Posts Tagged ‘Family’

I Have the Best Flowers…A Blog in Honour of Friends

Posted: July 15, 2012 in inspiration, Love, philosophy, writing
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I like to think of myself as a good friend. I am fiercely loyal and extremely protective of the ones closest to me. Friends (for me) are just as important as family, in fact they are my family. However, I am not the person who has millions of friends, I am a firm believer that it is not the amount of friends you have but the quality of friends you have. I haven’t always felt this way though. There was a time when I was younger (much younger) when I was “friends” with many people and not people that seemed to be overly caring towards me. This all changed when my best friend at the time told me she could no longer be friends with me if I was going to hang out with people that treated me poorly. This changed my whole perspective, she was right, what was the point in being around ten people who made me feel inferior when I could spend time with one person who I could really be myself with and not feel like I had to live up to any expectations. I will forever be grateful to her for opening my eyes to this concept. I am glad to say she is still one of me best friends to this day and even though we don’t see each other as often as I would like, when we do get together its just like it was when we were twelve. This for me, is the true test of friendship, when you can go months without seeing each other but when you do get together its like you have seen each other everyday.

I am lucky to have to two other girls in my life who I gladly bestow the Best friend title on, my sister being one of them. I know some people say your family can’t be your friends but I don’t believe this. The definition of friend for me is someone who is honest with you, trustworthy and supportive of you and always has your best interest at heart, and my sister fits all of this criteria. I have to admit we haven’t always been close considering the five year age difference (I was the annoyingly mean little sister) but as I’ve grown up I have matured and I look up to her in so many ways. She can tell it to me straight and doesn’t hold back when I’m being difficult (one of the few people who can do this). Recently she gave birth to twins and I was worried about her changing and being different now that she has two people to worry and think about all the time. The truth is she has changed she went from being a normal person to being a super hero. That’s right people I’m friends (and related to) with  a super hero. I am so lucky to have her in my life! Love ya!

Last and certainly not least is my Bestie! I met her many years ago (our moms worked together) but we didn’t become friends until we moved in together when we were taking our first year of University. She is probably the most important person I have met since I moved out and became a grown up :). It’s a great thing when you can have someone with you when your transitioning from adolescence to adulthood especially when they are going through the same transition. We have spent so many nights and days talking about anything and everything. She is another one of those people who can call me out when I’m acting a fool (and she does lol). She is honest and trustworthy and loyal and strong, all the things a friend should be. I haven’t had many hard times but when I have she has always been there, supporting me through. We finish each others sentences, we can communicate just by a look and can laugh at each other (and do all the time!). I feel so blessed to have a friend like her especially when I know of many people who have no one they can talk to and be open with. I wish that everyone could have a friend like her, but I’m not willing to share lol 😉

If you are reading this blog entry because you have friends or because you don’t just know that you need to have people around you that care about you as much as you care about them. Don’t ever feel like you have to change who you are or what you think to keep or gain friends. Those people are not friends, true friends don’t care about that kind of stuff they care about you 🙂 In the words of Kelly Clarkson “I’ve picked all my weeds but kept the flowers”  and I have the best flowers!

On a side note I apologize for the lack of blogs :/ I’ve really been slagging on my writing but I’m back in action now and will make up for it in the coming days 🙂

Peace and Love and Flowers

Lindsay

The Rambling Continues from The Non-Knower of Things

Posted: May 24, 2012 in philosophy, thought, writing
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Whenever I bring up (in conversation) population size/growth I always get the “Lindsay’s at it again, that girl is crazy!” side glances.

Am I the only one who thinks that over population of our planet is one of our biggest worries?

In the short 24 years I’ve been on this planet we have put over a billion people on it! Is this not completely absurd? I can only imagine how many people we will create in the next 24, 50, 100 years.

I have given up on the thought of having my own children simply because of these figures. I cannot knowingly put more beings on this planet, while there are millions of children, teens and adults alike starving for a better life (I hope to adopt one day). This does not mean that I am in any way against people having children of their own. My sister gave birth to twins a little under a month ago and I have begun to worry about their future. Will they have enough food to eat, water to drink, air to breathe when they are my age or older? Will their children or their children’s, children be starved of these necessities? What kind of life will they live on this depleting planet?

I thought the reason for procreation was about the survival of the species? To create a new generation of species hopefully stronger and more resilient than the last. Now reproduction seems more of a recreation, than a survival mechanism. We are taught (at least in western society) that the measure of a good life is getting and education, entering a career, finding a mate and having children. This is a good life…or is it? We seem to be breeding at excessively high rates and the offspring, I find aren’t stronger or more adaptable than the last. In fact, they are in many ways weaker(this generation is expected to be the first generation that will not outlive their parents). I agree that every generation opens their mind a bit more which is promising but the fact that we are still teaching our children to rely so heavily on non-renewable resources and technology, frightens me. These things will too run out, these things will too come to an end and then what?

