What's been going on?

10. It is important to understand your privilege

Now, it took me a long time to fully accept the idea of 'privilege', of any kind really. I thought, 'Well life's been a bit shit so far, I've been bullied, gone through family troubles and tried to overdose, I don't really feel like I have privilege to be honest'. I think a lot of people with different kind of privileges feel like this, like 'hey, I've had a hard time too!', but what I've come to realise is that doesn't matter. Yes, a lot of stuff's gone wrong for me, but undoubtedly I have privilege. My skin colour, my ethnicity, the place I was born and the fact that I am able bodied. Yes I am a women, and I have a disability, but in other ways I am privileged. Admitting that I have privilege does not make my struggles any less of a struggle,  but it does show that in certain situations I will have the upper hand. For example, I'm much more likely to be able to get into the acting or modeling profession than someone who is physically disabled or not white. That doesn't mean that I won't have worked for what I have, it just means that someone else may have had to work harder to get to the exact same place.

11. Loving someone doesn't mean you like them

This one took me a looong time to figure out. A really long time. What I mean by this is that you can love someone unconditionally and would do anything for them, but that doesn't mean you like them. I think this comes into play mostly with family members, say when a child becomes a carer or something along those lines where they resent the family member and dislike them, but still truly deeply love them. It's difficult to explain but one that has helped me.

12. Always do the thing

If you're feeling guilty about not doing it - just do it. Otherwise you'll regret it.

13. Looks are by no means everything, but they are something

Take this one with a pinch of salt, because some people will disagree with this. How you look is your first impression on the world - yes people should look further and deeper, but if they don't all you have is your appearance. Make sure it's something you can be proud of eventually.

14. You do not have to decide your future and life at 16 (even though it feels like it)

Still trying to believe this myself to be quite honest, but that's the English education system. They expect you to act like an adult while treating you like a child.

15. If you do you, eventually people will respect you

I was always, and I mean always, one of the nerdy/not popular/bullied people and I always tried to be cool and fit in and all of that stuff. It never really worked. However, now I'm in sixth form (the last two years of high school for those Americans out there) I've realised that people respect you for being yourself and no one really cares about cliques that much. Obviously this is dependant on where you live, but for the majority of people I know, this is the case for them as well.

16. Kill em with kindness

I don't mean this in the way that parents and teachers say it when people get teased, I mean that honestly there is nothing better than being happier than the person that hurt you. That may sound vindictive, but it's the truth. I used to have a very complicated relationship with a few friends and one turned out to not be very nice, but eventually the joke was on her because instead of retaliating in the same manner she acted I stayed being nice and eventually that won out. It always does.

17. Sleep is good

Always sleep if you can.

Last Friday I went to see the new film 'Me Before You', adapted by Jojo Moyles from her bestselling book of the same name. There had been a lot of controversy over the film to do with the portrayal of the disability Will has and how the story handles it. Being part of the disabled community I personally didn't have a problem with the way his disability was handled, bar one or two lines that did seem a bit cack handed at worst, although I can completely understand why some people were offended. I'm not going to say that there are opinions are wrong, because the effects of the film on different people are equally important, but I will say that I think it needs to be taken into consideration that Will had previously been able bodied and so become disabled was too much for him to cope with. As he says in the film, of course, you can live a full and vibrant life with a disability - and even to the extent where you live more 'boldly' than you would have if you had not been disabled because you are aware of being grateful for all the things you can do. However, not everyone is capable of doing that and I personally believe that it is someone's human right to decide when they live and when they die. Now that we've got the controversial stuff out the way, onto the review and fashion!

Plotline: 7/10 

There was a great development from when we first meet Will to the end of the film, with the subtle romance slowly taking over Louisa and Will with a realistic trajectory, the love and loss between them is incredibly realistic and really pulls on your heartstrings.

Acting: 7/10

Emilia Clarke was the perfect person for the role of Louisa. She brought comedy, confidence, stunning eyebrows (seriously they could act on their own) and just the amount of seriousness to the complex role of Lou. While some of the crucial bits of Lou's storyline were taken out of the film, Emilia takes them into account anyway and creates a truly believable and relatable performance

While Sam Claflin is a good actor, I feel like he didn't quite bring the character to life as much as Emilia, which is why the score is low. Also, very disappointed they cast an able-bodied actor for a disabled role, they could have chosen out of some very talented actors -  Keith Cavill, RJ Mitte, Kurt Yaeger and much more. Now I know there is a section of the film where Will is walking about, but firstly it's not strictly necessary or crucial to see this, and they could also have used some form of CGI - if they can make Chris Evans as tiny man for nearly a quarter of a film, I'm sure they could make it appear if they could walk if it was genuinely necessary.

Overall: 8/10

The general feeling I had when I came out of the cinema was one of sadness, happiness and 'omg I've never cried so much at a movie before', which is why this got a pretty decent 8 out of 10. Also props for having a female director, screenwriter, and producer!


Now onto my favourite bit... Lou's clothes

I love her clothes so, so much. I envy her ability to wear such bright, colourful and quirky clothes without looking like a crazy bag lady or someone who's just lost their marbles. Fans of the book will recognise the iconic bumblebee tights and the beautiful red dress, but people seeing the film for the first time will also envy the wonderful range of clothes.





Apart from her outfit she wore to the interview and the last outfit, her wardrobe features a lot of very bright coral colours, yellow and pastel blue. Some of the clothes look like they may not work, I mean cardies haven't really been in fashion since my grandma was 10, but she somehow manages to make it look cute and it just fits with her. She tends to wear a lot of very kitsch shoes, mini skirts and fluffy jumpers which makes for a really classic look that is somewhere between grandma, your little sister and those 'high fashion' runway clothes that no one bar Harry Styles and supermodels can really pull off.




