The Ration Challenge

As a teenager, I always wanted to partake in the annual Ration Challenge and to show refugees my support. However, still living at home and under the guidance of my parents, they didn’t allow it.

But, this year (along with my boyfriend) I have finally decided that it would be a good time to undertake such a task and to show refugees that I am with them and not against them.

So, as of the 17th of June, my boyfriend and I will be given a small amount of rice, beans, flour, lentils and oil to be consumed in 1 week, the same portions as a Syrian refugee. No coffee, no junk and no alcohol.

To show your support, I have attached my fundraising page for people to sponsor me and donate funds that will feed Syrian families and provide them with a beneficial and essential lifestyle that we fortunate people take so much for granted.

Donate just a few dollars to show your support and help refugees.

Help me Help the World

The Ration Challenge Fundraising Page

I Had A Dream

As part of an assignment for my English major unit at university, I composed a dream text which is written below. Not the usual ‘rant’ or opinion, but rather something a little more creative that I wanted to share, so here it is: 

I sat, staring blankly at the posters plastered to my wall as I reminisce on the days events. Nothing out of the ordinary really; the usual hallways and classrooms, same friends and same boring teachers rambling about useless nonsense. Although, even after a day full of what felt like nothingness, my eyes grew heavy and energy withdrew itself from my grasp.

Slivers of silver light shone through the cracks in the drawn curtains. Street lights or the moon, I couldn’t tell, but it bathed my room in enough warm light to comfort me and illuminate the caressing softness of my blankets and pillows; immersing me in a semiotic state of bliss that invited me into the depths of unconsciousness. The dream realm, where the sleepless thrive and frolic in the minds of the sleeping; I longed to be there, among the figments of my imagination; envisaging something different each night. My eyes grew too heavy to keep open, the feathers of my pillow constantly swallowing me into the warmth of the night, cloaking me with darkness and the serenity of silence.

Before I even realise where I am, I notice the dimly illuminated figure that stands faceless in the shadows, rigid and almost lifeless. If it weren’t for the ever so slight rise and fall of the chest and eerily shallow, hoarse breaths, then I would assume that the figure is not part of the living. Thin, dirty strands of hair fall around its shoulders; a mud-stained, torn dress covers a majority of its skin.  I have no intention of taking my eyes off the abnormal being in fear that it would move or jolt towards me in a splurge of disfigurement and terror. From what I can see through my peripherals – which isn’t much I might add – I notice the structure and foundations of what looked to be a run-down, abandoned bedroom. The remnants of a bed frame lay scattered in the corner, cracked glass windows and moth-bitten curtains caused the poorly lit room to emanate fear. An unnervingly tall wardrobe, with both doors seemingly rusted from its hinges stand ominously beside this unsettling human figure. The scent of mould flooded my nostrils, evidence of neglect and a lack of cleanliness. Assortments of cracks painted the walls; peeled paint lay wasted on the floor. I knelt in the centre of this forgotten chamber; splintering floorboards creaking under my weight. Other than the occasional wail of the floorings, and the unnatural breathing of the figure, the only noticeable sound was the heavy beating of my heart pumping in my ears; signalling the terror and adrenaline coursing through my body.

In an attempt to better understand the scope of my surroundings – and a possible escape route –  I tilted my gaze ever so slightly to the right; making sure to keep the being in the corners of my vision. A padlocked door separated me from the exteriors of this dank, unpleasant room – dammit. Daringly, I decide to unbuckle my knees and slowly creep towards the hinge-rusted door, hoping that the rust will give way under a little weight.

Bad idea.

Before I can even position myself upright, the womanly figure previously lurking in the shadows under the broken glass window begins hurling herself in my direction. I wouldn’t call it running because the way its legs moved almost resembled that of someone who had broken their legs. Bones cracking and buckling under the weight of the body didn’t seem the divert the focus of this creature; me. With its arms outstretched in a mutilation of savage cuts and lumps, it screeched a terrifying sound that sent goose bumps to the surface of my cold skin, and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I woke with a jolt. Sweat coated my face and soaked my hair. I hurriedly gazed each corner of my poorly-lit room; cautiously checking for any signs of abnormality. Nothing.  It had been a very long time since I’d had a bad dream, especially one as graphic and terrifying as the one just experienced. But I guess that’s all it’ll ever be; just a bad dream.

