My Life in Letters: J.

For J, I have one person in particular I want to dedicate this letter for my life to. Julia. My step mum. She also happens to be one of the greatest and bravest women I’ve ever met in my entire life.

I met her when I was only 5, and she has been a constant source of inspiration every day since. Ever since I’ve known her she has suffered from kidney failure, and for years was on dialysis. Though she no longer has to dialyse since she got a donor kidney, she still suffers from many other ailments including multiple bone diseases and also, blindness. She lost the sight in one eye about 2-3 years ago, and soon after lost the use of both. This is irreversible and can only be described as the same thing that happens to those who get old- bits of the body simply stop working. But Julia is only 40 something years old.

Despite these things, she has always been the most amazing mother to not only my two step siblings, but to me too. When she and my father split up, nothing changed- she still welcomes me home as one of her own children, and I still see her as a second mother. We’re amazingly close, and she’s one of the best people I know. She’s always so full of optimism no matter what, and it’s truly amazing to know someone like her. I love her with all my heart and I always will. ❤

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My Life in Letters: I.

I thought long and hard about what began with the letter “I” that I could use to talk about an aspect of myself with. I finally settled on “Indians”. More specifically Native American Indians. I have a lot of background in the culture and one side of my family tree is tied to a Native tribe. I’ve grown up studying their belief systems and I’ve been raised on their remedies.

Recently I wrote a poem about the obliteration of many of the tribes during the 1800’s for my degree. It’s one very close to my heart.

Their Last Standing Chief

When the land was still ours
Before greed overshadowed humanity
and slaughter became a game

We lived with our families
We held our heads high with pride
saturated with the knowledge of our ancient ways

Our wisdom was our power
nature was our magic
Robes of fur would warm our villages
and our remedies would cure all sickness

Our weapons were wood of the trees
and stone of the earth
Your weapons spouted fire
from metal that shone like the sun

And our strength, though mighty, was lost
and where we once stood tall, our bodies lay scattered
Our people may have fallen
but our Spirits can never be taken from us

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The Da Vinci Code

I’m pretty late to the party, but once I got there, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though this book was released years ago now, as was the film adaptation that followed, I’ve only just read Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”, and only today finished it.

This book gripped me from the first chapter, and soon I found it very hard to put down. It’s a very engaging read, with believable characters and a writing style that feels as if you are reading fact rather than a work of fiction. The plot itself is of course based, at least loosely on fact, and the legends and myths around the conspiracy theories of Jesus Christ and the Church.

This book was incredibly well written- the research Brown put into the backgrounds of each of the topics he touches upon is evidently meticulous. I learnt an awful lot reading this book, which isn’t something I can claim about many fictions. A lot of things I took for granted in the world of superstition and symbolism was put in new light, and it really opened my eyes to a lot of things I already had some knowledge of, but not in its entirety.

Though before even laying eyes on the book, I was a non-believer in Christianity. A non-believer in pretty much all religions actually. I was brought up with Shaman roots, which means my beliefs have been mostly nature-based; what most would consider the “worship” of things such as the Earth, Sun and Moon, I took in a more “appreciation” for those things that give us life.
After reading this book, however, I have become fairly opinionated in my regard for religion and its origin. Especially that of the Christian Church. Though I didn’t care much for it before, this book has certainly changed my dismissal of it, for a feeling of great exasperation. I can say that this book has changed my opinion on quite a few things, and greatly influenced my new way of thinking- again, not something I can say for many books I have read.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning a great deal about art, history, religion and recognised individuals, or simply to anyone who wants to read a good thriller book. This one will keep you hooked.
I’d extend a word of caution to anyone who is heavily religious to read this though; the ideas and suggestions in it may offend some. I’d read it anyway though. You’ll certainly come out of it more informed, and wiser.

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My Life in Letters: H.

So, back to the Life in Letters thing. 

There are a couple of people I’ll mention for the letter “H”. One of which is my step-brother Harry. When he still lived at home with me, my mum and my step-dad, we were really close. We’ve drifted since he moved out, but he’s still been an awesome big brother to me. Mainly he tends to threaten any boyfriend I bring home with various different broken bones if they were to mess me around. And tends to try to break their hands when he shakes theirs in greeting. It can be rather amusing.

Another, is my friend Hatty. We met at Uni, through our Creative Writing course, and we’ve recently bonded through mutual dislikes for certain people, and our very similar outlooks on life. Mainly being no-bullshit girls who look sweet and kind but will actually verbally rip you apart if you try to fuck with us. Yeah. We’re a good team. 

I’ll also mention a MASSIVE part of my childhood, which also happens to be a massive part of most people’s childhoods; the Harry Potter series. These were the first books I got properly into, and probably were one of my early inspirations to start writing myself. I cried my eyes out while reading the last one, I’m not ashamed to say. The films were certainly not as good as the books, though I think they did a good job on the last one.

That’s about all I have to say for now. So till next time, kids, I bid you all a fond farewell.

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