Tag Archives: lifestyle

An Unpopular Opinion

Good morning/afternoon! Today I will be writing what I realise will be a controversial post. I would like to apologise if this post is in any way shape or form offensive. I would also like to issue a disclaimer: this is my own personal opinion, all opinions in this post are my own. I am by no stretch of the imagination a qualified scholar on any of the issues in this post nor do I know what it feels like to be personally persecuted or to watch my own be persecuted for any of them and I am aware of this fact. These opinions have been formed by conversations, essays, articles, speeches and personal experiences. Please respect my opinion as I respect yours.

Now moving on to the post!

I for a while now have understood that I am lucky. I am lucky because I have a house to live in. I can walk down the street without feeling afraid. I can wear what I please. Have the opinions I have. Love who I want. Achieve what I set my mind to. And ultimately, be who I please.

It is not like that for everyone.

In this post I am once again voicing an opinion.

Most of the time you will find me agreeing with the activists, scholars, lawyers etc but I do have one thing where I will beg to differ, and I have been seeing it for years, in speeches, books, conferences, rallies even TV shows…..

In order to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, the indigenous people, disabled people etc you have to believe that we are all the same. That you have to be comfortable talking about these issues. That you have to be willing to forget the past for a better future.

I don’t believe any of these statements to be true. I believe in order to be an ally of the ostracised groups you must accept that we ARE different. That we aren’t the same, we come from different places, we do things differently, we believe different things and our appearances will differ but that’s ok.

I also believe that it is 100% normal to be uncomfortable talking about these issues. For example I used to be extremely uncomfortable talking about racism, do I still experience mild discomfort talking about it? Yes. Does it mean I’m racist? No. Well, I don’t think so anyways. Being uncomfortable is normal, and it is ok. If someone is discussing something with you and you feel uncomfortable. Good. Be uncomfortable. Because in my understanding it means you care. Think about this. If I went to a racist and began discussing racism and they were not at all uncomfortable the chances are they do not care. But if I went to a “racist” and began talking about racism and they were uncomfortable they probably do deep down feel some form of empathy.

You may then ask if they do care why do they continue to be that way? And may I add that, that is a very good question. It probably means that there is some deeper issue. That they think being that way will be of profit to them. If you were poor and could barely afford food for you, your husband and your children, and the only source of income was your job you would be feeling pretty keen to keep that job. So what happens if discrimination stops and Eddie the transgender aboriginal woman who is 10x more qualified than you are, can now take you’re job because she’s know longer being discriminated against? What happens to you and your family?

From what I understand there is a population of people under this banner. That are afraid of what change means for them. Some of them have very good reason to be afraid. What is needed is a safety net. A way to look after those people, but that’s another days discussion. My point is that they probably do care, they are just afraid.

Lastly I want to mention the belief of “forget the past for a better future” or some variation of that phrase. Our history is what makes us. I will agree that it is ugly and wrong and filled to the brim with injustice, lies and violence, but it is still there. It will always be there. There is no hiding that white man invaded most of the nations on the planet, that they killed and tortured. I’m sorry but there isn’t any hiding that there were slaves. And for my country, Australia, there is no hiding that for many years the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were regarded as plants, not only that but in their own nation where they had been living peacefully for 40 000 years.

I know it is horrible, I too was ashamed to think that I am white. That my ancestors committed all these horrible crimes. But you know what? I shouldn’t. I am a firm believer that we should not feel guilty about the crimes committed in the past, but feel responsible for the reconciliation of all the different people.

I think that forgetting our past is going to solve as much as removing Hatshepsut from the Egyptian line of pharaohs did (For those of you who don’t know that story Hatshepsut was the first woman pharoah. Her and evidence of her reign was found and she was put back in the history books). We need to remember what happened and learn from it. To use it as motivation to heal the wound. We were never perfect, and never will be. But rather than burying our failures as the human race we need to understand what went wrong and learn.