I was born in the late eighties, both my grandparents and parents grew up without television, without running water, my dad(along with his brothers) even hunted pheasants and rabbits to put food on the table. I grew up hearing “When I was a kid we didn’t have blah, blah, blah.” I was always highly aware that the conveniences of today were just that, conveniences. I worry that the kids born in the new millennia will never care to learn about how life was before the industrialized revolution. When I was young the past was still very close, only 40-50 years earlier were things much different. However, today it is closer to a century, we are living in the science fiction novels of the late 1800 and early 1900’s. It is hard even for me sometimes to see how far we have come in such a short period of time, hard mainly because it is worrisome. We move so fast in todays society, barely able to wait for the next big thing, already working on the next big thing before the last big thing even came out. Only the big thing is not saving us, it’s killing us.

Here is a few concepts for thought. We spend all this time and money on finding a cure for cancer, surgeries for obesity, pills for mental illness, but we spend little to no time on figuring out why these have become so common in our society. I think it is something like 1-4 people will have some type of cancer in their life, 42% of Americans are over-weight and it seems that almost everyone knows someone who has or had some form of metal illness (I myself have family members currently fighting with all three of these diseases). Why can we not put some effort into figuring out what is causing this cancer, this obesity, this mental illness?(these are only a few of the problems we face daily).

I for one believe much of it is coming from the food we put into our bodies that is laced with chemicals and jam packed with ridiculous amounts of salt and sugar. The air we breathe everyday, all day is becoming more and more contaminated. We are demolishing the very things this planet needs to support our livelihood. We are not even close to as active as we were just 50 years ago, we also live in a high stress, face paced global society, which leaves us with little to no time for meditation and reflection. People rarely take the time to be grateful for what they have because they always think they need more, that they have the right for more.

I am not suggesting I have the answers to these problems. I am not a scholar, but I am a human, a human that is hoping for a better future for all life on this planet. I still have hope for mankind (even with all it’s issues) I feel we can make a change if we start talking about the things that we are ignoring everyday, and start putting action to our words.

This seems to be another one of those blogs where I start somewhere and end up somewhere completely different. I don’t want to these words to be preachy. I am not the knower of all things, I only write what I feel, and today and many days this is how I feel. Why I worry about these things, I do not know, all I know is I do, I worry for you and me, for the trees and the bees! (always good to end a serious blog with a rhyme!)

Peace and Love

Lindsay, The Non-Knower of things 🙂

My Happy Place

Posted: May 2, 2012 in photography, photos
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My parents live on a plot of land that has been in our family history for 106 years. For me there is nothing more beautiful than this place. It is not just the scenic view that strikes me but the memories and sense of family that is engraved into the land. Nothing makes me more happy than sitting on the deck, drink in hand, surrounded by my family and animals, having good conversation. It’s the small things in life that bring true happiness! Here are a few pics of the area, hope you enjoy!

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Am I an Adult Yet?!

Posted: April 15, 2012 in inspiration, philosophy, think about it, writing
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I found this note as I was perusing my Facebook and I had to laugh. I wrote this Blog right before my 19th Birthday about becoming an adult and what that means. Surprisingly I still agree with much of the things I wrote, all except one. I don’t think at 18/19 you’re an adult. Hell I’m almost 24 and I still struggle with the possibility that I am becoming an adult. These days I try to hang onto anything that can be considered youthful (i.e. my imagination and love for colouring books lol). I thought I would share this blog with you all in hopes that maybe you would get a laugh out of it or maybe even some support or inspiration. It’s fun/nostalgic to look back on your former, younger self. I almost feel like a completely different person (I guess I kind of am!) Hope you enjoy and please if you have anything to contribute to the concepts of adulthood please do!

Things I learned after I turned 18, and moved out: (August 2, 2007)

Now that I am fast approaching my 19th birthday I think it is fitting to look back on this year, and the many things I have learned that come with becoming an adult and moving out. So, when you turn 18 you don’t really feel any different. I mean of course there is the obvious excitement of graduating and becoming what you so longed to be an “adult”. But not till now did I realise what it really means to be an adult. Adulthood is not something that can fully be described, because you cannot fully understand it until you are there. Here are some of the interesting, funny, and stressful things I learned in the past year of becoming an adult.

1. Family is always there for you, no matter how much they anger you, no matter if you hate them and are frustrated with them, they will always be there. You have to learn to swallow your pride, and go back to them when there’s no one else. And yes I know it’s hard, but it has to happen and it will happen.

2. You don’t know everything. Contrary to what you may think now, it’s true. And once you take the time to realise that you don’t know everything, you actually learn more. You become more open to new ideas, and see that sometimes your wrong and sometimes you need help.

3. Responsibility sucks, yeah that’s right I said it. Seriously being in charge of your own life is not as peachy as it sounds. Simple decisions become stressful and you need to make choices that used to be made for you. For example, going to school or doing your homework. You need to decide and make choices that can make or break your life, and that’s stressful and hard, and ongoing…but don’t worry it does get easier the more choices you make.

