New Year, Same Me

So yeah it's the new year which is wonderful! To be honest I am mildly surprised we made it this far. But all that aside, lets chat new years resolutions.

Every year I make them, you probably do too. And I've noticed a trend. Every year they're basically the same things, just slightly different wording. It seems to be one the biggest cliches ever. Tat whole "New Year, New Me" attitude that everyone adopts on the first of January and forgets completely by the second.

Your resolutions are most likely along the same lines as mine, which are usually along the same lines as Bridget Jones'.

But this year I've decided to stray from tradition. Instead of having my usual "Get fit, stop swearing, start smiling" resolutions, I've decided to adopt a much more simple mantra: Be Good.

Luckily this is about the most ambiguous you can get, so there's lots of room for life there. I really cannot be more fed up with every year new years day, sitting in my room trying to picture where I will be this time next year and hoping that since i've followed my resolutions that I will have evolved into this Beyonce-like Goddess that  looks and acts like pure perfection. I figure there is no point striving for such perfection as I know I'll never get there, and whilst its a lovely ideal, its not practical. We can try all we want to be perfect each year, but being humans we'll likely fuck things up thousands of times. The reality is, we will never be perfect. But we can always be good. And should always strive to be.

So that's my New Years Resolution. I'm looking forward to a good 2014.

“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”

-John Steinback, East of Eden

-Kate

You Can't Hurt Christmas

Yep. It's that dreaded time of year again. That one month where everybody thinks it's acceptable to blast holiday tunes throughout the shopping centre and cover their houses in every possible lightbulb they can find. It's christmas.

Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating the birth of baby Jesus. But there's celebrating and having a good time, and then there's celebrating. Call me a grinch if you must, but I really don't see the appeal. Why would you want to dress your house in grotesquely illuminated baubles for the entire world to see? Why do we all of a sudden love C-list celebrities that sing the same carols every year and pretend they're the next beyonce? Why is michael buble's CD stocked in every single shop you can imagine including the grocery store? Why do we dress our cars up as reindeers? THEY ARE CARS.

Most of all I think the thing that annoys me most is despite my protests every year, I still end up sitting around with my crazy family, belting out an assortment of Mariah Carey's carols, wishing every day could as good as this. As much as I say I hate it, the truth is, you really can't hurt christmas. No matter how many times I refuse to decorate the christmas tree, or refuse to sing carols at church, or refuse to smile in every family photo showing our bonbon prizes, I still end up loving it.

So whether you're a grinch like me, or one of those psycho's that actually willingly attends carols by candlelight every year, have a swell holiday season.

-Kate

The Green Light

Lets talk about Gatsby. It's high time this was discussed thoroughly. First of all, yes. Yes it is perfection. The book. The movie. Leo. Carey Mulligan. All of it. Absolute Perfection. Not to mention the soundtrack (marry me lana del rey).

I've always been a sucker for romance books. Every time, even when they're predictable I still end up in tears. But I think the thing that got me about Gatsby, was how hauntingly true it was, whilst at the same time, being so romanticised it was almost unbelievable (Baz Luhrmann, you've done it again.)

 I think it was eerily accurate as to the way we view people in our lives. Gatsby's love for Daisy Buchanan was tragic and beautiful all at once. His absolute dedication to her, his obsession with her reminded me so much of the silly crushes I've had over the years. I think it made it all the more real. The idea deep down it could still happen. The past could be re-written. That we can re-capture the moments we missed out on. That those we love will always find a way of coming back to us.

"There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice"

The symbolism of that green light at the end of Daisy's dock was almost too much for me. That Gatsby, or we even, will always reach out for more. Always reach out but never quite grasp it. Every time we feel like we get closer, our dreams slip away from us. Unfortunately we will never be satisfied with just loving and being loved. We always want more. The absolute significance of our past to the dream of our future. 

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

I feel like there is so much more I could say. But alas, that quote is perfect enough as it is.

-Kate

It's a Man's World

It really is. Don't get me wrong I'm not some sort of hard-line feminist who's gonna preach not shaving for four years and not wearing deodorant like some sort of high on acid-nature seeking hippie. But as a general statement, I'm all for equality, and feminism is definitely a massive part of that.

