A storm in a teacup

Exactly how does one begin to write an ‘acceptable’ blog entry? Do they jump straight into it and dish out a three course meal of complaints, thoughts and issues for the sake of blowing off steam? Do they ease into the workings of their mind by first establishing a context and/or funny story? Do they recount the events of their day? Start with a quote? Analyse an article or a clip?

Exactly what makes a blog entry or a piece of writing too ‘cheesy’? An overload of adjectives, truncated sentences and clichés? The constant use of pathetic fallacy, with images of rainbows and sunlit highways stretching on beyond the horizon? Or simply being far too sentimental for a particular time of day?

Sometimes I find myself making something out of nothing. Overanalysing things to a point far beyond a point found loosely to a point. Do we live in a society that worries way too much? About what we wear, and what others perceive? The other day I was thinking about the unspoken texting etiquette. These days people don’t say ‘lol’ half as often as they say ‘haha’...but if they say ‘haha’ too many times in a text, they seem weird. And so, in an attempt to salvage the situation, people mix it up and go back to using ‘lol’, or ‘ahah’ or ‘hah’. A text that lacks any emoticons immediately comes across as being blunt. A text with too many emoticons is immediately deemed abnormal. What is the perfect amount of smiley faces?

I guess the obvious solution is to say ‘don’t worry so much’, but we’re human so is that even possible? Everyone cares about something a little TOO much. You can’t control that, but can you control what you care about? I think people get swept up in the little things far too frequently, and fail to see the bigger picture. It’s often an issue of self. If it was never about you in the first place, then there wouldn’t be a problem?

Rather than casting our cares on situations, or objects, why not cast them on something that lasts a little longer...something eternal? Life involves a constant cycle of challenges, victories and failures. We always talk about how we’ll be happier if we had this, or if this problem was solved...but the solution rolls onto another problem – it’s simply inevitable. So why not enjoy it all the while? Don’t let, as Lifehouse puts it, ‘barely surving (become your) purpose’. We actually have an incredible amount of time to think, so why not spend it on something important?

Everything seems to happen for a reason. I guess you can say that there is no storm in a cup of tea, but even if there was, it’d pass soon enough.      

Finally, if this last paragraph makes my entire blog entry ‘cheesy’, then I'm okay with that. There’s this person out there that I don’t really know very well, but I DO know that they've been struggling with some psychological barriers for a while now. I just want to say: It’s ridiculously easy to listen to the negative voices in your life – the voices that come from around you, and the voices that scream within you. It’s much harder to drown them out...and I understand that. They can seem indomitable, particularly the internal ones. However, it’s so obvious that those voices are leading you astray. You’re worth way more than what you could ever care to suppose or imagine. I truly believe that simply changing your mindset and attitude will shake those voices and the impulse to harm yourself. You can get on top of the voices because they are no more than what you let them become. Try your best to ignore them...and one of these days I know you’ll look into that mirror and you’ll be happy with what you see.

Quote Bank: "Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no words left when you want to talk about something really infinite." - C.S. Lewis 

I dare you to move

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a lot of changes take place. My room has acquired a surfboard, a trophy, three books and a new set of headphones. My bank account’s balance has decreased, and my pile of T-shirts has increased. My knee brace is starting to fall apart, and my cooking skills are starting to come together.  Life is a lot of things, but is it ever stagnant? Can you ever reach a point where you’re satisfied, not only with what’s around you, but also with what’s within you? There has always been an aspect or two of my personality that I’ve wanted to mould and transform...so lately I’ve been thinking – can you ever become all you’re meant to be? Perhaps the journey is the destination. Perhaps the tension between who we are and who we want to be is undeniable and unending. Sometimes I wonder why I’m here and not there – feeling swept up in the winds of momentum, but realising that I’m standing still. People often say you ‘find yourself’ at university and I’m starting to wonder if some of my ‘being’ is still out there...and if so, is it like a relationship (in that if you look for it, you won’t find it?) Do you wake up one day and think to yourself...I’m me? There’s a famous saying out there that goes ‘as a man thinketh, so is he’, but what if you THINK there’s more to come? It’s only logical to expect change right? It’s a part of who we are. If it sounds like I’m having an identity crisis, then I have misled you. I’m simply thinking ahead (which was triggered by a copious amount of formal photos from the class of 2011, which once again reminded me how fast time flies). If I was asked whether or not I know who I am in this present moment, then I would say yes. I know my mannerisms, I know my every thought...but I guess I don’t know my full potential. There’s more to people than ever imaginable. Everyone can be great and everyone can be terrible. Everyone is unpredictable – which forces the question, is unpredictability part of who we are? A cliché in our society today is ‘I know you, you would/wouldn’t do that’, but what if someone does something SO unpredictable and out of character? Is it a one-off, or do you need to re-learn who they are? My point is that you can never really fully understand someone else, let alone yourself. In the end...even though I don’t know what lies ahead, I’m pretty pumped because the barriers that hold me back now might be broken in a year’s time.

