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There is a time for everything in life, as we all know. Unfortunately for me, this is a time for buckling down and studying, as I have two exams to study for and then I have FINISHED my degree (assuming I pass, of course).
So, for the next few weeks, until at least November 12th (my last exam) you won't be hearing from me, because I am studying my little butt off. But I'll keep track of all the important issues in the news, and any ideas for blogging, and will be back here in no time!
Stay tuned!
Monday, 20 October 2008
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Abortion debate
The age-old debate of abortion has reared its ugly head again, as parliament debates a possible new legislation on decriminilising abortion up to 24 weeks. It's a topic that everyone (including me, of course) has an opinion on. But who is wrong and who is right?
On the one hand, women will have access to safe, legal abortion facilities. For those that feel they are truly unable to cope with a child, teenage pregnancies, or those affected by drugs and alcohol, this may be the best option. After all, what would be crueler? Bringing a child into a life full of neglect, abuse or no affection? Or preventing a child from living a horrible life in the first place?
But on the other hand, I couldn't imagine going through 24 weeks of pregnancy only to decide for whatever reason that I don't want to go through with having a child any more (I type this as my 2 year old son snuggles up against me on the couch, and my number 2 kicks away furiously in my stomach). Does fate not have a say in things anymore? Is it too much to ask that women not be completely selfish when it comes to the suffering of others, choosing to do away with that which will cause us suffering, rather than suffer and GROW? I just think abortion because a child has Downs, or Dwarfism, or whatever else, is totally, unbelievably selfish.
In short, the option of abortion is necessary, if only to prevent the nasty, unsafe, underground methods to resurface, as they were in the 60s and 70s. It is necessary to prevent a generation of unloved, unwanted children, whose parents have overdosed or ended up in jail. But it is NOT necessary for the sake of making women's lives easier and less painful. You shouldn't be able to change your mind half way through because you just realised your life will be ruined. That's just selfish.
On the one hand, women will have access to safe, legal abortion facilities. For those that feel they are truly unable to cope with a child, teenage pregnancies, or those affected by drugs and alcohol, this may be the best option. After all, what would be crueler? Bringing a child into a life full of neglect, abuse or no affection? Or preventing a child from living a horrible life in the first place?
But on the other hand, I couldn't imagine going through 24 weeks of pregnancy only to decide for whatever reason that I don't want to go through with having a child any more (I type this as my 2 year old son snuggles up against me on the couch, and my number 2 kicks away furiously in my stomach). Does fate not have a say in things anymore? Is it too much to ask that women not be completely selfish when it comes to the suffering of others, choosing to do away with that which will cause us suffering, rather than suffer and GROW? I just think abortion because a child has Downs, or Dwarfism, or whatever else, is totally, unbelievably selfish.
In short, the option of abortion is necessary, if only to prevent the nasty, unsafe, underground methods to resurface, as they were in the 60s and 70s. It is necessary to prevent a generation of unloved, unwanted children, whose parents have overdosed or ended up in jail. But it is NOT necessary for the sake of making women's lives easier and less painful. You shouldn't be able to change your mind half way through because you just realised your life will be ruined. That's just selfish.
Friday, 29 August 2008
It's funny cos it's true
I found a highly enlightening and entertaining article in a blog of Glamour magazine, and thought I would share it with you. It's written by two guys, Brian Alexander and Michael Somerville, and can certainly provide some insight into the minds of men!
Found at Glamour magazine's Sex, Love and Life blog
Fourteen things he wants you to know about his body
1. Digging your nails into our back or chest only sounds sexy. Think "massage strokes" instead.
2. We may seem calm and secure, but a compliment from you goes a long way.
3. A tongue around the ear is hot; a tongue in the ear is a wet willy.
4. Joking about kneeing or kicking our testicles is not funny. Ever.
5. Every guy has a spot--a good spot. Ask us where it is and how we'd like you to touch it.
6. "Shrinkage" is real and should always be taken into account when making a judgment.
7. Our toenails: We're not sure how they got like that, and we'd like to do something about it. Please advise.
8. Prostate exams (nearly) make up for the whole not-giving-birth thing--you'll see!
9. When it comes to our nipples, most of us can barely feel anything...unless you bite them, and that just hurts.
11. Playing around with our back door can feel good, but good luck getting us to admit it.
12. It is possible to bend the penis too far, cowgirls.
13. Our digestive tract doesn't work any differently than yours. You're just more polite.
14. We definitely think your body's way cooler.
Love Quickie: An emotional affair is worse than having sex with someone else, say 65% of women surveyed.