Thank you for reading this post! I know it’s kind of long. Sorry. But this is just an opinion of mine I wished to share. I would like to close this post by saying I fully respect the opinions of people with those beliefs. I would also like to say to any of the indigenous, black, disabled, LGBTQ+, female, lower socioeconomic, (etc) people who may be reading this post, that I respect you as I would any other human being. I hope that reading this post and all the others on this site adds another name to the list of people who are your allies.

And to everyone have an amazing day!

Striving for Unity

The world is divided.

Into 3 primary classes, the elite, the middle class and the minority. In these 3 classes there are multiple sectors each one ranked unofficially in society in accordance to the colour of their skin, their gender, religious beliefs, quality of their education, political opinions, sexuality or wealth, and to be honest these deciding factors should not matter. Yet millions of people are at a disadvantage as a result of them. Some of these people are at more of a disadvantage than others, some even losing their lives as a result.

So my question to you is… What have you done, or can you do, to show your support?

My guess is that a lot of people will say that they have donated, or campaigned for BLM or the “Me Too” movement or some other worldwide campaign. Whilst this is a good start there is still a lot more to do. Whilst your thinking about the question I previously asked, I want you to also reflect on if you have ever thought about those people or helped them in any way after the campaign was no longer popular. The reasoning for these questions is to get you thinking and to get you reflecting on your decisions.

Let me explain. I want you to think about whether you have personally gone out of your way to see what you could do, whether whilst you were campaigning for that trending issue you were actually empathetic and connected to the issue, and if the answers no, don’t worry about it! I’m pretty sure your not alone. Because from what I understand more times than not people jump on the bandwagon of a particular issue just because their favourite celebrity was behind it or because everyone else was doing it. This chain reaction may help in some ways like spreading awareness and raising money for an organisations. The problem is the effort is not sustained. What I mean by that is that once it is no longer in peoples ‘recommended’ or their favourite celebrity moves on the problem seemingly “no longer exists”. The whole issue seems to just disappear and only a proportion of people actually continue to express their interest in the issue. I guess what I’m saying is that just because something is no longer trending that doesn’t mean it has been solved. Long after the issue has been forgotten by the mainstream, others are still suffering.

These trending campaigns they come and they go, as does the support they gain. The ‘2020’ Black Lives Matter movement was actually born in 2015, but was raised to popularity again in 2020. Yes, there were many campaigns in between but there was significantly less attention paid. Do you think that black people were only disadvantaged in 2015 than left alone for 5 years just to be harassed again in 2020? I don’t think so. Yes there were people out campaigning in those 5 years, but they were also a very small proportion of the people who were donating and campaigning in 2015. My guess is that they had forgotten, there was a new trending campaign that had gotten everybody fired up, and the year after that was the same and so was the year after that and I have no doubt it will continue for a very long time. Do you see the cycle? People have very short attention spans. They lose interest in the issue before anything has been changed. They forget about the injustice before things are any different, which means things tend to stay the same.

I have no problem at all with trending campaigns, and absolutely no problem with people combining forces to fight for a particular cause. I actually believe that the use of social media to advocate a campaign is quite an intelligent and efficient way to do it. My problem with using online media tools to endorse campaigns is that there are so many campaigns to choose from. Although it is good to gain exposure to all different types of problems in the world, having so many options tends to make people jump from band wagon to band wagon. Going back to my previous point, that means that before any particular issue has been changed people have moved on. Or because there are so many different organisations to support the followers are divided and there isn’t enough support for any of the issues to make any real changes.

