Take a leap of faith

Take a leap of faith

 My new favourite quote. I love the image these five words immediately put in my mind. I picture a half-sketched, half real young woman, no, a girl, dressed in a pale aqua rain coat over a similar dress. Her one hand is clutched to an identically coloured wooden umbrella, and the other flung out in the wind as if she were embracing a long-denied entity. Despite it raining mercilessly, her umbrella remains unopened.

“Young girls shouldn’t play in the rain” she hears a should-be-respected-and-listened-to elder say somewhere in distance.

“It’s unladylike”.

The girl becomes hesitant for a second, and so drops both arms to her side and lifts her pale face to the skies above, watching the trembling water pellets descend from the clouds. When is the last time she had felt the naked rain run down her skin? She can’t remember. The drenched figure turns to face nowhere in particular, a smile now adorning her cheeks. She steps forward and begins walking for once in her life to an undecided destination. Gradually, a nimble walk turns into a joyous run, flailing arms and ringing laughter. And then she does it. Surrounded by showers of waters, she takes a mighty jump into the air. A leap of faith. Her face beams with emotion, she’s never before felt so alive. She doesn’t care anymore. She’s free.

I hope I’m not the only one that relates certain phrases or words with images and thoughts of my own? Can anyone else relate? In some ways, I envy my imagined girl greatly. I adore heavy rain, and normally try not to find shelter when I encounter it. I can imagine the earth-with-rainwater aroma of her surroundings, the gentle erupting pitter-patter of the rain, the sensation of cool droplets on bare skin. I’m envious of her glorious encounter with such a simple trait of nature. I also envy the girl for her bravery, and in many ways have been trying to be like her for some time now. I’ve always been told to follow the crowd, fit in and jump on the bandwagon. I’ve always been absolutely terrified of trying new things, of independently venturing out and trying new things, such as starting this blog, for example. Lately, I’ve been trying to change that. In so many aspects of my life, I’m bounding into the unknown and pushing myself into new things. I’m taking a leap of faith. I love familiarity and permanency and security. I hate change. I’m trying to change all that, and stories/accounts of my attempts, successes and failures are sure to follow, so watch this space! J And for anyone reading this that’s like me, I encourage you to do the same. Go on, scare yourself! You’ll thank me later.

                                                     Xo, Ziona

Photography Haul

Hey Guys! It’s come to my attention that over the past 2 or so years of simultaneously owning Snapchat, Instagram and a smart phone, I’ve accumulated a few photos I took here and there that I thought were worthy of sharing. 

Don't you just love kind strangers? :)

SNOW!!

What I do instead of listening in lessons

Bokeh ?

Henna doodles

Kind strangers Part. 2

Sephora <3

Best trip so far!

Strategically placed fruit

Made a little pillow 

Munchkin x x (baby bro)

bae killed the view

Nature can be so photogenic

My room

Daisy chains

Central London

Throwback to the day I chopped off all my hair 

Eiffel Tower

Down town Paris

Flea-market in Paris

Flea-market in Paris

50 things To Be Happy About <3

Inspired by this cute little book I bought just over a year ago.

       1)   That tired but happy/content feeling

2)    Tan lines

3)    That one rainy day after many hot dry days

4)    The smell of smoke after burning out a candle

5)    Feeling pretty

6)    Binge- watching on Netflix

7)    Taking the perfect selfie

8)    Reaching a goal

9)    Before and after photos

10) Filling water bottles up right to the top

11) Taking pictures of the sky/sunset

12) How photogenic nature is

13) The after praying feeling

14) Freshly shaved legs

15) A baby’s laugh

16) Random useless facts

17) Eyebrows being on fleek after getting them done

18) Giving advice you know will benefit someone

19) Being told by a friend that they love you unconditionally(and you know they sincerely mean every word)

20) Making up after a fight without actually apologising

21) The local chip shop knowing your order

22) Favours from strangers

23) Hot strangers

24)  Primark hauls

25) That piece of jewellery you are currently obsessed with

26) Spelling an unknown word correctly

27) New pencil cases at the start of a school year

28) The first page of a new school book

29) Re-organising your bedroom

30) New house furniture/ornaments/accessories

31) Hollister body mists

32) Sweater weather

33) Finishing a perfect book

34) The last day of school

35) Fried chicken

36) Cutely decorated little restaurants

37) Old people

38) Chinese/orientak tourists (don’t ask me why)

39) Joggers

40) Sticking your tongue out

41) #throwback songs

42) The Legend of Avatar the Last Airbender

43) Finishing a to-do list

44) Re-watching shows I loved as a kid

45) Relating so hard to someone that you can’t even

46) Making slick/smart comebacks

47) Confidence

48) Freshly hovered carpets

49) Opening all the windows in the house

50) Taking off/smudging makeup

Do you have anything that you would have put on this list? Write it in the comments below! I'd encourage you guys to try making your own lists as well, you'd be surprised at how many little things there are to be thankful for and be happy about, and how fun it is to compile! 

Xo, Ziona  :) 

Starting with an essay

Hey guys! its been three days since I last uploaded, and just to start with I've decided to show you guys an exam practice piece that I managed to do in English class, as part of my GCSE exam practice. And no, I'm not being lazy by putting up some essay work that I managed to rock up in class although that is very tempting as I STILL have no clue what I'm going to write about in future posts :p.I can't remember exactly what the task set to do in the timed 45 minutes was, but the task was taken from a past English paper, and the choices were either writing about something adventureous that involved someone being helped, or an article explaining how and why us humans spend to much time and money on the welfare of animals. 

