Posts

Happiness: Do we find it, or choose it?

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Can you remember the first time you felt truly happy? What did it feel like?  When I was younger, my happy place was performing on stage. Where I was pretending to be in a make-believe world, forgetting about who I really was, just for a couple of hours. I enjoyed the exhilaration of being vulnerable in front of the audience (as weird as that sounds.) When I was younger, I had dreamt of being a famous actress, because I thought that was what would make me happy. But as I got older, I found that those moments of happiness have changed.  Little things like dipping my feet into the water of the Mississippi River in America; something I'd heard about all my childhood and teenage years, and then suddenly I was there. Or the wind blowing through my hair while I enjoyed a speed boat ride along that same river, soaking up the rays of the sun. Or seeing Times Square in New York for the first time; which felt like stepping into the movies. Even in Vietnam, when I was very ill, I somehow clim

Back to Life, Back to Normality

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 I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if I'm enjoying going 'back to normal'. Okay, so you might completely disagree with me, but hold on one second. This pandemic has not only caused millions of unnecessary deaths around the world, but it has also show us- the Western world in particular- how much inequality we are suffering. Whether it's money, jobs, gender, unemployment, Black Lives Matter.  This pandemic has shown the world what's wrong with it. What's wrong with US as human beings.  However.  Since the UK economy has slowly opened back up, and we are getting out and about more, just be wary of those on the autism spectrum, or who consider themselves neuro-diverse. Since commuting back to my drama school in south London from Hampshire, I've had several nightmare train journeys that make me realise how I really did NOT miss the travelling. The getting up really early, having to remember what to pack and make sure you have everything just for o

Feeling lost in this world? You could be an Old Soul

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 Okay, so spirituality isn't for everyone. In fact, not everyone participates in self-care, either. Not properly, anyway. I don't know about you, and your experiences, but I've always felt different from everybody else- and until recently, I've found it so hard to come up with reasons as to why I've struggled so much in various aspects of my life. For starters, my health is not the same as everybody else's. As a child and teenager, I was bullied in school (verbally) and all my school reports said the same thing- Rosie needs to put her hand up more in class. I was always the quiet one. As I developed, I was able to make a few very close friends. However, I have often felt very socially anxious - especially if I'm in a group of people of up to more than four - especially so if they are people of a similar age. You'll often finding me sitting or standing slightly outside of any kind of social circle- even now. I even transferred universities after the secon

What is Love, in the 21st Century? (A poem for Valentines Day)

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   What is love, in the 21st century? Tinder, Bumble, elite, match. We all wonder, what is our destiny But can never seem to find,  the right catch.   What is love, in the 21st century? Taking numbers, swapping Facebooks Oh wait, but what if he's a narcissist-  Better not let him off the hook.   What is love in the 21st century? Meaningless sex, and ST'I's.   What is love, in the 21st century? LGBT- are you straight, Gay or Bi?   What is love in the 21st century? Take it slow, nah, Let's get a mortgage Oh wait- he must be a narcissist   What is love, in the 21st century? #datenightwithhubby #letsgetthebubbly   What is love in the 21st century? Date nights? Nah- couples on their phones   What is love, in the 21st century? Oh, hang on, global pandemic- Outside takeaways  #pandemicdating   What is love in the 21st century? I'm really not sure-   Are you?   What is love in the 21st Century

Corona: The virus that broke Capitalism

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 28th December 2020.  As I sit in my living room (the norm of the year) watching a comedy which looked back on how  ridiculous 2020 has been, I can feel anger rising, and I'm not normally an angry person.  For my entire life, I've always felt like I've been searching. Searching for what, I don't know, but in the last couple of months, I've had a lot of flashlight moments, and a lot of anger building up inside.  Augusto Boal, a theatre director famous for his creations of the Forum and Invisible Theatre techniques (where the audience, or witnesses, are fully involved with the actors) claims that politics is our 'sovereign art' while Paulo Freire- an educator and philosopher- claims that 'education should create freedom'.  Now, the comedy I was watching, combined with debates and essays I've written on my MA- have given me another flashlight moment: it's not the coronavirus that's breaking the world- it's actually proving how much we DE

Rhetorical Questions: What's the best thing about being a woman?

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 Recently at my drama school, there was a poster up on the toilet doors (on the inside, yes!) asking, "What is the best thing about being a woman?" It was probably up for about a month or so.  Yet, only ONE person had written on any of the posters that had been stuck up. The answer was: "THE PHYSICAL ASPECTS!" So basically, their body. But what does this mean? Firstly, I was shocked that only one person had written anything. Secondly, that the only thing that person could reply was that their body was the best thing about being female.  I've noticed, particularly over the course of 2020 (the year of doom) or at least I feel- do we, as women, talk enough to each other about being women? 2020 has been a year of constant health worries for everyone, all genders alike.  There are certain aspects of my health as a woman that I've really struggled with, emotionally as well as mentally.  But it's only since opening up and talking to my friends about these issue

When Panic Strikes: Keep Calm and Carry On

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 I've navigated myself across the subway in NYC; through the crazy  Asian cities of Bankok and Ho Chi Minh; waited for hours and  hours for delayed flights on my travels in Vietnam;  and even clutched onto a puppy for dear life  while on the back of a moped.  I've also had an extra night in Boston when a flight wasn't going out due to  weather...or something along those lines.  (Bankok skyeline) I have so many travelling nightmares, but in all that time I managed  to navigate myself in  not just one, but a few foreign countries where English  was far from the first language.  Yet the two times I've experienced panic attacks have both been in London.  How does this make sense? The first attack struck on my way to Roehampton Uni, about two years ago,  when I was runningvery late and none of the taxi services were available.  (I arrived half an hour late on the first evening.) This week on my way up to Mountview, I got lost trying to find Waterloo East.  Normally I wouldgo