Am I Australian?

When you travel and people find out you are Australian there is always this love that australians seem to get. People say we are laid back, friendly and accepting. But when I look around I'm not sure that I always see that. 

Not only can we apparently not decide on someone to govern us. But we live in a nation that is supposed to be free and all we seem to do is shut out people that are different from us. 

Tonight as I was strolling through my Facebook feed I found that a family member had posted this picture

And I was disgusted that someone I knew would post something like this, let alone someone that is a part of my family. apart from the fact that Muslim is a religion not a race, I thought that we were moving on in the world but then I wake to find that people are still as close minded as they have always been. that people are still so hypocritical. 

Who can we really call Australian? The Indigenous people ... of course. But really we don't call them Australian. We call them Aboriginal. But really everybody else is an immigrant, most of us came from convicts. So then you have the people who say "Well I am Australian because my Grandparents were born here" But someone else is called a Wog or worse because they are only second generation. So how many generations do you have to wait before you can say "I am Australian!" 

My family Heritage in Pakistani/Indian and English... but I am at least the fourth generation born in Australia. so am I Australian? I don know a whole lot about my heritage because or family lost contact before I was ever born and I envy the people I know that are so knowledgeable of their roots. I don't know a single thing about Pakistani Heritage! And I guess some people would say that I am lucky that I do not look Pakistani at all and so i never got teased about looking different. 

What about fairer skinned Immigrants, I tend to find that we only have something bad to say about the Australians that look different. That are not what you would call typically Australian. So who would you call Australian and who decides? 

Just remember that our National Anthem says "For those who've come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share" We are seen as a Multicultural society, so why can't we start acting like one?

Please people think about what you are saying! Make a conscious decision to be kind, to be accepting, to be Australian.

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/kirrajadeee

Twitter - https://twitter.com/kirrajade

Tumblr - http://kirrajadeee.tumblr.com/

Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/kirrajadeee/

Blog - http://kirrajadee.blogspot.com.au/

Books Galore!

Well its safe to say I love reading. I like the way i can read a book and be completely transported into another world. I can become the main character of the story or feel like I am watching from above.

There is nothing better than the feel of the pages underneath your fingertips.Curling up withe a blanket a cup of tea and a book. Being able to see how far you have read and when you are getting close to the end that feeling that you just don't want it to be over. People keep telling me that an e-reader is amazing but i truly don't think anything could beat the feeling of holding a book in your hands and turning a page. 

So three times a year there is a local book fair to raise money for the Lifeline charity where people have donated their second hand books and you then purchase them and all the money goes back to the charity. My mother and I try to go at least twice a year and as it was the fair was on last weekend and I think we went a little bit overboard. 

My mother and I went on the morning of the first day of the fair and 2hrs later I walked out with 17 books. I know for most people quite a big number but for me this seemed pretty normal as I tend to read quite fast. But then my sister then decided that she would like to go on the last day of the fair, which is half price day, and this is when things went wrong by the end of the day we had counted up our books and between the three of us we had bought 143 books, 41 of which were mine. Oops! 

I must say I have already finished one of the books in 2 days so hopefully it doesn't take me too long to get through them all. 

My pickings from the weekend 

If you have a favourite book let me know! I would love to read some of your suggestions.

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/kirrajadeee

Twitter - https://twitter.com/kirrajade

Tumblr - http://kirrajadeee.tumblr.com/

Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/kirrajadeee/

Blog - http://kirrajadee.blogspot.com.au/

Pay it Forward

To start this year off in a loving way I’m participating in this Pay-It-Forward initiative: 5 people that comment on this with "I'm in", will receive a surprise from me at some point in this calendar year - anything from a book, a ticket, a visit, something home grown or made, a postcard, absolutely any surprise!

There will be no warning and it will happen when the mood comes over me and I find something that I believe would suit you and make you happy.

These five people must either make the same offer in their FB status or blog and distribute their own joy. Simply copy this text so we can form a web of connection and kindness.

Let's do more nice and loving things for each other in 2014, without any reason other than to make each other smile and to show that we think of each other. Here's to a more enjoyable, more friendly and love filled year. 

Even if you don't want to commit to giving 5 people a gift, try just doing something nice for someone and not respecting anything in return.


Try it out! 

I love my curves!

In todays day and age everyone is talking about what diet is the best and how to lose weight the fastest. But I am here to tell you that losing weight fast is not the answer!!!

Everyone in society has some sort of issue with their body and that is completely normal, if we didn't at one point or another want to improve ourselves we wouldn't be human. But it is also important that we love who we are!

I have had a struggle with this just like every other girl. When I was growing up I was quite a petite girl! I had always been fit and healthy and absolutely happy with my body! I have been a dancer my whole life and I still consider myself a very healthy active person. I was quite content being a rather small size and didn't really think anything of the fact that my body might change as I got older. But I was 15 and who really thinks about that! I was quite a popular girl at school and I had always made friends easily because I considered myself easy to get along with and to be honest I am.

As I started to move into my late teens a lot of things started changing, the most noticeable thing was that I was putting on weight. I wasn't doing anything differently and if anything I was more active than I ever had been before. But because this started happening to me I started to get very down on myself. I started hating going to school and I started losing friends and didn't really want to be around anyone! I went from being someone who had enough confidence to share around to someone ho didn't even want to come out of my room. Whilst this was happening I started having massive mood swings I could be fine and then all of a sudden I hated the world. My mother and I started to have MASSIVE fights and I didn't understand why I was always angry.

Luckily things started to change, I had some amazing friends who would force me to get out and they were amazing in pulling me out of my shell. And I started to appreciate my life for what it was. I wanted to go out and have fun with the people who cared about me. I didn't want to sit inside wanting to change everything about myself.

By the end of Year 12 I was happy with who I was. I had an amazing group of friends and I was about to go out and find my place in the world. Don't get me wrong I still had those horrible days when I didn't like the way I looked and I compared myself to everyone else but then there were other days that I felt amazing in my own skin. I started doing a lot of community theatre and really found a place where I was accepted for exactly who I was.

In 2012, a girl I had met through a show I was doing convinced me to go to Philadelphia with her to work at a summer camp. So before I left to go I decided to go and see my doctor just to check up on anything that I needed before I left. I had always had trouble with my time of month and with migraines and such so my doctor sent me to a specialist to have an ultrasound. After the ultra sound I found out the I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. When finding this out it started to make a lot of sense. I had started putting on weight quite fast, I had developed bad mood swings, I could go from being fine to having such bad cramps that I could be curled up in a ball on the floor, and my migraines had just gotten worse. It was a hard thing to find out! But it helped me understand why these things had been happening to me. And all it is now is looking after it, going in to get shots and having an implant put in to administer the hormones that I am lacking.

But going through this has really helped me to love exactly who I am. I am not going to starve myself to be the perfect shape. And I can look at someone and think "oh I wish I looked like that" but then I realise we are different people, I am my own person. I am the perfect image of me! And if people don't like who I am then those people are not the people I want in my life. I hear a lot of girls talking about losing weight to find a boyfriend but if a guy can not accept you the way you are then he is not the right one for you! Sure! it would be great to be a bit smaller but I am not going to kill myself to try and get there. The best I can do is eat healthy and keep fit.

If you ever have those times that your find yourself comparing yourself to someone else remember that you're are beautiful just the way you are! People are drawn to others that are confident in their own skin. And remember you cannot love another until you love yourself!

Kirrajadeee

Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/kirrajadeee
Twitter - https://twitter.com/kirrajade
Tumblr - http://kirrajadeee.tumblr.com/
Pintrest - http://www.pinterest.com/kirrajadeee/