Tell your story!

Over the past few years i have changed a lot. There are a lot of areas of my life that have completely changed and yes, i'm a late bloomer, but i think i'd call it growing up.

Believe it or not, i'm a lot more mature than i used to be (i know just THINK how immature i was before!). I'm not as interested in changing the world as i am just to take an interest in current affairs. I am more open to things that i used to be closed-minded about. I now see young people in a completely different light. My eyes are much more open to the dangers that surround them, the activities they choose to participate in and the people the surround themselves with. I see through a lot of fake things and have learnt when something is transparent, as i make it a daily habit to be as real as i possibly can be, realising that my life hasn't always been the most legitimate life i've led.

I was chatting with a friend recently and i've realised that a lot of these changes have occurred during my last three years of summer camps in the USA. I have been entrusted with great leadership responsibilities and have been responislbe for the care of teenagers who were 12-15 years old. A lot of people, particularly here in Australia, think of summer camps in the USA as somewhat of a holiday. I assure you, it is a whole lot more than that. It's a lot of hard work but the rewards are so great and you grow interpersonally and within yourself so much.

My very first year of summer camp was the best year for me. I learnt a lot about being real with people and ever since then, it has been a growing and learning process in my personal journey.

2008 and 2009 in fact, was a time when i learnt that each of our personal stories are so important to how we deal with each other. They're also so important to 'keeping it real'. Such a freakin' deep catchphrase!!!!

So often in life, we go about not probing people about who they are or where they've come from, because we're afraid it's none of our business or something we shouldn't really be asking about, and all good and true in some cases, particularly ones where the othe person doesn't want to give any information.

But so often when we DON'T find out about the lives of others, we miss cruicial bits and pieces that give us insight into being more sensitive to who they are.

So in 2008 and 2009, that's what i've realised. I NEED to get to know people, i need for them to tell me their story so that i am more sensitive to who they are. We don't share our life story ENOUGH, that's my opinion.

There have been people in my life that have opened up and shared their story with me that i see in a whole new light now and for that it has deepened our friendship, something i always mention on my blogspot!!

But it's not a one-way street. It's just as important for us to share OUR story with others, particularly when others might be going through something we've been through before.

By sharing our stories with each other (and i'm not talking about the graphic deatails, unless that is what someone wants to talk about)l, we go deeper with each other. We understand each other better. We feel for that other person. We're able to offer better detailed advice or comfort or whatever is needed. We can't do any of that if we only know someone on a surface level.

I think, in conclusion, what i'm trying to say, is that we need to share our stories with each other more often. I'm a true believer in that and not because we need to have a cry, although sometimes we do, but rather we need them so that we can heal, so that we don't hold on to things, we need these stories so that we can offer hope and love and comfort, so that we can offer an ear to listen and to be supportive of one another.

It was only yesterday that someone shared with me a part of their own story that reminded of how important it is to journey with each other and to support and uplift each other. It reminded me to write this blog.

Someone Like You - Adele

I heard that you're settled down,
That you found a girl and you're married now,
I heard that your dreams came true,
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you,
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"
Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead, yeah,

You know how the time flies,
Only yesterday was the time of our lives,
We were born and raised in a summer haze,
Bound by the surprise of our glory days,

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,
I had hoped you'd see my face,
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you, too,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

Nothing compares,
No worries or cares,
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made,
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,
I wish nothing but the best for you,
Don't forget me, I beg,
I remember you said,
"Sometimes it lasts in love,
But sometimes it hurts instead,"

The 'Thousands'

There's always been an era. In the last 100 years, it's been the 20's,30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. But what will tomorrow be called? The thousands??? Well they've been thousands for a long time!

I read an interesting article in the MX Newspaper on Wednesday i think and it basically just addressed the question of what will tomorrow be remembered for! When the future generations look back on who we are now, what will they reminisce about? It also spoke of how this generation has borrowed the other generations for inspiration such as clothing and hairstyle and lifestyle in general.

But what styles will we be remembered for?

When i was younger i vowed never to wear granny clothes. In fact, i still don't want to become an elderly person. They must have so much insight and be so wise and yet, they freak me out and i never want to be one!!!!! But i always thought that my clothing style would never change. I have never seen the reason to stop wearing jeans and tshirts.

I guess if you consider the significant events that have taken place over the decades, perhaps the times have influenced the culture of society.

But perhaps that's the interesting concept with this generation. We've exhausted our options and we're happy just to exist. We're more into gadgets and upgrades rather than our changing lifestyles. Perhaps we will be known for owning out of date and historic televisions that weren't digital or for our analog mobile phones. Perhaps technology and social networking is what this age is about.

I'm personally still waiting for the futuristic age with hovercrafts and airlock doors and funky clothes!

It will be interesting to age.

I don't want to get old but i do wonder what the 'thousands' will be remembered for!

