Helplines!

This is just a short post to say that no body should feel that they are worthless and give up hope. If you feel unhappy, you should be able to talk to someone - a friend, family member, teacher or someone else that you trust. There are many helplines and websites with advice.

Mind - 0300 123 3393 or text 86463

Samaritans - 0845 790 9090

Turn 2 Me (Ireland) 

That's it for now,

Kazia x

Challenge!

Throughout February, I challenged myself to take a photo a day using my digital camera (Canon 1100D) rather than my iPhone. This challenge has turned out to be, ironically, challenging! To be honest, I have been lazy. I haven't taken my camera with me when I go out or I've been too self-conscious to take it out of my bag while I'm around people. I also love taking photos of people but I'm too scared to ask because I worry that they'd laugh at me or wouldn't want their photo taken. I would love to have photos of my flat mates and friends at university. I dreamed of taking hundreds of photos of everyone and everything but that hasn't happened. I tend to take photos for Instagram of either myself or sunrises/sunsets.

While I'm hard on myself for being lazy, I have had a lot of work to do at university. It has been hard this semester because there is just such a large amount of reading to do and weekly essays to write! I admit I have struggled.

Also, I haven't published the photos that I did manage to take because I haven't had the time to edit them. When I do edit them, I tend to want to make them perfect. It's an unachievable goal.

So for the rest of the week I am going to challenge myself to take my camera with me every day. Even if I don't get time to take a photo, at least I've had the equipment with me. Do you ever go out without your camera, see something you like and realise that you've missed a great opportunity? I do this all the time! Now it's going to stop.

Next week is Personal Development Week which means all lectures and seminars are cancelled so that everyone can have one to one tutorials and catch up on assignments. I'm planning to go home towards the end of next week which means I'll hopefully get a chance to go to some new places and take lots of photos. My Step Mum asked me today about a place we went to in 2014. Neither of us remembers where it was because she had taken us on a "Magical Mystery Tour" which we used to do a lot. She'd drive and drive until we ended up somewhere we hadn't been before or to our favourite beach. It didn't matter about the end destination, we would just be enjoying the journey and go wherever the car took us.

That's it for now,

Kazia x

Inspiration!

I have an on-going assignment this semester to write a weekly Study Log but I haven't been motivated to write my entries because I didn't know what I wanted my arguments to be about. A study log is a journal entry that summarises the lecture and seminar of the week and explains further research around the topics. It doesn't sound difficult but I find it hard to explain my ideas concisely. 

Today I finally found my inspiration! I wasn't even expecting it (which is the best time for inspiration to hit you) I was sat in the library, reading a chapter for my next seminar and typing my annotations rather than writing them like I normally do. I don't know why it suddenly occurred to me that I could type my notes and highlight them electronically or why it hadn't occurred to me before. So I went to my seminar with annotated notes in hand, understanding the topic and feeling on top of the world. I could face anything my tutor threw at me!

During the last 30 minutes or so of the seminar, my tutor asked us to think about the study logs we'd written and how we could improve them. She gave us a checklist of things we should be including to get higher grades. I already knew what the checklist included because I'd spoken to her last week and went through my ideas. I had been struggling with where to start because the topics are broad and you could talk about literally anything. My tutor inspired me to start looking at specific things that interested me and still linked to the topic. I found it easier to plan out some more ideas and which direction I wanted to take my argument in.

After today's seminar, I went back to the library. I found a quiet spot on the silent floor where I always sit, plugged in my headphones and began typing. I suddenly couldn't stop and the ideas were flowing faster than I could type them. Finally I was making progress!

I think I found my inspiration because I enjoyed this week's topic "Realism and ways of seeing" I didn't think I would because I missed the lecture and it is a very art-based topic. (As you know I'm studying Film and Television) I had looked at Surrealism in Art during high school so I had some basic knowledge. This knowledge helped when the people around me weren't sure of the answers. 

What they taught me in high school was useful information?! Who knew?

In my other modules, this week and next week's topics are media- and film-based which is really good because that is my comfort zone. I feel confident that I can explain these topics if I was asked to.

Where have you found inspiration this week? Look closely at people/objects around you and try to seek out inspiration from them.

That's it for now,

Kazia x