Feminism

We all know that feminism is currently circulating a majority of social medias and the internet. However a controversial topic it may be, my views or opinions may be unpopular, but in my eyes truthful and in need of public recognition.

To me, feminism respects the equal working and paying rights of females to that of males. It resonates the respect of females and to show that women in our society are hard-working and deserve every bit of recognition (and in some cases more) than what men are currently getting. It demonstrates that women have power to rule instead of being ruled and to display the dominance that females are so rightfully entitled to.

Take Malala Yousafzai for example. She is a highly regarded and respected female not only in her country, but the world.  Her story is taught in schools; a true identifier of the term ‘feminism’.

Since when was feminism about respecting and even promoting the sexualisation of attire and therefore revolting against the provocative remarks of men? This is not what we should stand for and value. For a majority of my life (I’m 19), I’ve been surrounded by influential women who have taught me my way of life and brought me up to respect my image and dress and act accordingly. Like, for instance, Malala; 90% of her body is covered, yet she is still respected because of her bravery and rebellion towards something she believed in. Young females these days are leaving the house in skimpy attire, to only then take to social media to retaliate to provocative activities they receive from men. My reaction? Don’t wear something that shows half your body to the public eye. Isn’t that something simple and obvious? But still, women expect to be able to wear whatever they want – regardless of how much skin they are showing – and still be respected and treated as any other? How is this regarded in any means as feminism? Ladies, please. Since when has showing so much skin become so important and relevant in today’s society? What happened to intelligence? You can’t expect to go out wearing something that shows half of your butt and boobs and for people not to look. That’s just stupid. If you really didn’t want people to look at your assets, then you would have concealed them and made yourself look presentable and perhaps even intelligent. Even I understand that girls may want to show off their bodies and create a reaction, but then why has it become such a huge topic surrounding the internet that women shouldn’t have to worry about how they dress. Even men, who are obviously muscular and clearly go to the gym, and walk around in muscle tees, flexing at every given opportunity, there’s always judgement thrown towards these types of people; people who scream for attention. Girls, you’re obviously going to receive cat calls or winks from men if half your butt is hanging from your shorts. So don’t act surprised and think that you’re entitled.

Ladies, understand one thing. Not all men find this attractive. Some might, but at the same time, they may not value you as a person and therefore, you’re creating a bigger hole for yourself then needed. Dress how you want to be respected. If you don’t want respect then fine, by all means leave your house in a bra and undies 😊. But think before you act. Because feminism, in my opinion, is by no means related to how women are dressing (or lack there of).

Synthetic Sports Enhancers

Something I’ve always known but never really understood is why people undergo laborious and cumbersome activities under the influence of synthetic energisers or drugs. Nowadays, the internet (particularly Instagram) is full of fitness models and teenage aspirations recording videos of their heavy and muscular exercises. However, in the generation now, people are able to realise the effects and symptoms of synthetic gains and drugs that enhance the production of muscle and weight loss. Of particular advertisement is that of steroids. Many male Instagram models advertise themselves and their bodies claiming that training 7 hours a day, 7 days a week is the result of such a healthy lifestyle. With a boyfriend who has trained for 7 years, even I know that training at that capacity and that intensity does not result in the extent and velocity of muscles that are so publicised and advertised. Not only do these models think that we don’t realise, but they advertise and expect people to follow them in the hope that they too will aspire to look and feel like their inspirations as followed on Instagram and Facebook.