Now, being the journalist-inspiring, awkward and challenge-loving being that I am, I decided to go for the frightful article. I'd try to put my own twist to it, as I knew it was one not many others would go for. I'm pretty proud of this, which is rare for work that I do myself personally, but here it is.

xo, Ziona <3

P.s. If imaginative writing isn't your thing, it's okay if you just skip this one, it's really just something to get the ball rolling with this whole blogging thing to be honest :)


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Do we worry too much about the welfare of animals? 

Animals-you gotta love em! Whether it's the annual family summer trip to the local zoo; a beloved pet or a late night documentary, I'm sure you'll agree that it is an enjoyable experience (most of the time)! And why wouldn't it be?The animal kingdom is truly astounding; from high pitched birds that look as if a rainbow's thrown up all over them. to majestic golden lions and creepy critters that send shivers down your backside. Their designer (or whatever else you believe) obviously had seriously good taste. The animal kingdom is an exquisite and indeed intriguing topic, but what if I told you that sometimes ,us homo-sapiens pay a little too much attention to the well-being on animals, instead of just ourselves?

Now I know exactly what your thinking by now: "What kind of cold-hearted monster would ever utter such words?", but after all those save a *Insert name of endangered and/or sad, cute looking animal* adverts one every other channel that send you on a major guilt-trip in a space of thirty seconds, I don't say I'd blame you! But hey, give me a chance, and let me tell you why I believe we focus too much on the welfare of animals and too less on ourselves.

First thing's first, humans are a priority. We're more clever, product, clean (well most of us) and of more benefit and use to the world on a whole then animals. Yes we create pollution, chop down trees , we're making a hole in the o-zone layer and whatever else, but we're more important. Yet instead of gathering as a global community and ensuring that every individual has some-what quality to life, a basic education and human rights, we'd rather help the last camel or bee of-a-kind survive the harshest winters or have a home. It's ridiculous when you think about it really!

Countries will spend millions upon millions ever year trying to preserve a bit of woodland (a fancy word for a few trees) where wildlife resides, instead of helping the closer in species to them. That innocent child starving and having to walk miles daily in order to obtain any water at all could have so easily been me or you. It's kind of scary when you think about it. If you have a roof over your head, a running tap and food at your table, you're richer than 90% of the world's population. All these facts are just being ignored so that "Archie the Golden Retriever can have a home this Christmas". Surely we as a human race need to prioritize what is important an essential to us, now more than ever.

So to round things off, I'm not telling you to kick out the pup you got for Christmas, nor am I telling you to disown the killer whale you've "adopted" for the last couple of months. All I'm saying is that human life is and always will be a priority- no matter what- and we should start putting that statement to practice, no matter how that panda looked on television.

Introducing me (again!)

Hey guys, (or the one person that happens to stumble across my blog, because let’s face it, no one's actually reading this), my name is Ziona, (we’ll save the did-your-parents-hate-you name jokes for later-shall we?); and after months upon months of contradicting, reasoning and arguing with myself, I’ve finally decided to start up a blog. For most, it’s probably not a huge deal, writing a few things and posting them online where somebody may or may not read them; but for me it’s a mammoth step, for reasons I’ll come to later.

Twice  before, I’ve attempted to start-up a blog online, but for personal reasons that I’m not going to bore you with, it just didn’t happen. But this time it’ll be different. I’ve promised myself, absolutely sworn, that this time, I will fully try to keep up with posting regularly without getting discouraged, bored or convincing myself that I’m too busy, which I’m not of course, as when I’m not procrastinating my homework, I can be found snapchatting, swimming or watching Pretty Little Liars.

 As to what exactly I’ll write about, I have absolutely no idea-yet.
Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking; “How can you start up a blog without knowing what you’ll write about?” and trust me, this very thought is what kept me from maintaining a blog in the first place. But, I’m a strong believer that if an individual truly enjoys writing; piecing together words, phrases and sentences to express their thoughts and emotions, they shouldn’t need to have a specific reason to do so, and this is exactly why I’ve convinced myself that I should start, now more than ever. It’s like a person that enjoys a particular activity, say your typical football fanatic, being discouraged from playing the sport and pursuing their passion just because they won’t eventually become a world-famous football player. It’s the same concept!

Even some of the greatest authors of the century weren’t exactly the most prestige or well-off to start with. Take the legendary J.K Rowling for instance. She began her career writing off a little type-writer in a cafe in Edinburgh, and now she’s the world-renowned creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, one of the most popular book and film franchises in history. She’s a true inspiration. I’ve even started to read the series, something I’ve been waiting to do for ages, but only got round to it recently. I’m starting with the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because I’m awkward like that. Also I may or may not have found the book at a bus stop yesterday.  

One of the things that originally really me to writing so early on, (I sound about fifty right now guys, I’m actually only fifteen) and literature on a whole, was the sheer fact that you don’t need to be a qualified, Harvard-graduate in order to do it. Anybody, anywhere at any point in time can put pen to paper (or keyboard to erm, computer of course) and express themselves. There’s freedom in that I think, pure, liberating freedom. It’s actually quite amazing how a few right words formulated together can totally encapsulate a whole other world when read in the right mindset!

I’m not exactly sure what exactly I expect as the outcome of this blog, no surprise there! Maybe it’ll persuade me into taking this writing thing even further in the near future, what the “even further” bit is yet, I haven’t quite worked out. Maybe it’ll get my creative juices flowing again, and I’ll get back the confidence I once had in my writing, or maybe it’ll simple just be something to fill my spare time with. Like I said before, I’m not expecting an awful lot of people to read my blog posts at all, but if at any point the one person reading a post of mine has any questions, comment or ideas, please feel free to comment! It would be deeply appreciated. And I’m sorry if this post isn’t up to pro-blogger standard or whatever, but I am just starting out (again), so like they say, watch this space!!!!!!

xo, Ziona <3P.S. Blogger is actually really hard to use, what does traffic source mean? :p