A whole novel in a day.

Last night I started reading Portia de Rossi's Unbearable Lightness. I read three chapters before deciding to go to sleep. When I awoke this morning with very little actual work to do and an incredibly runny nose, I decided to curl up with my box of tissues and read until something made me get up. As it turned out, I spent the entire day, with a few half hour long exceptions for picking up groceries and dropping my sister to her exam and eating breakfast and lunch, in bed reading. And a few moments ago I finished the book.

It is a really intense and well written novel, and I would recommend it to anyone. Not only is it heart-wrenchingly honest and frightening, but it's final chapter is especially hopeful and life-affirming (A quick aside for those who have finished it, and those who just simply agree with me - how gorgeous are Ellen and Portia! Aww. So sweet! True love. Sigh...). It really confirmed for me how important it is to be true to yourself and not deny yourself the things you want and love. This article is really interesting if you've read or want to read it...

When was the last time you read an entire novel in a day? For many this pleasure is reserved for special occasions, such as the release of the Harry Potter books (Stevie, my sister read the final book in less than 24 hours. It took me two weeks! The others I read in one to three days, however...) or particularly short novels. Have you read anything you couldn't put down for the life of you?

I remember last year when I started reading The Hunger Games I actually made excuses not to go anywhere despite being invited by a number of people out to do things (like go to Walmart and go swimming in the river) because I just wanted to find out what happened next. It was intense! I've got my other sister's copy of the second book in the series, but I'm not going to read it until I get all my library books read... If it's anything like the first book I doubt I'll be leaving my apartment for a day or two.

Things I'm thankful for today (because after reading the Epilogue of Portia's book I'm in a particularly thankful mood); avocado on toast/rice cakes when I run out of bread, oreos, dancing around to Gimme Sympathy by Metric, going to parties I wasn't personally invited to and having a wicked time, raw vegan chocolate, catching up with old friends, cheering up friends who are in need of some cheer, seeing X-Men First Class again, which brings me to the next item on my things I'm thankful for list - James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender's faces, Strawberry and Lime cider, trying to think of a great costume for a "Hollywood/Movie" themed party - or, more specifically, trying to choose whether to go in a Team Zissou (The Life Aquatic) costume, as Margot Tenenbaum (The Royal Tenenbaums) or as Shoshana from Inglorious Basterds.

get dancing, friends.

How To: Self Esteem

Feeling a little bad about yourself? Maybe you failed a test, ate too much chocolate, lied to a friend or went on an irresponsible spending spree. So how do you fix your lowered self esteem.

 

If only it were that easy! Self Esteem Shop found here.

Having good self esteem is hard work and it’s a continual journey. It’s not something that you can fix in ten minutes with a magazine how to guide and a new haircut and it’s not something that once attained you can just forget about. Having good self esteem requires you to prove time and again that you are valuable, beautiful and worthy. 

More than ever before there is an overwhelming social interest in self help, in loving yourself and being happy to be the person you are. Interestingly, there is also major concern building about the number of people with very little self confidence and self worth. The reason why? Self esteem has become a repeat industry, like diet and exercise. The people selling ‘self esteem’ don’t want you to be fixed in the long term or else there would be no business left. They want you to feel good for a little while, drop back down and come crawling back for more of what made you feel so happy. It’s the reason why every girl’s magazine can run ‘How To Be More Confident’ editorials in every issue and the public still lap it up. Self esteem is the new opiate and everyone is selling it.

 

So how to get out of a self esteem rut for real? The answer is simple in words, intensely difficult in practice; you need to prove to yourself that you actually deserve respect. You have to show yourself that you are something to be confident about, something to bank on and that no one can live life in quite the way that you can. It’s not enough to just think that you are good at something, or just know that you have potential, that you’re a hard worker, that you’re creative and a great team player. You need to live it. It might feel like you’re taking a giant step here, especially if you’re not feeling too great about yourself already, but remember; taking real action is the only way to manifest real, tangible results. We demand of our friends, families and colleagues continual proof that they deserve our love and respect, so why not of ourselves? 

You need to identify exactly why don’t you feel good about yourself. You’re not achieving well in your job or at school? Then show yourself that you can work hard, commit fully and seek assistance until you are. You’re not happy with your appearance? Look firstly at how you’re treating your body; if you’re filling it with disgusting toxic junk or starving it into malnutrition then you’re not exactly taking the steps towards making an appearance that will appeal to you, are you? Taking control of the journey between where you are and where you want to be is the key to coming out the other side as a human being you can respect, love and be proud to be.

 

So much of our self confidence lies within perception and choice, and so often people work much harder to sabotage their chances than change their reality. The magazines and television shows and the books and the self-helpers don’t want to tell you, but self esteem can be nurtured by you and you alone. Once you start respecting yourself you will find that others do the same purely because you make it an expectation. 

Take control, accept responsibility and enjoy living your life.