4. Grocery shopping is harder than it looks. You soon learn why your mom never bought the food you wanted, why because it’s expensive, and honestly not that good for you. I know it sucks to hear, but eating healthy is important and you have a new respect for it once you get over puking from all the junk you eat when you first leave.

5.Your parents were right when they told you to go to bed early. I mean not that I obey this rule now because I don’t, but you do realise that once a week you should go to bed at a reasonable hour. Trust me you will feel refreshed and be ready for another late night on the town.

6. Friends will be lost. Yes, people your best friend from elementary school will grow up to, and in turn you may grow apart. I experienced much of this in the past year. When you become and adult so do your friends and your like and dislikes become different and in turn you may grow apart. Not to say that this happens in every situation but just know to be prepared to lose some friends.

7. New friends will be gained. You will meet new people and maybe even meet people who will change your life. You may even find your best friends in this stage. During stressful, awkward, and tough times you are forced to bond will people who are going through the same situation. In my case this was my roommate and a girl I met in my first semester English class. I know it’s hard to think of the positive in this crazy year, but I have two of the best friends ever thanks to it.

8. Budgeting money is important. Again your parents were right when they told you to save up. Okay I know this is starting to become a “parents are always right” article, but surprisingly they are right about lots of things. Budgeting money is hard but it has to be done, and soon wants get put on the back burner and needs are what you focus on.

9. Good Times are to be had. So most of these things may seem negative or depressing, but seriously this past year, even with all the stress has been one of the best of my life. You learn to laugh at the situation you are in and make light of it, and you learn how to change it for the better. Like I say you have to dig through all the crap to get to all the good times.

So to all the youngins out there fast approaching adulthood, don’t be worried, don’t be sad just be prepared. Soon you will be experiencing some of the best memories you’ll ever have. Just remember this little tid bit, digging for gold never came without cost but the payoff is worth it. And I encourage you all to no matter what keep on digging, and pushing, and fighting, life it gets easier, trust me I went through it.

I love how I suggested that I went through life, I had barely lived at all yet, oh the naivety of youth! 

Close Encounters of the Childs Kind and Other Odd Ramblings

Posted: February 20, 2012 in philosophy, photos, story, think about it, Uncategorized
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I work as a nanny for three amazing kids and everyday they surprise me. Always so curious asking tons of questions a day What are clouds made of? Why do people kiss on the lips? What happens when you die? They have this ability to believe anything I tell them (another reason why I love kids so much). I feel I was sometimes misinformed as a child so I always try to give them the most honest and true answers to their questions. Clouds are made of water, people kiss when they love each other, no one really knows what happens when you die.

This brings me to the topic of my blog today. One day while I was at work I noticed the kids calling others kids of darker skin as black or brown. This disturbed me as I had never referred to people of darker skin tone as a color (certainly not in front of them). It didn’t feel right to me to let them continue on using these terms so I said “Kids you don’t call people black or brown. Does anyone call you white? No. People are not colors they are simply people. We are all different shades some people are lighter shades others are darker.” They were about three at the time and that simple statement kiboshed their use of those words to describe people. The best part was seeing them go out into the world and spew this information to people young and old so proud of this new information they had learned. “Did you know people aren’t colors? They are shades? I’m a lighter shade!” (so cute, and the looks they get from people, priceless!).

Since then I have used this tactic to instill understanding and compassion for many other things such as homosexuality, adoption, poverty, amputations/physical differences/paralysis. These kids understand that you can love whoever you want, that some kids have many parents some have none, that we all are a little different but we are also all a little bit the same. They don’t seem to hold it against people their lifestyle choices or aesthetics. If you play with them and make them laugh, they will love you! I find it fascinating that such young children could understand and accept such concepts that most adults can’t or choose not to understand.

Let me make it clear, I am not trying to suggest I changed these kids lives or that I am Miss-Judgement Free 2012. I only wish that when I was a young I had someone to stop my stereotypes before I had time to develop them. Instead I work hard to break through a little bit of my judgements and generalizations everyday, that I feel, the society I grew up in conditioned. However the more I break through the easier it gets.

Children are our future. Ellen Degeneres was right when she suggested that Compassion should be a subject in school. Children are like sponges soaking of every last bit of information available. Why don’t we make the available information be ones of compassion, love, acceptance, and peace? Everyday I lose hope in humanity, it sometimes seems that people will never get it. We have 7 billion people each living in their own realities, how do you get them all to live as one? Is that even possible? Should I even care? I don’t know (as usual). All I do know is that when I see kids spreading words of support, empathy, happiness and helpfulness I gain back the little hope I had lost. Children are our hope.

Side note: Miss Judgement-Free 2012 intrigues me. Maybe a contest is in order?!………