( article sourced from http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2008/08/14-things-about-his-body
Found at Glamour magazine's Sex, Love and Life blog
Fourteen things he wants you to know about his body
1. Digging your nails into our back or chest only sounds sexy. Think "massage strokes" instead.
2. We may seem calm and secure, but a compliment from you goes a long way.
3. A tongue around the ear is hot; a tongue in the ear is a wet willy.
4. Joking about kneeing or kicking our testicles is not funny. Ever.
5. Every guy has a spot--a good spot. Ask us where it is and how we'd like you to touch it.
6. "Shrinkage" is real and should always be taken into account when making a judgment.
7. Our toenails: We're not sure how they got like that, and we'd like to do something about it. Please advise.
8. Prostate exams (nearly) make up for the whole not-giving-birth thing--you'll see!
9. When it comes to our nipples, most of us can barely feel anything...unless you bite them, and that just hurts.
11. Playing around with our back door can feel good, but good luck getting us to admit it.
12. It is possible to bend the penis too far, cowgirls.
13. Our digestive tract doesn't work any differently than yours. You're just more polite.
14. We definitely think your body's way cooler.
Love Quickie: An emotional affair is worse than having sex with someone else, say 65% of women surveyed.
( article sourced from http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/2008/08/14-things-about-his-body
The turning of the seasons
Did anyone else feel the very distinctive change of seasons on Monday? At first I thought it was just wishful thinking- though my backyard definitely had a spring feel to it. The tree in our backyard with lots of little white flowers on it had all of a sudden began buzzing with bees, that beautiful smell of apple blossoms filled the air...(or maybe it's plum?), the air felt decidedly warmer. But as the week continued I realised it wasn't just wishful thinking, spring was here already. Now, it's Friday, this feeling has continued all week, and here I am, in my backyard, sitting at our picninc table, working, typing this, and eating a big plate of fresh fruit....ahhhhh...this is the life.
It seems as though winter never really came this year. The trees never fully lost their leaves- some of the trees in our main street were still half covered- and it never really got as cold as I remember winter being when I was a child. Maybe it's because as you get older you actually tolerate the cold better.Not only did the trees not completely lose their leaves, but the new blossoms began growing far sooner than I remember. And oh my goodness, I just killed the first mozzie of the season!!
When I was a child I used to love summer best. The long days, swimming, going to the beach. Winter used to depress me. Then, a few years ago, I really began to appreciate everything that each season had to offer. In the middle of summer, on a 45 degree day, it's hard not to appreciate those cold, rainy days of winter. And when you're freezing your ass off as you make your way to the train station at 0730 on a Monday morning, it's hard not to look forward to the long, warm days where you can walk around in shorts, a singlet, and thongs. And sometimes, you just long for those days with the perfect 26 degree heat, slight, cool breeze, and cloudless sky. That's one thing I like about Melbourne. At lease we get to experience and appreciate the four seasons.
I have to get back to work now, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on this beautiful day with you, and hope that you are as lucky as me to be able to enjoy it.
It seems as though winter never really came this year. The trees never fully lost their leaves- some of the trees in our main street were still half covered- and it never really got as cold as I remember winter being when I was a child. Maybe it's because as you get older you actually tolerate the cold better.Not only did the trees not completely lose their leaves, but the new blossoms began growing far sooner than I remember. And oh my goodness, I just killed the first mozzie of the season!!
When I was a child I used to love summer best. The long days, swimming, going to the beach. Winter used to depress me. Then, a few years ago, I really began to appreciate everything that each season had to offer. In the middle of summer, on a 45 degree day, it's hard not to appreciate those cold, rainy days of winter. And when you're freezing your ass off as you make your way to the train station at 0730 on a Monday morning, it's hard not to look forward to the long, warm days where you can walk around in shorts, a singlet, and thongs. And sometimes, you just long for those days with the perfect 26 degree heat, slight, cool breeze, and cloudless sky. That's one thing I like about Melbourne. At lease we get to experience and appreciate the four seasons.
