FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT FEMINISM
“Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.” And it’s everywhere at the moment. Before you wrongly assume I am an anti-feminist- I am not. I am simply acting as a devil’s advocate- painting a balanced and broader picture of this culture par
WORRY-FREE WALES
Heading home after half a week in Wales and I'm feeling wonderful. It might sound a bit cliche (and a copycat of Cameron Diaz' experience in 'The Holiday') but a cute little cottage in the countryside provides the perfect city-detox. By situating myself in a setting somewhat shielded from contemporary culture, I managed to step back in time and into a world removed from modern technology, traffic and rapidity. I hate to admit it, but the initial absence of a phone signal made
WHAT I WOULD TELL MY YOUNGER SELF: PART 2
Continuing on from my last article- here are 5 further instructions I would tell my mini-me. Note I said ‘mini-me’ this time and not ‘younger self’ because I think the latter slightly hints at regret. In the words of Edith Pilaf (or strictly speaking the lyrics of Michel Vaucaire) "Non, je ne regret rein”. As some smart, soulful person once said- “there are no regrets in life, just lessons learned.” So I shall share with you 5 more learnt lessons from my life…so far! 6. No on
WHAT I WOULD TELL MY YOUNGER SELF: PART 1
Sorry I've been gone a while. My life has been a bit obscure as of late. I won't bother you with the details, but what's important is that I'm back. And I'm here to stay.... What I would tell my younger self: part 1 I know that I'm not really old enough to tackle this subject yet. But I sure as hell have picked up some cheats over the past 23 years. Tricks and tips that could've prevented my younger self from 'falling down the rabbit hole' so to speak. I know I am young and y
FINDING YOU
Anyone who has ever been travelling will remember the feeling of freedom. The sense of adventure. And the ability not to care. Looking back on photos from my Filipino adventure and I am longing for the same simplistic satisfaction. I’ve only been back in the UK for 8 weeks and yet I’ve already lost some of that “I couldn’t give a crap what I look like” attitude. Something which seems impossible to hold on to when the media is recommending that you should be thinner, use a dif
NOT, NEVER, NEGATIVE
You may already know this, but I’m an actress. Or trying to be. I try not to talk about it non-stop because it’s not what I am. It’s what I do. I shifted my perspective a few years back because failure can be all-consuming if you let it sit in every room of your ‘house.’ Closing the door after a hard-day at the office helps to distinguish a work-life balance and allows you to partition these feelings appropriately. For example, in the same week when I experienced 6 rejections
Control and Contentment
For too long I have blamed external sources for feelings of dissatisfaction, insecurity and unhappiness. Yet something occurred to me the other day- I control my own happiness. Not you. Not my family. Not even Ryan Reynolds (although I wouldn’t mind if he did ;)) A very close friend laughed at me the other day because I was moaning about eating a second home-baked cupcake. This was a post-operation ‘down-day’ where I turned to baking in the hope of finding inspiration and joy
SITTING STILL
I really love the idea of a bed day. You know, when you stay in bed all day watching films, eating crap and achieving nothing? Yet the reality normally involves me lying on the duvet, learning a script, sending e-mails and attempting to do a yoga pose...all at the same time. Once again life- or perhaps my meddling mind- has taken over and turns the ‘bed day’ into a another routine ‘tick of the box’ occasion. So after having a double arthroscopy on my knees (key-hole surgery)
WHAT'S IN A WORD?
I think everyone has a trigger word. A word that sets them off into a downward spiral of negativity. It's normally just a simple, standard remark and yet it has the power to completely immobilise you. Today I was set off by the word 'weight.' Which is surprising because I haven't worried about my weight or body all that much lately. In fact, it hasn't been a proper 'concern' since University. I guess I assumed I naturally grew out of that self-conscious, self-absorbed "does m
SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS
I strongly believe that happiness makes you beautiful. Yet in the reverse, why does beauty make people unhappy? Anorexia, bulimia, plastic surgery…the list goes on. Everywhere and everyday people are seeking ‘beautiful.’ But what is beautiful? Is their pursuit misguided and misrepresented…because who is directing this search? Who governs over the rules of beauty? It’s like driving, in that rushed, frantic, caught in traffic kind-of way and yet you never find Disneyland. Or a
PENNY PETROL
One the my main aims for this blog is to document local, little pieces of joy- like the plummeting petrol prices. I think the never-ending penny-by-penny climb became old-but-new- news we didn’t want to read. Or accept. It seemed like the inescapable price rise was always going to want more, from my already dwindling bank balance (or agreed overdraft limit!) And then all of a sudden, long after we had all given up hope and had seriously started contemplating selling our cars…
LONG TIME NO SPEAK!!
I want to apologise for the lack of posts since being home in the UK. As the saying goes 'life took over.' Although in this example it was more specifically Christmas that 'took over' because the typical 2 month build-up had been compressed into a two week gap! So I did my frantic present buying, caught up with long-lost relatives and started to embrace the much colder climate of the UK. And the lack of sunshine. However, once the hype calmed down and the decorations had been
