Being the Change

Hello Lovelies,

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

I heard this quote about four years ago at an evening seminar down at the University of Toronto and it's kind of stuck with me. I've thought about it numerous times. What does it really mean? Does it mean that you should work hard to change others, thus being the actual change? Does it mean you should be speaking about change, informing others? Does it mean that you should always be changing? There's lots of change going on in my mind when I think about this quote.

Nope. I've realized that, at least for me, it's less about the actual change. It's about the example you set. The leadership skills you present. The chances you choose to take and the things you stand for. It's what you do, not what you change. This quote is about leading by example.

And this is something that's really challenged me over the past while. I have (according to some people I know) high moral standards. Intense ideals for how I want the world to be. But I've had to ask myself recently, how many of these ideals am I following? Yeah, I can write an essay about what Utopia is to me and then comment and judge others for not living that way. But should I be?

No. This quote is saying to take that ideal world that you have in your head: that perfect society or way you wish everyone behave and embody that. Become the change. Become the thing that's different. Choose to live the way you're always wishing others did.

Yeah, you and I may be the odd ones out. I'm known as the "good girl" in so many areas because I speak out about what I believe is right and what I think isn't. I've been shunned by different groups of people because my beliefs are too liberal or too conservative. But let me tell you, I've had a lot of people come up to me afterwards and say stuff like, "Thanks for that, I didn't want to say anything, but I'm glad you did," or "You know, I never really thought about it like that before".

You can cause a ripple. The world around us both hates and loves ripples. It loves them because, somehow, everyone's got an ideal world and to see someone moving to make the world a better place is encouraging. It hates them when the ripples ask them to move outside their comfort zone. Therefore, you will have people who will join you in your rippling and others who will try to stop you.

Can I encourage you to try and make a ripple? It doesn't have to be a big one. I'm not asking you to donate your savings to charity or go on a community service trip to Africa for a year. I'm not even looking for you to stand up in front of your school and talk to them about an issue you see. Hold the door open for someone. Buy the person behind you in the drive-thru's lunch. Smile at a stranger. Compliment someone you don't usually talk to. Ask your friends to stop when they start making fun of that kid. You might not see a change after a day or two or even a week. But the ripples will start.

I challenge you. This week, make three ripples a day. I'll do it too. Make a ripple. Be the odd one out.

Be the change.

Portals to Other Places

Hello Lovelies!


This is just a quick little post to link you to two websites you may or not be interested in.

First is, at my mother's request (read: persistent badgering) I've actually started a proper photography blog. I probably won't be posting as much photography on here anymore because I have that blog. I'll be sharing that blog with people irl and I don't particularly want to direct them here. There's not much on it right now, but I'm planning on uploading a few of the photos I've posted here up there and obviously I'll be taking more pictures. So! If you're interested, or just want to check it out, go look here.

The other link is my brother's blog. Your probably will have recalled me mentioning him before. I think he even has a tag. He's eleven and he's decided to follow in my footsteps and start a blog! He's posting on my Mum's google account because he isn't allowed to get his own yet. So if you're interested in adorable, quality, eleven year old boy posts, look here. Here's a little excerpt.

"At around midnight two of three of my sister's (A/N: me) friends had to leave so my sister and one of her friends watched the third movie. I had nothing better to do so I watched it with them. It was (boring) as I said earlier but I was with my sister so it was okay."

Song of the Day

Anyone else uber excited for All Time Low's new album release next week!? :D

Concerts, The Microphone and A Camera: A Life Update

Hello Lovelies!

What is this post, you may ask? Well, realistically, none of you are asking this, but I'm going to tell you anyways. This is a compilement of a whole bunch of little life things that weren't big enough to make a post on their own so I've decided to stick them all in one! Apologies in advance, this will most likely be very random.

So first off, guess who's going to see 5sos in the summer when they come to Canada?!

Meeeeee!!! :D My cousin and I decided that we loved them opening for One Direction so much that we had to go see them again with they come! And this time we're bringing my little brother Jonathan, which might get interesting. I mean, if you're a 5sos fan, you know how they can get on stage sometimes.... ahem. Anyways! That'll be uber fun and I'm definitely looking forward to it!

And then, Ed Sheeran is coming to London, Ontario in June!

So my mum and I are hoping to snag tickets to that one when they go on sale later this week. I've been wanting to see him live for two years now and I missed him when he came last September.

So second on my life updating-ness, I've started recording! Some of you may have read in an earlier that I'm recording my own EP and that started this past week. I've got a selection of six songs that I'm doing and they're a mix of happy, upbeat stuff and deeper... stuff. Anyways, I'm really happy with them all and I can't wait for them to be finished! I have to admit, I didn't expect recording to be quite as exhausting as it was. I came home after four hours and just slept. I can't entirely decide on a name. I'm thinking I'll go with either "Nostalgic Maps", or something like "Page One", kinda to indicate that it's just the beginning.

Lastly, we're doing this really cool thing in my photography course and recently we had to shoot pictures for our personality walls, which is our culminating assignment that we work on through the semester. I was really happy with how the pictures turned out, so I thought I'd share them!

First, we had to do a self portrait in a creative way that
kind of showed who we were, so I've included a camera,
an old fashioned stereo, a travel trunk and a bookcase. I
have to admit, I was really happy with the way it turned
out.

The first category was something we use everyday. I use my
phone pretty much every day, but not for texting or social
media. I love listening to music and my phone is playing
it pretty much nonstop. 

The second category was something from the past and
this is the journal I kept when I was about twelve. I've
kept one since I was seven and I love going back and
reading them. 

Then was family. I took a picture of Jonathan, although it
was hard to choose one because he has so many
different facial expressions and they're all genuine
parts of him. 

Something blue. I don't exactly get why this was a category.
I was half expecting them to continue and say, "something
old, something new, something borrowed".

This was hands down my favourite picture. The category
was something we love to do so I took out a drawerful
of my old notebooks and scattered them on the floor under
my guitar. It's to represent the music and writing.
I may make this one the new background of my blog...

This category was something we love to wear. I love
these boots and they go with pretty much everything
I own.

Something around the house.

Something I value.This is another of my favourite photos
from this set. My family went out to Nova Scotia a few summers
 ago and while exploring the little town we were staying
 in, we found a jewelry shop. My sisters and I all bought a little
 bag of charms and then divided them up amongst ourselves.
We all ended up with one of these keys and I wear it on
 a necklace regularly. 

Something smaller than an inch. I still have all my pennies,
even though I can't use them anymore. This one
has my birth year on it.

Song of the Day
I completely forgot about these, oops. Anyways, today's song of the day is this one.

I love this song and it reminds me of 'Old School' by Hedley. And it's a Canadian band, which makes them ten times cooler. ;) Enjoy!