I have to get back to work now, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on this beautiful day with you, and hope that you are as lucky as me to be able to enjoy it.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Day jobs and night jobs
It seems that we can no longer do what we love as a day job, as our time is tied up doing jobs that ‘get us somewhere’. Friends of mine, a couple, both have their day job and night job. One works as a trainer in one of the major insurance companies by day, and dances in one of Melbourne’s best hip-hop crews by night, as well as the occasional podium dancing. Her fiancé works in one of the Big Banks by day, and is DJ in some of the hottest clubs in Melbourne by night. Which makes me wonder, when did doing what we love take a back seat to doing what we have to?
Part of the reason I think is because people don’t have faith in their own abilities anymore. When I recently went to get a reading done at a psychic, the very first thing she said to me was that I am a great writer, but don’t have confidence in my ability to write, and don’t realise I am as good as I actually am. In high school I always told my trainer-cum-dancer friend that she was an awesome dancer and that she should do it professionally one day, but she would just laugh and shrug it off, not really believing me (or anyone else).
Another reason is because in my group of friends many of the things that we love doing are part of the Arts industry, a fickle and highly volatile industry that can make you an instant success overnight, and leave you in the gutter just as quickly. There’s no room for mediocre in this industry, so unless people are absolutely sure of their talents, they prefer not to risk it, sticking with the safe and secure instead of venturing out on a limb to chase their dreams. Hence, the reason why I am publishing myself on blogs and not in newspapers and magazines (not yet, anyway).
It’s quite sad really. We are living a life that we have settled for, rather than the one we want. Maybe this is just me, my husband, and my group of friends, but I’m sure it’s not. There are more people that would rather be working in a different industry, a different job, than there are people who love what they’re doing and wouldn’t change it for the world.
All I can say is if you stay true to what you believe, and remember what it is you love doing, then one day I can only hope that we will all be doing what we love, and not what we have to.
Part of the reason I think is because people don’t have faith in their own abilities anymore. When I recently went to get a reading done at a psychic, the very first thing she said to me was that I am a great writer, but don’t have confidence in my ability to write, and don’t realise I am as good as I actually am. In high school I always told my trainer-cum-dancer friend that she was an awesome dancer and that she should do it professionally one day, but she would just laugh and shrug it off, not really believing me (or anyone else).
Another reason is because in my group of friends many of the things that we love doing are part of the Arts industry, a fickle and highly volatile industry that can make you an instant success overnight, and leave you in the gutter just as quickly. There’s no room for mediocre in this industry, so unless people are absolutely sure of their talents, they prefer not to risk it, sticking with the safe and secure instead of venturing out on a limb to chase their dreams. Hence, the reason why I am publishing myself on blogs and not in newspapers and magazines (not yet, anyway).
It’s quite sad really. We are living a life that we have settled for, rather than the one we want. Maybe this is just me, my husband, and my group of friends, but I’m sure it’s not. There are more people that would rather be working in a different industry, a different job, than there are people who love what they’re doing and wouldn’t change it for the world.
All I can say is if you stay true to what you believe, and remember what it is you love doing, then one day I can only hope that we will all be doing what we love, and not what we have to.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Generation X and Y: the lost generations?
As I was browsing through a bookstore last week, I picked up the Dalai Lama’s book of wisdom and flicked it to a random page. I can’t remember the exact wording of the quote, but it was something along the lines of materialism being a barrier to happiness. I thought about how unbelievably true it is, and how materialism has left us as individuals less satisfied than if we were poor. Confused? Let me explain.
It has come to my attention how dissatisfied my generation (Generation Y) and Generation X-ers are compared to the Baby Boomers and the Builders Generation from the World War and the Depression. Generally, we have problems staying in any one job for a long period of time because we get bored. We see new technology on television, like 32 inch plasma TV’s, iPods, video games and satellite navigation technology, and we want them. We think that our life would improve if we had them. Then we get them and realise nope, that hasn’t made me happy, it hasn’t satisfied me, and then we look for the next thing we think will do that.
So my question is this. Has the information age and the increase of “new”, “improved” and “convenient” technology been the downfall of our happiness? Has the availablitiy of all these new things made us forget the simple joy of hanging out with your family, having a picnic or just being still?
A few weeks ago I was at a funeral and I began to think about the differences between generations. I know, I know, strange place to be thinking about things like that, but if you let me explain, you’ll understand why.
My previous next door neighbor’s Pop died at aged 86. During the eulogy the family mentioned several things that he loved to do, the main one being going for walks along the beach with his family, collecting shells. Come again? Collecting shells? With his family? To have the pleasure to enjoy something so simple and carefree is almost like existing in another era. Can you imagine our generation being content with collecting shells during our adult life? Even when we (Gen x and y) were children the things we enjoyed to do were much simpler and so different to what I assume children today enjoy.