Although it seems all hope is lost and that we will never be able to heal this divided society we have created there is a way. You don’t need to be some form of super human or a world renound activist to create change. The truth is everybody can do it! We need people, ALL people, to discover a humane empathetic respect for one another, and essentially it all comes back to the way we treat one another. If every person makes a conscious effort to treat others as equals to themselves we will achieve peace. In order for this to work people have to understand that for the greater good they need to put their own opinions aside and work collaboratively with people of all genders, sexualities, nationalities, religions, political parties, and classes. I must admit it will take a long time, it will be a slow and drawn out process of healing, but it can be done. I have no idea how many people will read this but if one person reads this and passes it on and then that person passes the message on this could go a very long way. But if you are going to take anything from this article, let it be that you can make a difference. The world is not an endless pit of misery, it is a world of possibilities. It is a world where we prove time and time again just how intelligent we are. It is a world where anything is possible, including change.The person who realises this and believes in it and the human race, with the whole of their being, that person will be the change this world needs to see.

On the topic of people who are working to create positive change, I would like to acknowledge all of the incredible work being done on a global level. I would personally like to acknowledge and show my appreciation for those real life heroes who go out of their way to help others. Who, for some of them, dedicate their lives to serving humanity. Your efforts do not go unnoticed, not by the people you’re helping and not by me. I’m sure you’re all aware of how negative the media really is and how much people tend to gravitate towards negative news. But just because we quite rarely hear about these inspiring stories of success doesn’t mean they aren’t there. The world truly isn’t doom and gloom as there are so many wonderful things taking place each day.

So I hope you understand that the problem isn’t that there’s no good things happening, the problem is that there is not enough support behind them. So I really encourage you to get involved within your local community or even set yourself a goal to show a small act of kindness each and every day.

As I said before I don’t know how many people will read this article, let alone how many people will actually think about what I’ve said, but I will be happy if one person at least thinks about this after reading this article and I will be over the moon if someone takes this message and passes it on. Because you cannot attempt to climb a whole staircase in one go, you have to take it one step at a time. Keeping the end goal in sight.

Thank you so much for reading this article. I hope something that I have said as got you thinking or resonated with you. This is something really important to me and I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks again for reading, have an amazing day.

Say Their Names!

Hey everyone today’s post is an extension of a previous post (I’ve put the link here). I’m sure you’re all aware of the Black Lives Matter campaign and the story of George Floyd that has made its way across the globe. George Floyd isn’t the only African – American person to have been killed unjustly. So today’s post is me paying my respects to these people, their families and all Black people. Say their names. It’s the least we can do. Pay your respects to these people who have lost their lives too soon. Stand with us in this ongoing battle for equality.

Eric Garner

Eric Garner passed away on the 17th of July 2014 after a New York City police officer put him in a chokehold whilst trying to arrest him.

Tamir Rice

On November 22nd 2014, 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot after a white police officer saw him holding a toy gun which he mistakenly thought was real, the police officer shot Tamir Rice almost immediately, failing to check whether the gun was real or not.

Mya Hall

In 2015 a black trans woman, Mya Hall (originally Ricky Hall) was killed by Baltimore Police.

Rumain Brisbon

Rumain Brisbon, 34, was shot twice in the torso after a white police officer claimed he felt threatened by Brisbon. As a result of the incident Rumain Brisbon lost his life.

Samuel DuBose

On the 19th of July an unarmed African – American man (Samuel DuBose) was shot and killed by police.

Akai Gurley

On the 20th of November 2014 in Brooklyn, New York City, Akai Gurley died after a NYC police officer shot him.

Nia Wilson

On the 22nd of July 2018 Nia Wilson was with her 2 sisters when a white man began attacking them with a knife. Later 18 year old Nia Wilson passed away from knife wounds to her throat.

Ezell Ford

On the 11th of August 2014 African – American man Ezell Ford died after being shot by Los Angeles police officers.

Michael Brown Jr

On the 9th of August 2014 Michael Brown Jr died after being shot 6 times by a police officer.

Stephon Clark

On the 18th of March 2018 Stephon Clark was in his grandmothers backyard when he was fatally shot by police.

Charleena Lyles

In 2017 a pregnant mother of 4 was fatally shot after ringing police officers to report a burglary at her apartment. The two police officers fired at her, the injuries resulting in the loss of her life. Police alleged she attempted to attack them when they arrived.

