Sleeping on Swimming Pool Floors

Tuesday, September 17: A memory you would love to relive.

My grandfather from my father's side used to live in Upstate New York. During the summers that we did go to America, we would rent a car and drive up to visit him. I won't lie, I never thought these trips were that exciting. He lived in a small town, on a road with houses that looked the same. I remember that there were some rail tracks nearby, since we used to drive over them when we drove from our hotel to his house and back. 

The last time I visited his house was when I was very young, perhaps 7 years old. One of the most vivid memories I have of that time, though, was that of learning how to swim. You see my parents, two older brothers (who were studying in the US at the time), younger brother and I would stay at the Ramada when visiting my grandfather, and they had a small, but really pleasant, indoor swimming pool. And during our visits, after we'd spent the entire day with my grandfather and other family members, my older brothers would take my younger brother and I down to the pool and we would swim for what seemed like hours. 

It's amazing how simple life is when you are young. Which is one reason I would like to re-live this memory. I would like to go back, to the time that my older brother would show off his swimming skills and in turn make us want to learn how to swim. Taking turns, he would take each of us in his arms and "dive" down to the swimming pool floor so that we could touch it! He taught us this little trick where we'd grab on to the edge of the pool, put our feet up against the pool wall (like a froggie), then push ourselves into the pool and do an underwater somersault. It was (still is) the most impressive pool trick I have EVER learnt!

Another move he patiently taught us was how to blow out all of the air from our lungs and sink to the pool's floor, where we would sit cross-legged for as long as we could (which was never very long!).

And of course, he taught us how to lie on swimming pool floors :)

Sx

Words to Yourself

Monday, September 16: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

 

Copyright.

Dear Me,

I'm writing you this letter to tell you how much I love you. I know, it may sound crazy and narcissistic, but it seems that you forget to tell yourself those three words.

Why do I love you? Well, believe it or not, you're brave. Not many people would be able to leave their entire family and move to a different country at the age of 18. Not many people would then leave a country they loved to start a new life in the middle of the desert. So, you're pretty brave. It'd do you good to remember that every once in a while! 

Also, I love you because you are always trying to learn new things. And it kinda peeves me when you beat yourself up about not "getting things" straight away. I mean, remember when you started your first job and you'd never used Outlook but ta-dah! you managed? And now you're giving your colleagues tips about sharing calendars! How about figuring out eyelash curlers?! You were like "whaaaa?? WHAAA?" but BOOM, luscious lashes were achieved! Not just that, how about the fact that you've been trying to push your boundaries? I mean, you started a blog. You're doing a blog challenge. And even if there are days when you doubt your ability to continue, you push yourself and then realise that it's totally do-able.

I love you because you try to be a good friend. Now, I know that you're not always great at keeping in touch and you say you'll message but then you don't. But, ever since you had a pen-pal in 1st Grade, you have always made an effort to check-in with your friends every once in a while. Not many 11 year old children send snail mail to their friends in Canada for several consecutive years. But you did, and you even sent stickers with some of those letters too! 

I won't keep going about all this mushy mushy love. But I'll leave you with this: put in some time to remember all of your great qualities and create more positive energy for yourself. Being good to ourselves is just as important as being good to others. And I think that it's almost needed as a foundation to be able to support the love that you then give to others. 

Like scaffolding against a building. 

Love,

Me.

Bliss

Friday, September 13: A self portrait

Hmmm. Like a selfie? 

Since I'm not quite sure, I'm going to just post one of my favourite pictures from one of my most cherished days - 2 November 2009. I could barely contain my excitement at the prospect of seeing Louis and starting our married life together.

Sx

Social Media

Thursday, September 12: Discuss ways that blogging or social media has changed you.

From here.

Just to spell it out, I love blogging and I love Facebook :) I'm not really into a lot of other social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc) but I love Facebook because it connects me to my friends and family all around the world...WITHOUT having to worry if they change email addresses or phone numbers, yet again! 

Blogging has been a really rewarding hobby for me. I started it almost a year ago because, well, I thought I had something to "tell the world" (haha!). But I've realised through the past 11 months that blogging has brought out that creative streak in me that I never thought existed. Plus, I love having a little "project" that I can develop and grow. 

I enjoy finding new blogs and exploring people's lives. And, surprisingly to myself, I start thinking of ways that I can grow and expand my blog. In that sense, blogging has also made me start analysing where I want my own personal and professional life to head. I'm becoming better at focusing on the aspects of myself that I would like to improve on and, more importantly I think, I'm becoming more able to break down how to achieve those things. And I really think that a large part of that is because I care about the progression of my blog and I am making a conscious effort to keep up the momentum. 

Perhaps not strictly social media but another way I have changed my routine over the past year is through the daily use of RSS feeds. I admit, I'm not the best at following news or trends, but because I add my favourite blogs and sites to my Blogger / bloglovin, I am always discovering interesting stories and keeping up with current events. 

I do think that social media is important. I think that perception of people has broadened to encompass your "online persona" and so I believe in doing things like taking the time to have a LinkedIn profile and setting appropriate privacy levels on Facebook.

But within that it's also really important to have fun and let your personality shine through! ;)

Sx

From the comfort of my couch

Wednesday, September 11: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

I'm going to limit this to shops that only sell online rather than shops that I do online shopping with when I am too lazy to go to the actual shop! You can find details of other brands / shops that I love by clicking on the "wishlist" lable :)

Here and here.