However, within this generation, and even the generation taking these synthetics are realising that steroids and other drugs are not only deteriorating our insides slowly (liver damage, kidney or prostate cancer, tendon damage), but making males infertile and depressed; these drugs have little to no beneficial effect on our overall mental health. Other than making muscles look bigger and more defined and losing the body fat that we already lacked, steroids is taking over a majority of the internet and providing aspiring teenagers with false and hopeless inspiration. Millennials have begun to recognise the symptoms that steroids and other exercise enhancing drugs have began to produce and further delved into the extent to which these drugs have a negative effect on the body and brain.

The production, manufacturing and advertising of steroids is much like the that of cigarettes. Although people think that steroids is a much less harsh substance that the body can consume, it has a similar effect to that of cigarettes, just on different areas of the body and organs. However, cigarette companies publicly advertise the negative effects of smoking on their packages and therefore reduce the risk of legal actions against them. I’m not sure if it’s just me or the general population, but I haven’t seen anyone (other than movie production companies) advertise the negative and weakening immune system that these synthetics inevitably presents. And yet steroids still appear on the shelf for consumption. So maybe this needs to be the next step towards a much cleaner, natural workout lifestyle.

In this growing and advancing technological age, the positive effects (or lack-thereof) of steroids are more promoted than that of the negative effects which has dramatically increased the number of steroid users in todays society. However, in this millennium the promotion of muscles and heavy training workouts is more important than any enhancement products. This is what receivers usually pay more attention to, rather than the actual, absolute and inevitable effects that are less published, and what followers tend to ignore and reject in order to look and feel like their inspirations.

In regards to the previous, action must be taken to make public awareness of the negative effects of the use of steroids and what negative healthy issues it occurs if long term use is taken. Although it makes the user looks temporarily muscular and ‘well-built’, the internal health diagnosis have gone unrecognised. These issues need to be recognised in order to reduce the effects that steroids and other sport enhancement drugs have produced on the human brain and body.

I don’t understand why people think that temporary gains and happiness is more important than overall and permanent happiness. If 2 years of workouts and health has more beneficial aspects, then why take steroids? Steroids have drastically reduced the production of male testosterone and thus enhanced depression. Is this mental state more important than your physical state? Whether or not you have a girlfriend or a family, why should synthetic drugs and enhancers be more important to you than your family and your overall health? I’m sure your family would much rather see you more healthy and naturally fit than largely built and majorly defined and be under the influence of synthetic drugs that clandestinely hide the negative internal effects of such treatments.

To anyone aspiring to be like their Instagram or Facebook models who so obviously take steroids in order to enhance their muscle pump or gains; work towards a natural look. Don’t be discouraged by their large muscles, healthy diet plans, and intensive workout programs. Work at your own rate, everyone’s bodies are built different, which requires different levels of intensity. At the end of the day, feel satisfied with what you achieved and slowly work towards the goals that these models and fitness gurus have so rightfully set out or you. Don’t give up, whatever you do, and just know that whatever you’re doing is right for your body and will enhance the health of your body in the long terms, regardless of what your previous intentions may have been. You’re you and no one or anything can change that.

The Beginning

Hello, and welcome to what seems to be the start of something extremely new and adventurous for me.

Starting a blog hasn’t always been in my mind, but after recent situations and developing a mindset and thought process that needed to be put down in words, I thought it necessary (and perhaps interesting enough) to share with the world.

So hence, here I am. With just a teenage brain and a passion to convince, persuade, influence and inspire the young (and old) minds of the world. I hope to relate and provide not only a voice, but a mind to what others may be thinking but not always saying.

My thoughts and beliefs may be controversial, and not accepted or believed by other people. But a small minority – or even a majority – may possess the same thoughts as myself and others.

Criticism will be accepted and taken on board in order to better myself and my writing and to hopefully respond to what people want to hear. I’m open to constructive criticism and reviews. But keep in mind that my writing and my thought process is always my own and I will continue to express what I believe in and respect.

Apologies if anything I say offends or disrespects the opinions or beliefs of some of you; feel free to debate and provide a conversation that everyone will be interested to partake in.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton