Silly wonderings…
25 May 2012 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Iamsecond, life, occupational therapy, OT, passion, psych, psychologist, psychology, silly thoughts
Been thinking… Fairly certain I want to do OT, but so many people are expecting me to do this (perhaps coz I talk about it so much 
) it makes me apprehensive and question everything. Is it really what I want to do? Or do I just think it is coz someone suggested it and I sorta grasped onto the idea? Also, I have this sinking feeling that I am giving up on psych in choosing not to be a psychologist. This is stupid! I am still finishing the degree! I will have a degree in 6months!!! Besides there is so much scope in mental health for OTs that I could essentially have the best of both worlds. Still, I am sorta kinda considering applying for honours… To keep my options open? Am I crazy? This would probably depress me a lot. Still… once upon-a-time I wanted to be a psychologist, or at least liked the idea of it. Even now, I am not certain if I have liked this degree, I am not 100% sure what I will do in the future. Still there is nothing else I would have preferred to study. Hmm. I think too much.
The other night when I asked husband what he honestly thinks I would be good at, he replied with “whatever I apply my mind too”. I liked his response. I do try hard. Even in my current subjects, that I am not jumping over the moon about, I try hard to get the best marks I possibly can.
I am one of those people that doesn’t really have a huge passion for anything. I have to try really hard to be actively involved in things. Maybe it’s coz I get too easily distracted, or possibly because I am interested in a lot of things it’s hard to narrow it down and be super passionate about a single thing. Because of this people call me a phase person. I am scared that when I finish study I will get out into the real world and not like the career I have put years of effort into getting into. SIGH. At the end of the day I suppose I just need to remember that everything in this world is temporary and the most important thing is glorifying God in everything I do.
Conclusion: I think too much and don’t sleep enough.
A kind of Hunger Games Trilogy review, but mostly quotes.
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: catching fire, hunger games, mockingjay, quotes
It’s that time again. What time is that you ask? Well, it feels like it should be bed time, but I just looked at the clock and realised it’s about an hour earlier than I thought it was (9:30pm, thought it was 10:30). It’s been a millennium since I last posted, ok maybe not that quite, but it’s been a while.
Finally got my hands on The Hunger Games triology. Came at just the wrong time of semester as I have so many assignments. Never the less I worked out some sort of reward system (at first) where if I got x amount of work done I could read a chapter. Though this didn’t last long as one chapter would become three, until I eventually just finished them. Don’t worry though, I did manage to get the assignments due at the time done and gave myself a break before attacking the ones due next week. In fact one is due tomorrow. Totally forgot until just now. Woops.
Back to The Hunger Games.. I actually quite enjoyed them, despite the sinister ideas. Although, it really isn’t all that much different to Harry Potter or Twilight, it just seems more scary as it is more “realistic”. General thoughts? Much better written than Twilight, but not as good as Harry Potter (though I admit, this maybe a biased opinion). My favourite of the three books, is the second Catching Fire. The third one, Mockingjay, was a bit of a let down, although I did like the ending. My favourite characters were Prim, Peeta and Buttercup.All three were easy to read and not difficult to understand. I am terrible at this book review thing, but I recommend them. They’re a good read, be prepared for some weird dreams though 
Some quotes:
“Deep in the meadow, under the willow
a bed of grass, a soft green pillow
lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
and when again they open, the sun will rise.
Hear it’s safe, here it’s warm
hear the daisies guard you from every harm
hear your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
hear is the place where I love you.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
a clock of leaves, a moonbeam ray
forget your woes and let your troubles lay
and when again it’s morning, they’ll wash away.
Hear it’s safe, hears its’ warm
hear the daises guard you from every harm
Hear your dreams are sweet and tomorrow bring them true
hear is the place where I love you.” The Hunger Games
“Sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them” Catching Fire
“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth. The promise that life can go on.” Mockingjay
“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”
Did I ever tell you I really like quotes?
“You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.” Mockingjay
“Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it” The Hunger Games
“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”
“Rue, who when you ask her what she loves most in the world, replies, of all things, “Music.”
“And then he gives me a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through me.”
and of course “Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”
The perpetual struggle of the uni student.
11 May 2012 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: assignments, shopping, struggle, study, work
It’s friday evening and I am sitting at my computer staring at the screen. My Psychological Assessment Report assignment is currently at 2016 of what is meant to be 1500. Because they are mean the school of psychology removed the +/- 10% which is lame, lame, LAME. 3 days ago I had no idea how to start the stupid thing, now I cannot workout how to cut down on the words. Remember assignments in high school? When they told you exactly what they wanted and you knew exactly what to write and how they would even look at drafts and tell you which parts to fix up? I miss high school. Sometimes. I also miss school uniforms. Choosing what to wear each day is hard!! Also, I seem to have a lot of t-shirts and I don’t really like to wear t-shirts, except for when I run and to bed. However, this means that I don’t really have a lot to wear at the moment or at least I am limiting my choices. Perhaps it is time to go shopping, but I have this thing about spending money and it is that I don’t like too. Hmmm. I talk to much. So I spend x hours a week thinking about studying and some of my hours running, some sleeping, some at uni and whatever is left studying or some form of social network. Just imagine how much more effective study would be without all that?!!? This is making no sense. Time to have a cup of tea and get back to staring at the word count. This my friends is the perpetual struggle of the uni student.
NB: credit for the title of this post goes to Melissa.
Study, tea and New Girl
06 May 2012 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: cuppa, New Girl, psychology, skittles, study, tea
Started working on my 1500 word Psychological Assessment Report assignment yesterday, I am currently at 1850 words and nowhere near finished. Say nerd much? Well kinda, but there’s so much information we have to fit into the report, it is seriously difficult to fit it all within 1500 words. Anyways I am taking the afternoon off and checking out this new show called New Girl 
, which isn’t actually that new, but it’s new to me. Haha, that was a lot of “new”s in the same sentence. It’s actually a fairly decent show as far as shows go this year. It’s about (just in case you have not seen it) a girl named Jess (played by Zooey Deschanel) who moves into the empty room in house of 3 guys and makes friends with them. They’re all a bit weird and quirky which is fun.
Sherlock has been passed out on the couch for the last 2 hours, he sleeps like a person which is weird and wonderful all in one. Must be tired, poor little fella. He’s taken to playing under the veranda and barking at sounds whenever he’s outside which is rather funny as his bark is rather pathetic (being a puppy and all). Right now I am drinking a hot cup of tea, it has lifted my mood by about 10notches, not that I was in a particularly bad mood, was just a little flat you know? It’s alright though, it’s been a good weekend. Last night a friend and I went to see another friend (ooh cryptic) in a play called Weightloss Wendy, which was about a comic spin on a woman’s journey loosing weight. The message that I took away from this spectacular performance was to listen to my inner carrot. Very funny and enjoyable.
Suppose I should stop being lazy and wash my hair and find some clothes not covered in dog fur to wear to church. La did a di dahhhhhh…. Do you ever experience moments where the inside of your head feels empty? Mine is like that now. Is this normal? Perhaps I could use myself as an assignment. Making no sense. Time for some skittles.
Thank you for reading this somewhat purposeless and nonsensical blog post.
<3. e xx
Sleep, where art thou?
04 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: blessed, friends, husband, lack of sleep, ramble, random, running, sleep, waking
Normally I am an early-to-bed-early-to-rise kind of person. Lately though, this has not been happening. Bedtime is usually between 10 and 10:30, sometimes 11 if I am being particularly slow (I say while writing this at 12:23 am). I used to get up at 6am to go running – why so early you ask? Well, I reply, it was so I could fit my run in before uni started on my 9am lecture days, but as these have dropped back, it was simply so I could start the day early. Honestly I feel as though the day is wasted if I have not accomplished something by 9am. Recently I have been struggling to get out of bed and have been waking up at odd hours and had difficulty getting back to sleep. It’s quite frustrating as throws my whole body out. Also, running, particularly training to run longer distances, is a lot harder when your body is exhausted from not enough sleep. Anyways, after tonight, I am going to force my body back into it’s old habits by going to bed earlier. I am not sure how to stop the waking up in the middle of the night though… Hmmm.
Well friends, it is that time of semester where assignments are coming in thick and fast. I have something due every week from now until the second week of June. In order to juggle this I have done something I have never done before and started several at once!!! I also need to reread Pride and Prejudice (which counts as study!!)
S0, I have now been married for more than three months. When I catch up with people/talk/receive texts the most common question I get asked is “how is marriageness?” Let me tell you, it is awesome!!! I highly recommend it (if you’re ready of course ). My husband is such a wonderful, kind and loving man. I am so blessed.
Today/this evening I had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with some wonderful people. Earlier this week I was a little down in the dumps as I don’t seem to have many friends at uni, but that’s not to say I don’t have friends. The people who I am blessed enough to call such are so amazing. What would I do without them? I look forward to how these relationships are growing and changing (in the best possible ways).
Clearly this blog post is ramble and mostly utter nonsense which is perhaps an indication that I should be in bed? I don’t know. Anyway, I am going to take it as such and hit the sack.
xx.
An open letter to thinspiration blogs
28 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: sad, thinspiration, truth
Dear Thinspiration Blogs,
At first I didn’t really understand you. I mean, I’d heard of the “pro-ana” blogs that lurked in dark corners of the internet, encouraging starvation and promoting anorexia. But thinspiration blogs are more mainstream. You show up on the Pinterest homepage in the form of “diet plans” that allow nothing but lemon water for a week. You show up on my Tumblr dashboard in the form of photos of concave stomachs and protruding rib cages, or food diaries with 500-calorie totals. The phrase “thigh gap” is actually a popular blog tag now, shorthand for pictures of skinny legs that don’t touch. The gist of it? You are getting harder and harder to avoid.
I could write about how scary it is that these blogs have found such a huge audience. I could write about the flaws of our weight-obsessed culture, or the fact that the vast majority of these blogs are written by young women for young women. But mostly I want to write about how you make me incredibly sad.
I think about the girls who write blogs like this and how much they hate their bodies, how they believe their worth is tied only to their physical appearance, how their definition of beauty is so tragically narrow.
I think about the girls who repost pictures and text from these blogs and how they will never be satisfied, how they will never look down at their thighs and see strong muscles and soft skin, only dimpled fat.
I think about the girls who are actually feeling OK about themselves until a thinspiration photo or quote shows up in their orbit and tells them to reconsider. People wonder why so many young people, particularly girls, are developing eating disorders. From their point of view the world is telling them they’re fat and fat is bad. The truth is that people come in all different shapes and sizes and what is more important is how you live. If you do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which means a balanced diet, including chocolate, lollies and cake, and you exercise regularly as well as drink plenty of water, chances are you have nothing to worry about.
I think about myself when I was 13, depressed and anxious, bullied at school and slowly starving to death. I used to lie in bed at night and think about cutting the so-called-fat off my stomach with scissors. Today I came across an “inspiring” photo of a girl trying to do just that. How would I have handled these messages? Would I have followed a thinspiration blog? Or worse: would I have written one? I’d like to hope not, but honestly I am not so sure.
Sometimes I click on thinspiration links to see who is posting them. Almost every time it’s a teenage girl. So here is it what I want to say to you: as long as you are focused on thinspiration you will never truly know inspiration. You will never learn to delve deeper than skindeep. You will never be able to dream about anything bigger than a certain number on a scale or an exposed collarbone. Someday you will look back on your teenage self and want to protect her. Believe me, I learnt the hard way and hurt everyone who loves me in the process. Why not start now?
Today I am healthy, fit and strong. I have energy, faith in God and am happy with who I am, though I continue to strive to do and be better.
Love, Emma
Anxiety, Potteropoly™, the letter ‘x’ and the importance of having phones on you outside the house
27 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: anxiety, friends, Potteropoly™, work
This week has been an interesting week, in the sense that a lot of things have happened that wouldn’t usually. The sort of things that are hard to get your head around. This morning I started off on my run, I don’t wear my glasses when I run (for the fear they would fall off my sweaty nose and smash) which can be quite disabling as I really 
cannot see clearly more than 20 feet in front of me. This morning I saw a blue something on the ground, as I moved closer I realized it was an older man who had fallen. Instantly my heart sank, he was lying on his side with blood pouring out his nose (there was a decent amount). Another woman approached at the same time as me and we were quickly joined by another couple. What disturbed me most was that it was 7:50 am, so peak hour. When I first noticed him there was nobody with him and at least 30 cars would have driven by until the other lady and couple. Also, I found that even though my first aid certificate is only 3 months old I couldn’t remember anything as I approached this man. Collectively we did manage to make sure he was breathing and conscious (fortunately he was), however he was confused and had most likely (we didn’t see him fall) hit his head. We called an ambulance and waited. When the paramedics arrived we left so as not to get in the way. We had also managed to find out his address and gone to find his wife. I sincerely hope he is ok.
This has emphasized how important it is to run/walk with a phone on you. You never know whom you may see or who may need help. On the other hand what if you tripped or twisted your ankle or something and needed help yourself?
Earlier this week, we had quite a stressful incident at work, so much so that driving to work the next day I was so anxious I was almost panicking. However, I have since sought some helpful information on how to handle such situations if they should arise again (hopefully not) which should alleviate some anxiety – knowledge is power! Did you know there have been studies that show some people are more prone to an anxious reaction than others? It is connected with the common known “flight or fight” system. Everyone has this allele called the 5-HT (serotonin transporter transmitter – or something like that). In some people the allele is long and in others it is short. People with the shorter allele are more likely (but not always) to have an anxious reaction to stressors. I am one of these people and have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. In the last few years it has fortunately been pretty good. My Dad is also one of these people (strong indicator of genetic component?) and so are many others. Please do not be critical of such people. It is a very real and debilitating condition.
In other news my wonderful cousin (who is wonderful) and her bf came over for dinner tonight, which was absolutely wonderful (haha). We laughed a lot, which we tend to do when together. We discussed *in-joke alert* how the school curriculum has been phasing out the letter ‘x’ for years and how silly silent letters are. I also gave her a present of the 21st birthday kind. Husband and I made her Potteropoly™ which is Harry Potter monopoly, and yes we made it. If I do say so myself (which I do) it was awesome.
I also had the benefit of seeing the gorgeous Kate twice this week!! We went to see the Avengers on Wednesday evening, which was amazing! I highly recommend it. It is the kind of action movie for people who do not appreciate action (and those who do). I had the pleasure of spending a lovely afternoon with Mel doing the finishing touches on Potteropoly™ (:
This afternoon I made banana bread for the first time which was very exciting and tastes semi decent. Although to be honest the most exciting part was probably squeezing it into a too small tub.
Well friends, that is all for now. I have a LETTERBOOK™ to go and peruse.
<3 e.
Observations over a hot cuppa
23 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
For some reason the title I decided on for this post makes me think of Harry Potter and divination and Professor Trelawny which leads me to my drive home tonight when I saw one car with number plate “xxx 343″ and another that had “OWL xxx” (please note the x represents an unknown variable), also these were normal run-the-mill kind of number plates, not the personalised kind. Anyhoo.. Also while driving home this evening I realized how I always seem to wind up in the slow lane, even if I take the opposite to what was the slow lane the night before. Hmmm, I digress.
Right now I am meant to be studying. I am trying to get 2-4 hours done a day, today I have done maybe 2 and half, maybe. And at least one of those was rewriting this afternoon’s lecture notes because I printed them to small.
ANYWAY something more fun: I am taking the plunge and am entering myself into some marathons later in the year. Actually, really only half marathon’s but still!! I am really excited and loving the challenge. This last week I have started training to push myself further. Usually I run 5.5ish km’s a day, 6 days a week, 80% of which is up hill. A half m
arathon is 21 km thus I clearly need to lift my level a bit. This last week I ran my normal 5.5 km’s on 3 days and on the other 3 days I ran 8km’s. Honestly it has taken more out of me than I thought. I’ve also been eating healthy foods as it is better fuel for my body and will help not to feel super exhausted after a run. In addition I’ve been getting into POP pilates to really strengthen my muscles – and boy am I feeling it today. All of this is a really good feeling. I am thinking of entering Run Melbourne and doing the 10km run (which hopefully I should be well and truly prepared for) to get a feel of what it’s like to run with a whole heap of other people. 