Last Night's Dream

Last night i had this weird dream.
Tony, Eloise and i were driving in my car and we drove past this massive old empty sort of warehouse. It was pouring rain and for some reason we'd got out of the car to go in and look. As we were getting out of the car, out of nowhere, this creepy guy started bolting towards, i told Tony to get in and he just didn't. This guy needed help but was threatening us all sorts of ways. Eventually Tony got in the car and we drove away.
As we were driving, Tony was like, 'we have to go back there later to make sure that guy is ok.' He wanted to help him. Aw.
We kept driving and we started heading up this hiill, the road started to get narrower the further towards the top we got! Eventually my brand new car went too close to the edge and we started plummetting down the side of it. By some way of a dream-like miracle, we didn't plummet too far and actually landed on our wheels beside a golf club and it was easy to see we'd be able to drive away, altho, my car had scrapes and dings in it galore.
The End.
I think it stemmed from us driving through Miller and stopping at the petrol station and the fact that it was raining i think represented the darkness and drugs of Miller haha. I think Tony standing outside is what made me dream he took on the weird, zombie-like guy. And i think Tony ALWAYS promising to key my car was what made me dream my car was dinged and scraped. The rest, i dunno!

My Mathematical Days

Name a time when you turned a boring activity into something fun:

Well during maths, i could never understand what the heck was going on, so i made up this hand-written game of Tetris. All the pieces were coded with numbers and my friend chose random numbers. Then i would draw the pieces, according to what numbers she'd chosen into a 'tetris graph' in my gridded maths textbook - sure made maths go by quick I also used to sign my name repeatedly in case i ever became famous and needed to sign an autograph!!! ~Alisha Blackman

Accommodation

K wow, this is two blogs within the space of half an hour - sorry!

So i've been seriously contemplating moving into the heart of the city. For a coupla reasons.

It would be cheaper because i wouldn't be paying train ticket fairs or paying petrol to get to work everyday.
It would probs be a lot of fun.
But I'm a lil nervous to actually get out there and look around. I've never been a flatmate before and so i don't really know the rules of the game. I'm scared i'd be a terrible person to live with too.

I'm not scared of living with complete strangers - well maybe a little bit. But i think it would be so cool to meet new people etc etc....

But i have to say that living in Sydney CBD would be such an experience!!!

Crazy Weirdo Dream

So i had this amazingly cool dream last night and i don't know that words will do i justice. I felt so real too!!!

In it, i wasn't human, but i don't know that i was necessarily alien and or robotic. I could just do things that humans can't do.

It seemed as if this dream had picked up from where another dream had ended and in that dream, i'd been taught all about my new life as this.....-there isn't even a word to describe it- .......new person, i guess???

They'd (and by they, i don't even know who 'they' were) taught me how to enter this secret underground hill/lair/cave and in this lair were crazy concepts that allowed me to do things beyond human capabilities. But you had to master things first before you could proceed to better things.

That's kind of where this dream picked up.

It had been a while since i'd first become non-human and i'd kind of mastered a lot of things. But word had spread that there was this new breed of humans that extra powers.

They had become a hunted species and i was one of them.

Somehow, i'd tipped off someone to these secret powers i had and i was on the run. I ran to a house that i knew had a secret lair. No-one knew about these secret lairs except those of us who weren't human anymore. If you weren't one of us, it just looked like a moundhill.....??

So i ran to this house and the owner of the lair, knew who i was. I asked her if the lair was still there, because apparently some had been closed up. She said it was still there.

I ran to the lair and went in. It was like a safehouse, no humans could get into them and didn't even know they existed. I was desperate to find something in there but i didn't know what it was i was after. I think that must've been in the previous dream which i didn't have much memory of.

All i knew is that there was a big book of powers we could learn and i was looking for something specific but i just didn't know what.

There was also another doorway that you could only enter if you'd mastered the basics of this new species, which i'd now mastered but for some reason i didn't go in there and knew i needed to.

That's when i woke up. It was such a joy-ride of a dream. There was much adrenalin because i was on the run. I loved it. Didn't wanna wake up.

Plodding Along

Sometimes, an unexpected turn of events will suddenly hit you. It comes out of nowhere and it makes you re-evaluate everything in your life. Everything you've ever stood for, everything you've ever believed. It makes you re-evaluate where you are going and what things lie in store for the rest of your life. All your goals, dreams, expectations are stirred. When you think life is going smoothly and your car is travelling without a hitch, SOMETHING in life turns everything around and leaves you questioning, 'where am i going? what am i doing?'.

Today I've had this happen to me.

Something in my life made me sit upright and wonder what are the things that are important to me? What am i really trying to achieve? Is this life i am living, this road i am travelling, is it all worth it? What am i trying to accomplish?

And now i feel like, where do i go from here?

This event that's happened, this turn of events as i put it, has taken a load of something i'm not quite sure what, off my shoulders.

And did it start today? No.

It's been quietly creeping in and i haven't noticed it until this week and indeed, just today.

I sat on my bed, looking out into space, at the blue, cloud-riddled sky and re-evaluated the road i'm on.

I don't particularly think it's given me any answers, i just think it gave me a glimpse into a life i'm trying to make sense of, even though none of that makes ANY sense.

Then, as i always do, i started thinking about what role God has played in all of this. And i came to the conclusion that sometimes when we wait, and we think life is dry and unfruitful, then God is at work and we don't even know it. Hindsight is a brilliant thing and perhaps that's played a role in some sort of burden being lifted from my shoulders.

Sometimes in life it feels as though you're traipsing through wet cement. Feels like you're not really getting anywhere and then when you catch a glimpse of where your life is going, it feels as though you're on top of that cement, walking freely.

God uses me in ways i don't even realise sometimes, in ways i don't even know or understand, and if i'm faithful to him, particularly in times when the rest of the world jeers at me and questions my motives, he'll reveal what he's doing. Not completely. But enough to let me see that my relationship with him is not in vain. It's exciting.