Walter Scott

On the 4th of April 2015 Walter Scott died at the hands of a white police officer.

Keith Scott

On September 20th 2016 Keith Scott was shot and killed by a police officer. The incident sparked peaceful Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S.

Sandra Bland

On the 13th of July 2015 Sandra Bland died, it is believed the cause of her death was suicide. Sandra was found dead in her jail cell 3 days after she was thrown in jail for a minor traffic-light offence.

Saheed Vassell

In 2019 Saheed Vassell was walking through New York carrying a pipe, which local police mistook for a gun. They shot him not realising exactly what he was carrying, he died as a result of the gun shot wound.

Say their names. These names are all real people. People who had families, people who had dreams, people who had lives, people who are no longer with us. Please don’t ignore the real world or think we can’t do anything, everyone is important and if we are to stop racism the message needs to be heard. Never underestimate what you can do. Everyone’s voice counts.

Thank you for reading today’s post. Today’s post was another serious post about real issues. I have done some research and tried to educate myself as best I can on the subject and I encourage you to do the same. Have a wonderful day and stay safe!

A Guide to Setting Goals

Hey y’all! Right now is the perfect time to be productive and get organised! I recently shared a post on things to do to keep productive and organised at the moment (I’ve put the link here!). So as an add on from that post, today’s post is all about setting goals. Full disclaimer this is how I set my goals and what has worked for me, but there are a lot of different ways to do it out there so if this isn’t helpful to you I encourage you to keep looking. Hope you enjoy this post.

Step 1

Step 1 is Brainstorm. Personally I love physically writing my goals and thoughts down. I highly recommend writing your goals down by hand as it helps get them out of your head. It could be as simple as getting a piece of paper and jot down anything that you want to achieve. However big or unspecific your goal is write it down. You may want to set a 5 minute timer just to create a sense of urgency, which often helps you focus your mind. Set a timeframe for your goals and write down all your thoughts on anything you want to achieve by that time. It is ideal that you write as many as possible from a range of aspects in your life. Remember a brainstorm is supposed to be vague. We will evaluate throughout the process. When brainstorming think about more words and phrases rather that sentences.

Step 2

Step 2 is building off step 1 and it is to break your goals down. Get into the more specific details of what it is you want. Don’t make them to specific though as we will break them down further again later. At this stage you mainly want to focus on breaking down your larger goal. For example if your general goal was to lose weight you could break it down to “By this time next year I want to have lost _____ amount of weight”. Be specific. “I want to have completed ____ kilometres/or miles of a marathon”. If you have a more specific goal it is easier to track and recognise once you’ve achieved it. When you have larger goals it sometimes feels like you will never finish, which can make you doubt if you have done enough and may make you want to give up on your goal or just forget about it in general.

Step 3

Step 3 is to ask yourself Why. Why do you want it? Whatever you’re goal is there must be a reason you want it. Do you want to run a marathon for the health benefits or for the self confidence and knowing that you can do it. Acknowledging why you want something helps to keep you motivated on your journey to achieving it.

Step 4

Step 4 is manifestation. Think about the minor details of what its going to look like once you’ve achieved that goal. Think about where you are when it happens,what you can see, hear and smell. Most of all allow yourself to think about the feeling once you have achieved that goal. Visualise it and allow yourself to dwell on it.

Step 5

Now that you know exactly what your goal is, it is time to start planning it. Back in Step 1 I mentioned keeping your thoughts short and sweet because we were going to evaluate them later. I also mentioned in step 2 not to be too specific because we were going to break them down even further. Well now is the time to do both of those things. Planning your goals is a really important step to achieving them. To start off with try to make smaller goals. Think about something that is reasonable for you at the given time. Baby steps. I’m going to go back to my example of a marathon. You aren’t going to be able to run 42km on your first try. Work your self up to it and over time you will get the results. Think about S.M.A.R.T goals. S.M.A.R.T goals is an acronym and it stands for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals.

