So Sorry

So I would like to say sorry for my lack of posting on this page. While I'm going to do my best to upload as often as I can, sometimes life gets in the way. For those of you who don't know, I have had a lot of exciting this going on in life. For example I've just gotten a job with a radio station and am the Assistant Music Director for a local Brisbane play. However the thing that is slowly taking over from my blog is my transition into the world of YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/forgottenintention Feel free to join me here for my vlogs, and keep interested here as I promise I will upload more eventually (when life slows down a little bit.)
And I just wanted to say a quick thank you for sticking with me for as long as you have.

Writers block

As many of you may have noticed there has been a severe lack of updates recently; for this I am terribly sorry. Yet I still can't find a topic that I feel is really worth writing about, so I shall write about having noting to write about.

Writers block: the fear of all writers. That mental brick wall that dams the flow of creative ideas. You think you've over come it and have written a few lines after hours and hours of sitting down and thinking only to find that those lines were the last of a weak trickle of creativity that had escaped the wall only to stop as suddenly has they began. The writers block can last for different lengths of time for each writer. Some cases it may only be a few hours or a few days, for some weeks or months may be taken over by writers block, and in some extreme cases writers block lasts years until finally the writer gives up and becomes a banker or an accountant where you have to deal with numbers, not words. 

Is there a cure for writers block? No one knows for sure. There are plenty of home remedies that writers have discovered for themselves, like listening to music, meditation, reading, stepping away. Yet none of these are guaranteed to remove writers block completely, and it almost always returns, lurking in the shadows waiting for you to get on a creative streak before stopping you dead in your tracks. 

For those of you with writers block I wish you luck, and for those of you with friends you have writers block I wish you luck too for you will have to deal with the nonsensical ramblings of a writer with no ideas. 

A Helping Hand

The human race likes to view itself as one of grace, compassion, and love. While these traits are very present in our lives there are still moments when these traits are completely forgotten. Now I'm not talking about wars or even the violence that is found in so many of our planets' streets. No, I'm simply talking about helping another individual in a time of need.

I'm sure everyone out there has helped someone in their time of need. But I am willing to bet that this person has been a friend, family member or even just an acquaintance. It is very rare to see someone stop to help a complete stranger in a time of need. Yes there will be cases when a big natural disaster occurs and the community rallies together to help each other. However apart from these times, how often do we see one-on-one help?

I have 3 cases where help was desperately needed yet none came. One case happened to a friend of mine. One I found while reading a blog and the third, I regretfully admit, I was a bystander in.

The first case happened to a very good friend of mine. She was extremely sick at uni and decided to go home, yet as she reached the bus station she became violently ill. She was able to make it to a rubbish bin but no further. She was just sitting there too sick to move, almost crying she was in so much pain. Yet not one person stopped to help or to ask if she was ok, they merely continued walking past occasionally giving a sympathetic look. I find this just shocking that not one person would stop to help a young girl who was obviously distraught. Eventually she gathered enough strength to call her father who was able to pick her up. 

The second case comes from a blog I was reading. In this blog the woman tells a story of how she brought her 2 year old son shopping with her. Now anyone who has had a 2 year old will know the difficulty that and outing might entail. Yet she was able to keep her son happy by letting him wear a head band of hers. When they reached the shopping centre many old women and young girls made comments on how cute the young boy was. The boy was loving the attention until a man dressed in a short sleeve camo short and cargo pants walked over from the hunting section (it was an American blog and this occurred in an American store). The man strolled over and asked if the child was a boy or a girl. The mother informed him the child was a boy to which the man laughed and replied that's a boy?? The mother was shocked. This was when the man reached toward the child removed the headband and giving him a tap across the head saying you'll thank me one day. The mother was furious, not only had this man laid a hand on her son he was now telling him how to dress. A small argument followed which ended with the man leaving the store saying your son's a fa***t and I hope he gets shot. To hear this about her own son was too much for the poor woman to take and she broke down. She started to cry and yet no one came to comfort her or to ask if she needed help. I'm still shocked that this could happen and no one would do anything.

My third story is an incident that I witness and still regret not stepping in. I was just finishing work (around 9pm) at my local shops when I heard a small argument from outside of the shop. Poking my head out I saw a very very large man screaming at his very small son and then proceeded to lift him by the arm while striking him. I wasn't the only person to witness this as the screaming was so loud many other people stuck their heads out of shop doors to see what the problem was. It wasn't until afterwards did we realise we should of stepped in and said something to this monster of a man. At the time I think everyone was frozen to the spot in fear, too scared of the man to intervene.

We say we are a species of love and compassion so lets show it. Next time you're out and you see someone who might need help stop for a moment to check on them and make sure they are alright. Who knows, maybe one day you might be in the same position.