Quote Bank:  “Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are” – Bertolt Brecht

Footprints in the sand

The mid-semester break couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s not that I don’t enjoy university, or think the workload is overly stressful and exhausting...It’s just that I’m keen to step back from everything and relax for a while.

Lately I’ve been noticing the tell tale signs of spring and summer – an increase in temperature, the billion shards of light amidst the high-rolling waves, faces covered in zinc and the somewhat rejuvenating smell of freshly mown grass. The other day I walked into my garage to find a pair of flippers, and caught a scent that brought me back to the year 2000. Images of water-logged watches, hoses on full blast, mini swimming pools and ice-cream cones raced through my mind (weird, I know). I don’t exactly know how to explain it, but flashbacks like that catalyse a great deal of optimism within me. If we remember the good times, do we then look forward to equally good times? Nonetheless, I can safely say that where I am going is not where I’ve been...and this spring/summer is going to be wicked.

I often look forward to holidays because they carry a ‘fresh start’ banner with them...in a way, mid-semester eve is a lot like New Years Eve (if you think about it). People generally need this banner to motivate them to change, but really, in the end all it comes down to is self evaluation and reflection. We can flip our routine around anytime we want...although I guess the problem isn’t knowing – the problem is doing. People say that this is the critical decade...but why not make it the critical year?

One of the best things about September is the beach! Hopefully I’ll be able to spend a stack of time on the coast in the next few weeks. You’ve probably realised by now that I have a slight obsession. The ocean is my haven – the feeling of sitting on my board out past the break (and level with the headland) is almost unbeatable. The rhythmic sound of waves becomes second nature to me, and my head is cleared in a matter of minutes. At work, I love seeing posters like ‘I surf because...it keeps me coming back for more’ because they are so true! Ever since I was little, I’ve loved the sight of sand and crystal clear water. I used to dart across the shoreline and draw faces with a tide-washed stick. I remember being so fascinated by the fact that my footprints would disappear and be swept away by the rushing whitewash. These days when I think about footprints in the sand, I think about my past and present: sometimes I get so caught up in my mistakes that I forget to move forward. Maybe that’s why I find the ocean so liberating? Maybe it helps me realise that the best is yet to come? I mean of course the past matters, but it shouldn’t define who we are.    

Anyway, I’m off to football but I’ll be sure to post another blog soon! There are heaps of things that I’d love to talk about!

Quote Bank: “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him, his own.” -Benjamin Disraeli 

La vita è bella

In today's society, there is a constant battle for our minds.
Life seems to consist of relationships and routines...and within them, tensions. Are there more questions than answers? Always. Humanity as a whole doesn't actually know much at all. Science attempts to explain the world around us, but cannot answer the simplest question of a child: Why am I here?

I'm 18. I'm a university student. I'm pigeon-toed and I pull my burgers apart. Like everyone else though, I'm trying to find my purpose.

I guess the reason I'm starting a blog is because there comes a point in time where personal thoughts and ideas are simply too much for social mediums like Facebook and Twitter. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like tweets and status updates need to exercise a delicate balance, where they land somewhere in between being too shallow and too deep or sentimental. I've also always wanted to compile an online 'quote bank' (because words are powerful) and I tend to over-analyse and over-think everything (so why not document it).

I do enjoy philosophical discussions, but I enjoy 'smalltalk' as well...so expect some seriously meaningful stuff, followed by pointless information, pictures and rants about my day-to-day experiences.

After all, I'm still learning to breathe.