When planning your goals think of it like a flow chart. My first goal is to run 1k. My second goal is to run it in under 10 minutes. Keep giving yourself something to work on until you reach that ultimate goal.

Step 6

Step 6 is my favourite. It is to write it all down. But it doesn’t have to be boring. I personally am a very visual person and like to create vision boards. You can physically sit down, print out pictures and stick them onto cardboard or you may just create a Pinterest board. That doesn’t work for everyone though. You may write your goals down in your journal or on a piece of paper. Just get them down.

Step 7

Put them everywhere! If you keep a journal write them down in your journal every night. If you made a vision board hang it up behind your door or some place where you’ll see it. Did you write a list? Stick it on your fridge! If you’re constantly seeing your goals your more likely to remember them and keep motivated to achieve them.

Step 8

Step 8 is to keep track of them. Every month or so give yourself a check in. Where am I in relation to my end goal? What am I working on now? How far away is my goal? What have I achieved? When you religiously check in with yourself you’re also reminding yourself of the goals.

Thank you for reading! I hope this post was informative and helpful for you! Now is a great time to be working towards goals as we have some extra time on our hands. Hoping that you’re safe and well. – Sophie

Credit to: Jess Bailey @unsplash images

The Power Of Words

Hey everyone. I have noticed lately that the whole Black Lives Matter debate is slowly fading out and I would like to remind you that our job is not done. If we really cared about what’s happening to these people we wouldn’t stay quiet just because there are fewer people talking. I’m not sure if this is the case everywhere but I have certainly been hearing less and less about it. This is just a friendly reminder that injustice doesn’t cease after a couple months of protests.

Although that’s important, today’s post is not just about Racism but about all sorts of discrimination and how you can stand up to it. I know in such a big world it is easy to feel like you couldn’t possibly change anything, but you would be surprised at how much a few words can do.

I like to think that words are magical. Like magic when used appropriately words can be wondrous, but when used carelessly they can cause great harm. Never doubt the impact of your words.

A few words can break a person. A few words can start a war. A few words can heal a heart. A few words can spark a revolution. A few words can change the world. Never doubt the impact of your words.

I’m not just talking about what you say, but also about what you don’t. I’m talking about when you see someone else upset or alone… Maybe your witnessing bullying, racism or sexism, whatever it is if you choose to say nothing you have made an impact. Whether you like it or not. Ignoring someone who needs help or turning a blind eye to what happens in our world all has its impact.

I’m not telling anyone to start campaigning, maybe that’s not your thing, but you can talk to others about it. You can post on whatever platforms you have, you can donate money to a charity or sign a petition. You can go sit with the lonely kid at lunch. Please don’t underestimate what you can do. The power of your words is unimaginable. A smile could make someone’s day as much as a turn in the other direction could ruin it. Everybody has a choice.

I would like to go back to go the subject of staying quiet, because fewer people are talking. The way the media work is that they take a certain topic and amplify it to make a massive movement but as soon as it disappears from our screens we all seem to forget it ever happened. Do you remember the Me Too movement? Do you hear about that anymore? That’s because it’s no longer “in”. It’s no longer on the news. Your favourite celebrities stopped posting about it, so we all lost interest. There are definitely people who this doesn’t apply to. But I do think that for the majority of people that this is relatable. I’m definitely not innocent on this front either. I didn’t pay much attention to inequality and discrimination before BLM. But I definitely knew it was out there. I know a lot of people would probably relate to that, so please don’t go backwards. The battle is far from over.

“I may be a slow walker, but I never walk back.”

Abraham Lincoln

Thank you for reading this post. I hope it helped you. I know that this is something that needs to be talked about. I really do believe that every voice counts for something. Even if you just have a conversation about it. Everything helps. A group of charities and a couple hundred people may seem like a lot but really its not. There is power in numbers. Never doubt the impact you could have. I hope you think about what I’ve said. Have an amazing day!

Credit to : Jess Bailey @unsplash images