“What did you enjoy doing when you were a kid?” I asked my husband.
“I dunno…shoot stuff…blow things up…that sort of thing,” (he was a country boy).
“What do you think kids these days enjoy doing?”
“I dunno…shoot things and blow things up on playstation?”
He was probably right.
The days of simplicity are long gone. Our grandparents and parents were content to have one job and stick with it for their entire lives. Our generation will go through several career changes before we retire. Our parents and grandparents were happy just to have jobs and food and a roof over their head. Our generation wants the dream house and the dream job and the dream car, and isn’t satisfied when we get it. We always want more, never being content with what we have, never taking time to slow down and look around and think “gee, I’m actually pretty lucky. I have great friends, a great family, a job.” We are always looking into the future.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. We need that part of ourselves to always want more or humanity would never evolve. But how did it get to be this bad, where what we have got no longer makes us happy? Is it because we don’t even know what makes us happy anymore? Should we be titled “The Lost Generation”?
This is why I really believe the wisdom of the Dalai Lama when he says materialism is a barrier to true happiness. As long as we have attachments to material possessions, we will always feel dissatisfied and will always be wanting more, never satisfied with what we have in the here and now, and never truly being happy.
Hippies have got it right. Why do they all look “unkempt” and carefree? It’s not because they don’t care, it is because they know what’s important in life: friendship, companionship, good health, wisdom and love. Not televisions, cars and fancy houses, designer clothes and expensive makeup.
Let’s get back to basics, because less really is more.
It has come to my attention how dissatisfied my generation (Generation Y) and Generation X-ers are compared to the Baby Boomers and the Builders Generation from the World War and the Depression. Generally, we have problems staying in any one job for a long period of time because we get bored. We see new technology on television, like 32 inch plasma TV’s, iPods, video games and satellite navigation technology, and we want them. We think that our life would improve if we had them. Then we get them and realise nope, that hasn’t made me happy, it hasn’t satisfied me, and then we look for the next thing we think will do that.
So my question is this. Has the information age and the increase of “new”, “improved” and “convenient” technology been the downfall of our happiness? Has the availablitiy of all these new things made us forget the simple joy of hanging out with your family, having a picnic or just being still?
A few weeks ago I was at a funeral and I began to think about the differences between generations. I know, I know, strange place to be thinking about things like that, but if you let me explain, you’ll understand why.
My previous next door neighbor’s Pop died at aged 86. During the eulogy the family mentioned several things that he loved to do, the main one being going for walks along the beach with his family, collecting shells. Come again? Collecting shells? With his family? To have the pleasure to enjoy something so simple and carefree is almost like existing in another era. Can you imagine our generation being content with collecting shells during our adult life? Even when we (Gen x and y) were children the things we enjoyed to do were much simpler and so different to what I assume children today enjoy.
“What did you enjoy doing when you were a kid?” I asked my husband.
“I dunno…shoot stuff…blow things up…that sort of thing,” (he was a country boy).
“What do you think kids these days enjoy doing?”
“I dunno…shoot things and blow things up on playstation?”
He was probably right.
The days of simplicity are long gone. Our grandparents and parents were content to have one job and stick with it for their entire lives. Our generation will go through several career changes before we retire. Our parents and grandparents were happy just to have jobs and food and a roof over their head. Our generation wants the dream house and the dream job and the dream car, and isn’t satisfied when we get it. We always want more, never being content with what we have, never taking time to slow down and look around and think “gee, I’m actually pretty lucky. I have great friends, a great family, a job.” We are always looking into the future.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. We need that part of ourselves to always want more or humanity would never evolve. But how did it get to be this bad, where what we have got no longer makes us happy? Is it because we don’t even know what makes us happy anymore? Should we be titled “The Lost Generation”?
This is why I really believe the wisdom of the Dalai Lama when he says materialism is a barrier to true happiness. As long as we have attachments to material possessions, we will always feel dissatisfied and will always be wanting more, never satisfied with what we have in the here and now, and never truly being happy.
Hippies have got it right. Why do they all look “unkempt” and carefree? It’s not because they don’t care, it is because they know what’s important in life: friendship, companionship, good health, wisdom and love. Not televisions, cars and fancy houses, designer clothes and expensive makeup.
Let’s get back to basics, because less really is more.
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