Whenever I come across something I feel would be great to blog about, I generally write a little note in my phone. Sadly lately I've been terrible about transferring these notes to blogs and giving you guys the view of whats happening inside my head.
This morning I thought I would go through and begin clearing my notes... So be prepared for a random possibly unrelated and outdated blog posts in the next few days.
Here's one I began to write a few weeks ago and now on my new computer I can finally finish off! Enjoy... :)
Everyone has at least one best friend in the world. You might be lucky enough to have several, I know I am and they light up my life. Over the weekend I was lucky enough to stay at the house of a girl who lost one of her best friends in the Kerang Train smash a few years ago. These girls are only a few years younger then me but it got me to thinking. If i lost one of my best friends, I'd struggle to get out of bed for at least a month as they mean so much to me. Life is sometimes short and we have to make the most of the people we love.
What really got me, was that this girl to help her through had written a beautiful message to herself on her mirror in lipstick reading
"A girls strengths. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens, She adds happiness, love and lots of opinions, She smiles when she feels like screaming Sings when she feels like crying Cries when she's happy and laughs when she's afraid"
A REAL girl mission this week.
Get creative and make a poster, card, artwork, sculpture, cake or anything you want for a friend that means a lot to you. Jazz things up with magazine cut out's, glitter, colored texta's and let them know how much you appreciate their friendship.
Friends are the family you get to choose which makes them all the more special.
Two weeks ago I received an image on my phone of Lara Bingle naked in the shower; I was slightly shocked but also intrigued.
The photo was taken by Carlton footballer player Brendan Fevola (although he claims to have never sent the text), what started as a joke (I'm not sure it would be particularly funny to have a naked photo sent to every mobile phone across Australia) has resulted in paparazzi harassing Michael Clarke (Lara's partner) and bad-mouthing 22-year-old Lara Bingle.
I have no judgement on Lara, Michael or Brendan. I think the important issue here is that a text was sent of a naked 22-year old girl to persons across Australia. The naked image was posted all over the internet and made front page news. Does anyone realise what this is?? Hello, CYBER BULLYING!!!
I want you to think about how you would feel if a picture of you was sent to everyone you knew, by a boy that you saw five years ago?
How would you feel if the whole world saw that image, how would it make you feel?
Rebecca Howe is a young woman who wrote to me late last year, she is an advocate against cyber bullying.
Below she makes clear what cyber bullying is, and how is can affect you. She also wrote an amazing poem, that I thought was important to share with you. Every single day girls are cyberbullied. I hope that if we understand what cyber bullying actually is and realise that it is a widespread issue- then we can STOP IT!
'Cyber bullying is more serious than any of us realise. I was shocked to hear about the amount of teens that have either been cyber bullied or participated in cyber bullying someone. Cyber bullying includes teasing, spreading rumours and sending unwanted or threatening messages using technology i.e. mobile phones and computers.
Once somebody starts cyber bullying someone, they don’t usually stop. They can’t see the emotions of their victims and can’t see how they react, meaning their victims could be in tears and the bully wouldn’t even realise it. Unlike face to face bullying you often don’t know who is bullying you, it could be your best friend or some random you don’t even know, how are you meant to tell? This is why cyber bullying causes so many more problems than face to face bullying. People often become anxious and anti-social, they also they feel like they can’t talk to anyone and don’t know who to turn to.’
You Can’t Ignore It
A poem by Rebecca Howe
She received a text message, With words so horrid, But she held back her tears and tried to ignore it.
Yet those words ran though her head, ‘You’re a cow, you’re worthless,’ She told herself it wasn’t true, and forgot all about it.
All was going fine, then she got another message, she put down her phone, and tried to ignore it.
She couldn’t focus, forgot to smile, to laugh, lost all her confidence, but tried not to show it.
More messages came; she got anxious, agitated, ‘Who were they from?’ She couldn’t ignore it.
Then came another message, the final push. ‘You’re just a waste of space,’ and she believed it.
She didn’t forget it, Let it slide, Hold back her tears. She didn’t ignore it.
She was found in her room, Silent and cold, Bloody razor blade next to her, She couldn’t take it.
Now do you think those girls, realised it was them. There messages, there words, that brought her to do it.
They know what they did, There silly mistakes, It was never meant to go that far, Now they have to live with it.
She was happy, always bright, They took that from her and drove her to madness, Now everyday in their minds, they see her face, and try to ignore it. You can’t ignore it.
Yesterday, a young woman I know said something that made me feel sick. It made me think about what REAL is trying to achieve and if we are actually achieving anything at all?
The young lady, who I will refer to as Miss X, dropped her twelve year old sister off at her new high school. The younger sister is starting year seven, and while she does not even know it yet, she is about to embark on one hell of a journey, full of crazy, funny, sad, overwhelming, scary and wonderful moments that she will reminisce and talk about for many, many years.
Miss X with much wisdom told her nervous younger sister this:
'Don't worry, you will be OK, just pick out the prettiest girls and be friends with them.'
At this point of conversation I was pretty much in disbelief that people still thought this way, all could I muster was a pretty lame, 'Excuse me, you said what?'
So Miss X, what you are saying is that all the 'hot' and 'pretty' girls (who defines who that is anyway?) are the best friends to have. That these are the girls who will take care of your little sister when a boy breaks up with her, call her at night when she has been in bed with the flu for three days, send her a post card from Queensland in July, be honest with her and believe in her, even when she doesn't believe in herself?
What you are saying is that these girls, based simply on their appearance will always have your back, no matter what happens...simply because they are ''hot' and 'pretty' ??
I think this is shallow.
The thing that really gets to me about this comment is that Miss X did not even believe in her own sister! She did not believe that her sister was amazing and fantastic enough in her own way to make almost equally amazing and fantastic friends. Instead the only way she believe that her sister will be popular is to hang out with the 'hot' and 'pretty' people.
I have a sister to and I would never ever tell her that, because I think she is amazing in her own right. She has friends that care about her and despite everything that happens they will be there for her. I never told her to find ‘hot’ and ‘pretty’ friends- I don’t think the way you look defines the type of person you are.
So, if you ever read this, that girl who started Year 7 yesterday, I want you to know this...
Be friends with people that make you feel good, that make you laugh, that truly care about you and believe in you.
Why? Because you are worth it. Believe in yourself, be strong and get ready to have the best time of your life!
Summer in the City? We have a splendid idea that is cheap, fun + you can take all your friends!
Imagine this...you have a packed picnic, drinks and other lovely things to munch on.
You arrive early to get a good seat with a group of girlfriends; you set up a picnic rug and get comfortable. Drinks are splashing, dip is going everywhere and you just can't seem to find the cheese!
But amongst all the food and laughing and you have lost track of time. The sun is setting and night begins to fall...and suddenly the film starts.
What am I talking about? It ‘s called The Moonlight Cinema.
Moonlight Cinemas take place around the country during the months of Jan, Feb and March.
And in the spirit of film, I thought you might like to watch the preview for the new film Bran Nue Dae starring our favourite Aussies Jessica Maulboy, Ernie Dingo, Geoffrey Rush, Dan Sultan and Missy Higgins.
REALaims to encourage girls to respect their bodies and minds. We facilitate and create innovative mediums that honestly reflect the ideas, challenges and experiences of girls living across the world.
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