I guess I'm just a bit fed up with the whole "you must look like a victoria's secret model at all times of the day" stigma that is present in our society. As a girl who is definitely not 100% happy with the way I look (which girl is, lets be honest) I am so sick and tired of hearing comments like "oh you look tired, are you not wearing makeup?" or "I prefer your hair straight you should straighten it more often". NO! Look, don't get me wrong I love to hear the compliments. But I'm always thinking, why do I need to change the way I look because you prefer me another way? Why can't you just be happy with me?

To all the ladies out there I say: Don't ever think you have to change to please someone else. You're pretty much already great the way you are, and no guy ever has the right to tell you otherwise. Feel proud, to walk out of the house without makeup, flaunt your 'haven't shaved in three days' legs, embrace those few days your hair gets a bit frizzy or messy. 

As my girl Christina would say: "We are beautiful, in every single way. Words can't bring us down. So don't you bring me down today"

-Kate

Head Full of Egg

Today I came across something rather spectacular. It's a book,  a collection of poetry by some kid named Bo Burnham (I'm sure if you know him you'll forever hate me for referring to him as 'some kid' but please bare with me) who is kind of this incredible god-like poet (told you it would get better!). The book is called Egghead: Or, You Can't Survive on Ideas Alone.

Now I have to admit I am quite a fan of poetry (and by poetry I mean I love me some tumblr browsing) and I have read my fair share of poems that all seem to revolve around sex and death and all that lovely/terrible stuff. But when I read a poem from Egghead, I knew I'd found something different entirely. 

And I love it, I love it I love I love it. It's all kinds of wonderful. I may even buy it.

Seriously though, worth a read this Egghead. Yeah, I dig it.

-Kate

Beautiful Things

This week I went away with a bunch of mates and we chatted a lot about the story of creation.  I think no matter what your beliefs on the creation of the world are, there's no arguing its beauty. I felt so humbled by the notion that we were created from the dusts of the earth, yet here we are, purposeful beings, with beating hearts and breathing lungs and eyes to see and mouths to speak.

In the first book of the bible, creation is described. After God makes each element he states "It is good".  On the sixth day, God created human beings;  "³¹ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good". The original hebrew is 'Tov Meod'.  This means that not only are we good, we are created in the image of God, and we were so much greater than He ever planned.

"You make beautiful things out of the dust, you make beautiful things out of us"

These song lyrics from Beautiful Things by Gungor basically sum it all up perfectly. It reminds me that we can see the broken restored. That even the dirtiest of objects can be wiped and washed clean. God has made us new, and is still making us new. 

For all of this - cheers God!

Amen and out-

Kate

Lovers In Broken Places

"The stars are always there but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope."

Today is World Suicide Awareness Day I've been told. Which I think is bloody marvellous. Mainly for the reason that things like mental illness, things like self-harm and suicide are so often simply swept under the rug by our society. We ignore problems like these because we think it's easier. I saw a billboard once aimed at raising awareness for depression. It read "Imagine if you got blamed for having cancer..." This is one of the most profound statements I think I've ever read on a billboard. The problem with mental illness is so often we think its not a real problem. We think that people bring depression upon themselves. In my experience, I don't think this could be further from the truth.

A while back, I came across a story. Written by guy who is part of the charity TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms) which is aimed at raising awareness about, and offering support for, those dealing with self-harm and suicide.  After helping in the rehabilitation of a young adult named Renee, he wrote this. 

I have watched life come back to her, and it has been a privilege. When our time with her began, someone suggested shifts, but that is the language of business. Love is something better. I have been challenged and changed, reminded that love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions. Don Miller says we're called to hold our hands against the wounds of a broken world, to stop the bleeding. I agree so greatly.

We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love. I have seen that this week and honestly, it has been simple: Take a broken girl, treat her like a famous princess, give her the best seats in the house. Buy her coffee and cigarettes for the coming down, books and bathroom things for the days ahead. Tell her something true when all she's known are lies. Tell her God loves her. Tell her about forgiveness, the possibility of freedom, tell her she was made to dance in white dresses. All these things are true.

We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home.

I have learned so much in one week with one brave girl. She is alive now, in the patience and safety of rehab, covered in marks of madness but choosing to believe that God makes things new, that He meant hope and healing in the stars. She would ask you to remember. 

Now whether you choose to believe in God or agree with this or not, I don't think this can be argued against. 

Wherever you're at personally, whether you've struggled with depression, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and the like, or even if you've never experienced anything of the sort. I challenge you to dwell on this, during the week.

And if anything, remember this. "Love is that simple answer to so many of our hardest questions".

- Kate