She has this amazing bright yellow mackintosh that I really really want, reminds so much of Paddington bear which is a major plus. A big fluffy faux fur coat also features several times and it looks so comfy, I have one similar but in a reallydark navy with light blue stripes, because of course I can never wear colour. She also wears this super cute blue pinafore and yellow top which honestly is my summer goal.
Also - block coloured tights are now a thing.

Name: Kesha Rose Sebert
Age: 29
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter
Reason I look up to her: Her talent and ability to write amazing pop songs, her bravery in standing up and against sexual violence.

With an IQ of 140+ Kesha is not only ridiculously creatively talented, but she is also incredibly intelligent. Defying the norm of pop star's bringing in professional songwriters to write their hits, Kesha has writing credits on every single one of her songs, bar the limited edition song "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", which was written by her mum instead. Having the ability to write incredible pop songs is not one to be sniffed at, and one I wish I had.


Balancing a career with battling an eating disorder, while also dealing with nasties such as Perez Hilton is no easy feat, and one she seeming succeeded in. Her positive force is felt throughout social media, with her Instagram being filled with 'Eff you's' to the people that have brought her down or tried to stifle her voice. She walked the fine line that some people do when discussing mental health or eating disorders, as has been noticed in recent years that some people tend to romanticize mental health or eating disorders, but she managed to bring attention to the issue without making it seem like a trend or something to 'try to have'.

Speaking out about her experience with an abusive person in her life publicly and not being afraid to face all the backlash that is inevitable when a women speaks out about rape or sexual assault is something so important that survivors need to hear. They need to see that it is not their fault and never was and never will be - Kesha is living proof of that.

Hi, I have depression. I have had depression for slightly over a quarter of my life, and as I get older, that fraction is only going to get bigger. I was diagnosed when I was twelve, I am now 16 (very very soon turning 17). Although people talk about mental health and depression in teenagers, I've heard very little about the reality of having had depression for such a big chunk of your life, and how that affects your ability to decipher being a teenager.



Being depressed is kind of odd, especially when you can't really remember not having it. Your normal becomes something so abstract from what everyone else considers normal, you're often left even more confused/depressed because a good day for you, is just a basic day for everyone else. Learning to recognise that my achievements are very, very different to other people my age was definitely difficult to come to terms with considering I'm a perfectionist. So many of my formative years where others are doing sport, or doing their DofE, or getting different qualifications, I was so depressed I basically became housebound for days on end. There are a good few years where I seem to have conveniently forgotten them, I can remember the gist of things, big events like my aunt's wedding ect, but everything else is just blank. Some days it's all I can do to get out of bed, have a shower, eat breakfast and brush my teeth. Some days not even that, and I have to tell myself, 'It's okay, you'll try again tomorrow, and the next day. You'll get better one day'.



This post was prompted by my therapist and my GP, both of whom have repeatedly told me that 'good enough' is good enough. I mean this applies specifically to me, as I really am a perfectionist (kinda comes with the territory of being an aspie), but I think it's also something that every other teenager that suffered depression, or anxiety, or PTSD, or any other neurological/mental illness before they hit the big one three.

Yes, you will be a little later to things in life. For me, I missed a lot of being a typical teenager and yeah it kinda sucks, but at the same time, I've gained so much through having to deal with other issues. Learning the skills to make myself fit into an NT world while also battling depression has made me resilient, more empathetic and kind. I, and you, will come to everything in our own time, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

Dear RJ,

I don't really know how to start this letter, but I guess saying why I'm thankful would be a good idea. I am thankful because for the first time that I have seen a headline with the word 'autism' in, the story has not been about pity, or coddling, but of admiration and elation. I am thankful because your photos and story will go out to the public and represent us in a way that I don't think has been done before. We are often portrayed as weird, or scary, or any other number of bad things; you however have challenged that and showed that yes, we are different, but we are just as talented, valuable, intelligent, ambitious and able as any NT. I am thankful because you are succeeding in ways that I wish to and ways that I hope I to. I am thankful because although I got emotional reading about your modeling, and your open letter, and reading the experiences that you detail, that I have experienced too, I wasn't angry or upset, I was hopeful that it doesn't always have to be like that.

It is so important that people like you do what you do and show the world that autism is not something to be 'cured', but something to be celebrated, embraced and accounted for.

So, thanks RJ Peete.

A.

Onto possible my favourite on this list. Harry Styles. Pop superstar and newly budding actor, he is worlds away from where he was in 2010. I like to think is his style transformation kind of like a caterpillar. Started of cute and small, and then transformed into a beautifully colour flamboyant butterfly. Okay, so maybe that's another bit of romanticising, but if you read my post about guilty pleasures, you'll know that I quite like 1D so it's natural I'd like them to be themselves right? Seeing the change in not only the clothes (I'll get onto that in a minute) but stage presences is so fun, during the last tour he was dancing round and acting like a mini-rock star, very empowering. Why? Because in a time where gender boundaries are being challenge and at the same time others are fighting hard to keep them, having someone in the public eye and as well know as Harry Styles is like opening the eyes of so many people. If a fan of One Direction (who are normally teenagers) see's a man experimenting with flamboyant actions, colourful and feminine clothes and working long hair (R.I.P), it sends the message that it is 100% okay to express yourself any way you want, it doesn't matter what gender you are, you can do whatever. I think that's pretty awesome.

Also can we just appreciate his collection of boots.




Hope you enjoyed this post, I loved making it! I'm thinking of maybe doing a fashion post based on some of their styles, what do you think? 

Like many other people my age i'm contemplating a gap year. While most of the places listed in this post are distant dreams that are far out of my budget, I would like to hopefully visit at least one of these beautiful countries and towns. So here are my top 12 places I NEED to visit!

1. Groningen - Netherlands