This week, probably Friday, I am going to attempt to run 10 km’s just to see how I go. Really need to make a decent running playlist on my phone. Also getting into running gear. Particularly Nike , intending to go shopping later in the week. Who says you can’t look good when you work out? I love running. Particularly at this time of year, autumn is just so beautiful!
Well folks I am super tired so I am going to call it night.
P.S. Turns out title that made me think of Harry didn’t really have anything to do with what I wrote about
P.P.S. Well I did have a hot cuppa and I did write this over a hot cuppa sooooo….
P.P.P.S. I require sleep.
armyOTguy
19 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
For those of you who are interested this website is about an army officer (united states) who is an Occupational Therapist for the army. His site is quite informative and a little bit quirky – I like – and really quite amazing. What an awesome experience this sort of thing would be.
Anyhoo, to find out more click on the link below
<3 emma
Some Social Psychology
19 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: attachment theory, expectations, relationships, social psychology
Back on track, a psychology related post! Lately we have been looking at relationships. In all honesty social psychology is not my favourite subject, often it seems to be a bit wish-washy and superficial and not at all how God designed relationships to be. There is this one theory that says that people are more likely to be in a relationship with the best looking person they can get, meaning that people will usually pair off in equal physical attractiveness – for example if you have a scale from 1-10, 1 being not particularly attractive and 10 being drop-dead-gorgeous, a 10 would most likely pair with a 8, 9 or 10, maybe 7 but very unlikely with a 3. On the other hand a 3 might pair with a 5, 4, 3 or 2 etc. This theory has always annoyed me as it is so superficial and rubbish. Attractiveness is such a subjective thing and incredibly difficult to measure. Anyhoo, there are some things that social psychology talks about that I do find interesting.
There is a theory that says (huge generalization) girls tend to have idealistic expectations of relationships due to popular culture throwing out chick flick after chick flick featuring the perfect man. That is that girls (usually in their teens) go into relationships expecting it to be happy ever after and easy. I am not entirely sure on the accuracy of this theory, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were, to some point, correct. I know that I have been guilty of idealizing my significant other, which is a bad idea as we all know humans are not perfect and will always let you down. This theory is related to attachment theory, which generally refers to the attachment style of an infant with their parent or main caregiver. It goes on to say that relationships formed in adult hood reflect that of the initial attachment. There are three main attachment styles: secure, anxious avoidant and anxious dependent. Secure is more or less self-explanatory (I hope) so I will only briefly explain the other two. Anxious avoidant people are closed and probably don’t connect or seek to connect emotionally. They may pull away from a relationship if they feel it is getting to intimate. On the other hand anxious dependant people are afraid of their significant other leaving them and 
so are always trying to connect more, what they have is never enough and they constantly need reassurance. Interestingly, the two-avoidant attachment styles tend pair with each other fulfilling their own expectations. For example when an anxious avoidant person pulls away from their anxious dependent partner, their partner demands more resulting in the anxious avoidant person to keep pulling. In such an environment neither person is able to challenge their reaction, likewise neither is likely to be very satisfied with their relationship. Fortunately couples can seek help and learn to react positively to each other.
NB: these are huge generalizations and everyone is different and there are many other factors that contribute to couples having mishaps (and we all have them) such as tiredness, hunger, PMS, stress etc.
Not to toot my own horn (did I just use that expression) but I think I am blessed to be in a secure relationship and am quite satisfied with where we’re at right now – married three months on Saturday.
Well, friends this has been quite a productive blog post and a very effective way to revise topics. Expect more #watch this space. Now that I have actually got some work done I think I’ll read for a bit with a cuppa before having an early night. In the process of lengthening how far I run (marathon training), thus I am quite sore and my muscles need sleep in order to repair for my next go.
Until next time
<3 emma