Education Errors

This time of year see's grade 12 students all over Australia freaking out about what they will be doing with their lives. Some have a firm idea, many will go on to get a trade of some form, others will go on to university to get a degree which will lead to a dream job such as a doctor or a lawyer. But what about those students who are still unsure about what their lives will be like when they are older. THIS IS OK! I don't understand how the education system expects children to know the exact path that they will be taking by 17 years of age. Students seem to be told that you either get a trade or go off to uni, and if you go to uni it's so you can get yourself a job after. THIS ISN'T THE POINT! University is so you are able to further your education, just because you get a degree in chemistry doesn't mean you have to have a job related to chemistry. It simply means you have a passion for chemistry and wanted to learn more about the subject. I understand that for some jobs, such as lawyers or doctors, you do need a degree but this doesn't mean it's the only reason to get one. Too many people are using university as a form of vocation rather than education. Statistically people graduating from school now will have at least 3-4 career changes in their life time. This means you shouldn't be worried if the job you choose now is going to be the best job to have in 20 years because there is a very big chance the job you will have doesn't even exist yet. I would like to hope that if our society starts to put a focus and an importance on furthering education then we will have less young children swearing and dropping out of school for no reason. We need to show that being educated isn't something to be shunned for, but rather celebrate the educated and encourage others to do the same. It happens time and time again where the educated or "nerds" are picked on, purely because they are smart. In some cases this actually cause the person to feel that being smart is a curse and they try to hide their brains away. We need to band together and show that a brain isn't something to hide, you should be proud of your intelligence.
My advice for all those people choosing their career path but are unsure of what to do, just pick something you love and are passionate about. If you do this then you will be successful, if you are truly passionate about something you will find away to make it your job.
My advice for all of those people who tease the smart kids, I'd be careful because one day, we will probably all be working for them.

Looking Lovely

Looking at society today it is clear what we view as "beautiful." We see pictures and advertisements everywhere depicting tanned, muscular men and women with flowing hair and bright white smiles (the men seemed to always be clean shaven). However this hasn't always been the stereotype for a beautiful person, if you look back in history you can see how much beauty has changed over the years. 

 If we look back there has been a time when beauty was perceived as the complete opposite to what we have now. The men were thick and strong with great big beards (we can assume a bit of a beer gut also from all the ale they were drinking). Women with the largest hips were the most beautiful as it showed they could be good at child bearing. Moving further along we come to a time when sugar was a very big luxury and dental hygiene wasn't even an idea. As you can imagine this led to the desirable look to be black rotted teeth as only the wealthy could afford sugar. It was such a big trend that the lower class would even rub charcoal on their teeth to blacken them. White powdered faces were the tanned complexions of the time. 

As you can see being the most "beautiful" person isn't the best thing. In some cases it can be detrimental to your health. This not only happened in historical times but is still happening to this day! More and more people are suffering from eating disorders as they try and fit into the "beautiful" stereotype. So don't try and fit the mould, instead let the mould fit you and embrace who you are. 

Wonderful Wishes

When someone asks you what's something you wish for in life the usual answers are something materialistic. From toys on a Christmas wish list to having a nice home or car when you get older. But how many people out there can honestly say they would simply wish for happiness.

I was talking with a good friend of mine about the future and everything we wanted. We talked about fame, fortune, love, even which country we wanted to live in. Yet when I asked "if they could only wish for one thing what would it be?" Their answer surprised me. It was simple yet inspiring: They wished for happiness. In the words of my friend, 'you can have fame, fortune, love, and it would be brilliant, but without happiness what's the point?' 

I was speechless, this concept was so simple yet when we look at the world, happiness doesn't seem like a very big priority. People go for jobs that give them a large pay check compared to a job that doesn't pay very well but will make them happy. If we try and live life to make ourselves happy rather than to make money or to impress other people we might just find our quality of life will improve. 

Missing Mum

So it has come to my attention that my last few posts have been running the risk of turning this blog into a place to rant. I don't want this to happen so I'm going to write about something (well, someone) very close to me.

Since starting uni I have spent less and less time at home. I've led a very busy life this year, I've had multiple stage plays as well as music and writing all on top of uni. While it has been fantastic it has its down side. The first major downside was revealed to me as I sat on the train on my way into the theatre. I was sitting minding my own business when a young boy sits next to me on the phone; he was talking to his mum. I assume this was one of his first train rides and she was worried about him. While this might not seem like a big deal to most people I was struck with a sadness that I couldn't explain. That's when I realised I missed my own mum. 

Although I still live at home I don't see mum a lot because of the time she leaves for work and the time I get home. Mum used to be very involved with my life, but as I'm getting older she is becoming less involved. While I realise this is a part of life I noticed it had happened so gradually I didn't even get a chance to fully cherish the time we had together. However it's helped me to now cherish every moment that I have with my family.