Asos is one of my most favourite online shops. I was introduced to it in 2008 and have bought a lot of pretty dresses from there since. Other than the fact that it stock every type of clothing and accessory you can think of, it gives students 10% off and has recently been including more and more high street shops to its collection, which means even less effort when doing online shopping! Their returns system is easy and quick and their customer care is great.

I love Amazon! Mainly, because they are the brains behind the Kindle (which I can't live without) but also because it's a fantastic place to find whatever you're looking for at a cheaper price. And, because it's not a physical store, you can find items that would normally be out of stock in places like Argos or Woolworths. 

OF COURSE! I have used Ebay a LOT over the past few years. From stationary to jewellery, shopping on Ebay is simple and convenient. I've also sold many old items on the site so it's an awesome way of making a bit of extra money. 

And that's it! What are some online shops that you shop at?

Sx

Turning Point

Tuesday, September 10: Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn.

Wow.

One moment? Ok.

11 September 2002.

The day I boarded a Yemenia flight to London Heathrow to attend University in Sunny Leicester. Maybe this is a bit of a cop-out, because it's such a big event and I can rely on it "satisfying" today's prompt. But things really did change from that moment.

I had always wanted to leave home and Sana'a and live independently and alone and all that jazz. I remember I took only one suitcase, because I would have to shop in England and make sure I bought winter clothes. I remember waking up one October morning to a rainstorm like I'd never seen, and being cold in a manner I never knew I could be so I rushed to Topshop to buy the biggest, longest coat they had. I remember brushing my teeth in the morning darkness, absolutely confused as to what was going on. I remember sharing one bathroom with 5 other girls and being surprised that it was ok.

I remember being terrified of accepting any drinks from anyone, because my mom had warned me of murder stories that started that way. (R, remember that?) I remember being afraid of travelling at night, especially on buses. I remember going dancing with friends and sleeping when the sun came up. I remember not knowing ingredients to so many different dishes and having friends stand by and vet what I could and could not eat. With no judgment and never making me feel like I was causing any hassle.

Most of all though, I remember the transition. It was slow but I'm so thankful for it. 

I learned to trust people. Whereas in school, as a teenager, I guarded my feelings and secrets, revealing them only to my journal (ohhhhh yaaa I'm one of those), I opened up to friends and realised how incredible it is having people around you whom you could rely on. I realised that being vulnerable is not weak and, given the chance, people usually open up to you in return, and that's when you bond with them and hope to God that everyone has a chance to feel that way with at least one person. 

I learned to question myself and not be afraid of the answers. At first, it's scary. No, terrifying. Everything you thought "real" or true, is scrutinised and analysed until you feel that you don't know anything at all and you want the pain of going through this growth to stop. I found this particularly difficult. Many of my friends around me were used to analysing everything and coming to their own conclusions. I had somehow lived in a bubble until the age of 18! Which, I am grateful for and would not change. I learned that just because I or someone else questions something, does not mean that it is not true to me. On the contrary, it strengthens who you are. 

I learned not to take myself too seriously and to allow myself to change. And I learned how to lessen the amount of importance I placed on certain things so that I could be more open to other things that could be (or not be) more important.

I also learned to take night buses and trains without having a heart attack! And I did love living independently. It was worth it!

Sx

Can I be of assistance?

Monday, September 9: Take this short personality test and respond to your results. (at the end, find the detailed profile of your personality account - click "click to view" under "You" and "self awareness and personal growth." You can even google your type and find more info on it!)

Of general relevance, not to this post though. Found here.

Aha! So, I took this test a while ago after I came across it in one of Jenni's posts. It was surprisingly accurate and I liked it because it told me that ideal careers for me include teaching and some sort of administrative careers. I had literally left law to teach and then landed a PA job. So that was nice validation (from the internet anyway haha). Also, I sent it to a close friend and we practically were the same personality! Thus, further validation of my friendship choices *wink*

Moving along, two things I need to tell you about me:

1. I absolutely LOVE personality tests!! Other than the shenanigans I mentioned my high school friends and I used to do, we used to take one personality test after another. "What's your ideal career?" "Who're you going to marry?" "What does your favourite colour say about you?" "Are you completely crazy and take too many tests?" So, ya.

2. Because I'd taken this test before and came up with ISFJ (Introverted, Sensing, Feeling & Judging), I am now worried that I will re-take the test and won't like the results...as in, I may have changed as a person since taking the test..and not to my liking! And, to add more crazy to that statement, I'm not sure how to explain it, but I get really angsty if I think I'm "deceiving" myself or others when it comes to silly things. For example, I refused to to wear mascara and eyeliner until about the age of 20 because I was worried that if I wore mascara and eyeliner everyday, I would be lying to people about the true depth of my eyes and length of my eyelashes. Not that I see ANYTHING wrong with enhancing what you have. Further-crazy, I thought that if I got people used to seeing me wearing make-up, when I don't wear it I would look like 137662 times uglier. Cray-zay.

Anyhoo. I am just gonna re-take the test and see what happens!!

ISFJ.

Introvert(22%)  Sensing(38%)  Feeling(38%)  Judging(33%)

Perhaps I didn't change much...OR...I just managed to dig up my previous answers from my subconscious and answer the questions in the same manner. I will continue to analyse that over a cup of crazy.

What were your results? Did they surprise you?  

Sx