seize the day

I wish I’d had the courage to live life true to myself, not how others expected of me. I wish I didn’t work so hard. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

These are the top 5 regrets people say aloud whilst on their deathbed. Having regrets is a regret in itself, but all of us here have the opportunity, right now, to wipe away the possibility of having these thoughts. 

Turning 18 recently has made me realise that my whole life, right up until this moment, is simply the beginning. Every second is a new start to the next part of our life, with every second comes a new opportunity, a new chance to start afresh.

Have you ever felt like you haven’t done anything with your life? Like a whole week has passed by without anything worthwhile happening? I used to, all the time. I constantly made the excuse that I was too busy. That having school and other responsibilities was too time consuming, and I would get around to everything else, “someday”. 

Here’s the reality that I have only very recently realised- if you’re busy now, you may still well be just as busy in a year’s time, so why wait? Why not start enjoying life now? Life is going to transpire, whether we like it or not, and instead of letting this happen, instead of letting the days fly by, forgotten, make your time more memorable.

All it takes is little steps. Small challenges, small goals. Give every day just a tiny bit of meaning. Why not give something new a shot for a week? Or even 30 days? Think of something you have always wanted to do, and do it. The desires you have at the moment may not ever pass, but time will.

How many of us here reflect on each day? I know I don’t, a lot of the time there isn’t much to reflect on. Just imagine if you did something that had a point, every single day. Imagine looking back at your year and remembering April as the month you trained for a marathon, September as the month you gave up junk food. Think back to February, what did you do? What happened in that month? If the answer is ‘nothing’, aim to make your next February a month to remember. Daily challenges, weekly challenges, or even monthly challenges, could literally change your life.

Life is scary. Life is a big open space that we are left to fill and most people only take up a miniscule portion.  No matter how young or old we are, no matter how much of life we have experienced, there will always be room to fill. We never know where life will take us, where will you be in a year? We look to the past and the future so often, but what about the present? Instead of thinking about tomorrow, think about right now. Think about what you can do in that exact moment, that exact place, that will add a spark to your day

Don’t let yourself have regrets. Make the most of every moment you have. I’m not suggesting to ‘live every day as it was your last’, but rather, live every day so you don’t forget it. Memories are all we have once something is gone, so why not make them great?

J. 

[This is part of a speech I wrote, that won me a public speaking award at a YOTY quest]

the importance

In my family this year, Christmas spirit has been lacking - in fact, it was lacking right up until about 11am this morning. 

All types of unexpected trouble has come our way, with money and changing plans - moods have been swinging and home has been the place I have least wanted to be. Even my attempts to decorate the house with what's left of our dwindling collection of Xmas decorations, failed.

Though everything is in full swing now, the past few weeks - my final results coming out, uni preferences and now, christmas - have been tough.

But every year is tough. For everyone, everywhere, there are tough moments. 

But when we are happy, we forget the bad.

I think that's the most disappointing thing about growing up - the older you get, the more you try to relive your past happiness and the more you are let down by the fact that it won't be the same. We focus on our inability to celebrate like we usually do, rather than focusing on looking forward to the celebration that we still get to have.

I think I need to stop trying to exhort such things upon life, and focus rather on moulding what I have in front of me.

J.

#thugxwife

Instagram has re-created photo sharing and connected me to people around the world - something social networks like Facebook have never been able to do for me.

There is one specific user that I would love to share with you all. She isn't my role model, she isn't really a lot like me, but I admire her like crazy. THUGXWIFE has the most intense 'I don't give a fuck' attitude, her personality is expressed through every single one of her pictures and for all you tatt lovers - her skin is covered in the most beautiful and badass tattoos. 

If you want something to rip your mind back down to earth every once in a while, you should definitely follow her - instagram, tumblr, whatever - get on it!

These are some of her ridiculously awesome shots.

the gift of giving

"It's that time of year again" and I love it. I love it because it gives me a reason to craft! I love DIY projects and trying new activities, so when this Christmas season came around, and all I had in my wallet was Officeworks and Coles gift cards, I knew it was fate. 

Having no desire to buy my friends stationery or groceries, I went straight to Pinterest and spent hours searching for the perfect, inexpensive DIY gifts. I wrote down all my favourite ideas, but I decided to make 'Gifts in a Jar'. Inexpensive, creative and cute - perfect! 

After writing down an extensive shopping list, these are what I came up with:
[with help from various sources]

I've never actually had Chocolate Pancakes, and i'm not really fond of pancakes actually, but I love love love love chocolate and so does one of my friends. Let's just hope she likes pancakes more than me.

Ever get tired of using Milo as your mix for a Hot Cocoa? [I actually think getting sick of Milo is impossible] Well, here is your solution! Fully equipped with 100% cocoa, lots of sugar, tiny chocolate melts and even mini marshmallows, your perfect Hot Chocolate is only a cup of warm milk away!

I found this recipe on Bakerella [one of the websites listed below], and it caught my eye because her designs were so cute! I decided to add my own 'xmas' twist and use red and green mnm's instead of pink. Also, please excuse my poor labels, I don't have a personal laptop at the moment, which means I don't have access to Illustrator, sad face. 

Does anyone still bathe the old fashioned way? In a bath? I'm not sure, but these sugar scrub ideas were too cute to pass up. I've linked the websites below, and you should really check them out if you're looking for things like this. I love that these are so simple to make!

Credit goes to the idearoom.net for the labels.

This is my favourite! The colours work beautiful together! The super expensive paper was so worth it! So many exclamation marks! 
Stupidly, I had attempted to print the label onto the paper, but the paper is coated in something, so it didn't work. I had to attempt to write in the desired font, it worked out fairly well but a bit shaky. No matter, I still love it.

Below are the sources for some of my creations:

Cowgirl Cookies
http://www.bakerella.com/mix-things-up/

Peppermint candy cane sugar scrub
http://www.theidearoom.net/2012/11/peppermint-candy-cane-sugar-scrub.html

Lemon sugar scrub
http://www.theidearoom.net/2012/04/lemon-sugar-scrub.html

the beginning of you and i

So, this is something that has been on my 'to do' list for years - start my own blog. I've constantly put it off, wanting to wait until school had finished, and now that it has, I have no other excuse. 

I was always frightened that I would have to change who I was, and create a new persona in order to fit in with the world wide web, a society of ridicule, humour and controversy. I was frightened that my life would not be worth sharing. I was frightened that my only subscribers would be those who simply forget to unsubscribe.

This is the hardest part, the beginning. The point where I have to stop being frightened and take on the challenge of honest and beautiful expression. 

Finishing school, my life itself is at a new beginning, my future pathway is completely different to those people I have just spent 6 years of my life with. And that's what I think is most exciting about blogging - the opportunity to share my own little teeny pocket of the world with you.

J.