day, while this might die out in a week or two or even a month, the money it had raised is more than anyone person could by themselves. It's been a smart way to raise money, everybody uses social networking sites, or most do anyway, and when they see it, it creates awareness. (it does it's job). I know if I hadn't seen it on my news feed I would have never thought to donate money, just for the simple fact that I'm preoccupied with general day to day things. Doesn't mean I'm not a charitable person, I just don't think about it 24/7. So there we have it. This project worked. All of you who are against it are wrong. It does create awareness. You need to stop being negative about something that's positive, because that's just silly. It's a good cause. Keep your opinions to yourself. Stop slating those who participate and move on. It doesn't affect your life, no need to knock it back. If you care that much donate money the old fashioned way. Or just create a fundraiser yourself. I just have no patience for hypocrisy in this world. That is all. Until next time my darlings! 

P.S. REMEMBER TO CHECK YOURSELVES REGULARLY

P.P.S. Here's something to make you smile



 

Monday, March 3, 2014

Whirlwind!


So clearly, with the lapse between my blog posts, I've had a bit of a mental block when it comes to blog posts, it's really quite easy to run out of material when nothing remotely interesting happens in your life! It started to get frustrating because obviously you can't maintain a blog without a subject matter, it's like a door without a handle, it just doesn't work! Then one fateful night I was casually watching some mindless TV when and idea popped into my head, it really wasn't that great of an idea but in that particular moment I felt like an absolute genius! Out came my phone and onto Snapchat (it has quickly become, for many, the primary mode of communication! what is happening to the world?) I went, sending a post to each of my contacts asking for a word in hopes that it would spark into an idea! I got a few replies, some are trickier than others to write about but I've never been shy of a challenge!


The first word I've decided to go with is Whirlwind, now I could talk about whirlwinds in the technical sense of the word, but that wouldn't be really fun for anybody would it? But today my friends, we are gonna use it in the metaphorical sense! Metaphorical, what a lovely word, it makes plain old things so much more exciting, I think you can think of most things in a metaphorical way, door to my life, closet to my secrets, window to your soul, cereal to your.. okay, well I did say most. Anyway to get back on the right track, I think whirlwind is a good metaphor for life. Like a whirlwind, life is fast, deadly and thrilling, it's a labyrinth. I mean life is full of emotions, experiences, opportunities, good and bad! So much happens in such a short space of time it's almost too difficult to comprehend!

Proceed with caution, this post is gonna get a tad sappy in the following sentences..

There's been a couple of people who I know, or who I know of, that have been going through some tough times, and it really is heartbreaking to see! So for that reason alone this post is dedicated to anybody who might be feeling a little down at the moment, obviously I'm not going to be able to make the feelings stop or take away the situation, whatever it may be, but hopefully it'll make you see that it's not going to last forever and remind you that it's all part of the whirlwind that is life! It's strange to describe because being in a different country, or some cases a different continent, it's really challenging to give friends or family the support they need, or deserve for that matter, there's a certain separation from the situation and a lot of the time distance is a good thing, gives you the room to gain perspective on certain things, but when you want to be there for someone physically, it sort of becomes a hindrance more than anything else! It's okay though, I've figured that one can always perform ninja like actions to cheer someone up, just because you're not in the same zone doesn't mean you can't make a difference; send a letter, a post card, a cake, some flowers, whatever your heart desires!

So you might feel sad now, or maybe you feel happy, or angry, or frustrated, or whatever. So what? Who cares? Feel it all you want, there are people in this world (people I don't understand and would like to hit with a rubber hammer) who tell you it's not okay to process the negative feelings, and make you feel bad about feeling bad! WELL, SCREW YOU, is what I say! It's utterly ridiculous that these people exist, who even raised these people? These are the people who think everything should be the same, and my god how monotonous life would be if that were the case? Okay, obviously I'm not telling you to feel sad ALL the time, then life would be no fun whatsoever (and you always need fun), but it's not wrong to have negative feelings once in a while nor should you feel guilty about having them, that's just crazy talk, if anything it's normal that you feel like that sometimes, like I said, it's all part of the whirlwind of life. It's what makes life manageable, being able to release all these pent up emotions, it's like allowing your body to regenerate and breathe! So I say be free to cry, scream, shout, laugh, cackle, sing, what ever you're into, just do it! Although, if at all you can refrain from randomly bursting into any of these in public, especially cackling, please do so, people will think you've lost your marbles. If you have, in fact, lost your marbles, be my guest, create the biggest scene imaginable to man!

Too many people spend their lives being afraid to feel. Afraid that they'll be seen in a different way or that they'll no longer be the 'tough man', well I call it Bull. If anything, feeling makes you the toughest man, showing your emotions is brave, it takes a real person to do it. Now, I'm not one to make my feelings known to the entire universe but it doesn't mean I don't do it. You don't have to write it in the sky for it to matter, that's not what it's about, it's about opening up and ridding yourself of all the negativity so that you can move on to the next positive phase, like I said, life is zig-zag, up-down, over-back kind of thing, there's gonna be times when we want to cry, times when we want to laugh, times when we hate everyone and everything, and times when we just want to scream for the entire world and it's brother to hear, there's nothing simple about it, and that's just the way it is. We're never gonna be able to change it, so to be frank, we just gotta take what we have with both hands and dive straight in. Everybody will figure it out, everybody will learn how to live in different ways, nobody can tell you the way you live your life is wrong, that's just ridiculous, it's like saying that the way you have your hair is wrong, or the way you stack your cupboard is wrong, or the way you decorate your house is wrong. It's your right to do things how you want to do them, don't take the shite that people say about how you should live your life. Just do it your way. (I feel like this is becoming a common theme in my blog posts, but it's true so WHO CARES?)

In the famous words of Ronan Keating 'Life is a rollercoaster and you just gotta ride it'. Or rather, life is a whirlwind and you just gotta get sucked in and hang on the best you can, tomayto - tomato, it's the same concept! So go, be free, live the whirlwind that is life, eat cake, be lazy, go for a run, cry, smile, laugh, I dunno, do some stuff.. and if you see somebody else having a hard time, buy them a cookie, or give them a hug, sing them a song, just do something nice and you'll be all the better for it!

So now my lovelies, I'm sure you're sick of reading the word whirlwind at this stage, and you've probably never seen it used in the one place as much in your lives so I'll leave you in peace! Hasta luego mis amigos!