Judgement has always been a part of the human condition. We all tend to judge one and another on a regular basis. We judge when someone is doing things differently, when we’re jealous, when we don’t agree with their views, and sometimes we judge because it’s what we’re used to. In the past, so many people have labelled me the wrong way even though they knew me for a short amount of time. I have heard nasty rumours about me based on my action for a particular situation. I am no saint, I have caught myself judging someone without knowing the reason behind their actions and words. I have even gone to the point of confronting someone because of what they said and did. We are all victims of this kind of judgement but we’re also the perpetrators. So I think it’s time for everyone to take a step back before judging anyone. We all come from different walks of life and many of us are going through tough times behind closed doors. So with that being said, I thought I would share 9 things you probably didn’t know about me.
1. I am sometimes overly kind.
I think I have a problem! I can’t stay angry or upset for long. Someone could really upset me, say horrible things about me and I will still be by their side supporting them with whatever they are going through. I just believe that when someone is behaving in a hostile manner or being plainly mean is because they’re going through something or they are very unhappy. Don’t get me wrong, just because I can’t stay angry doesn’t mean I don’t judge at first because I do. It’s weird for me because I am only angry when I am judging and when that has stopped, I try to be understanding and empathetic. I feel like the minute I start to be kind and respectful to the person insulting me, they tend to calm down and will usually apologise. It takes a lot for me to close the door on someone if they continue being horrible. When a close friend starts calling you nasty names, eventually you start believing it, you start to doubt yourself and you begin to have trouble knowing how to behave around them as you don’t know what’s going to set them off. When I encounter someone like this, deciding to end our friendship is one of the hardest things I can do but sometimes you have got to remove the negativity from your life. I’m not a perfect human being but if I can’t see any future to our friendship at that point I am only hurting myself.
2. I am a crochet addict.
I love DIY. I love makings things for myself rather than going out to buy them. I am the type of person that would rather build a bed, design my own swimsuit, and sew my own dress before actually going out to look for one, but I do enjoy a little bit of shopping. So for the longest time, I was searching for a knitted or crochet blanket online because they are so warm and cozy and would be perfect for the cold winter weather. I learned how to crochet as a child and surprisingly I still remember how to do it in my 20s, so I bought 10 packs of yarn right after my wedding and gave myself a little project to crochet a blanket. I started work on my blanket in early November and finished it in December. I can honestly tell you knitting and crocheting are almost meditative to me, they clear my mind and are very relaxing. Funnily enough as I’m writing this, I’m in an urge to pick up my crochet needle and make another blanket. It’s a king size blanket, so it quite large and definitely cozy, something my husband thoroughly agrees with me on when we’re snuggled up on the couch watching a film. If you want to learn how to crochet the easy way, send me an email and I’ll share my secret with you.
3. I’m scared of animals.
This one is definitely the elephant in the room (aaaaaaaaahhhhhh an elephant!) Growing up, I was terrified of dogs, snakes, lizards or anything else that I perceived as a threat. As a result I’ve always done my best to avoid them.
I have some favourite animals even though I could never go next to them in a million years. My favourites animals are as follows: giraffes, elephants and zebra. I know this is weird because it seems like I only like animals I could never go next to and that is correct. I love these animals because of their beauty, majesty and my own nostalgia behind them. When I think of a giraffe, elephant or a zebra I think of my life in Congo. I know elephants can be also found in many other continents but as a child, these are the memories I have in the back of my mind so it’s always overwhelming. But overall animals still scare me and while I have tried to be braver over the years I still need my husband to tackle the spider menace!
4. Not a fan of camping.
I am definitely a fan of outdoors and by outdoors I mean, going for walks into the woods, seeing beautiful flowers and just appreciating mother nature in general. But camping is not my cup of tea.Remember how I said I was scared of animals earlier? Well if I go camping I’m more likely to meet more animals and I always feel like I would be setting myself up by partaking in such activities.The only type of get away into the woods I’m comfortable with is places like Centre Parcs as they provide lodges for visitors to stay in and it’s not just a thin wall of canvas between me and the forest full of insects.Are you also like me when it comes to camping or are you a bit more adventurous?
5. I used to stutter.
I have been wanting to share this with you all for a while and I think now is the right time. I have had a stutter from a very young age and I feel like it has made my life difficult in many ways. It’s quite sad when I think about it. A stutter is the inability to say certain words, getting stuck during your speech and just being unable to speak in front of a small or large crowd. This stutter has honestly damaged my life in certain ways because there are times when I wanted to say things, answer a question in class, talk in a job interview, make friends, talk on the phone and more when it got the better of me. I remember when my dad used to go on business trips and he would call on the phone to speak to everyone and I would literally have to make myself busy so that I wouldn’t have to speak. I just couldn’t, my chest would tighten up and I would even forget how to say my own name, it was just horrible. Another time it got the better of me was when I was in school and I had my French speaking exam. Now I spoke French fluently already at home and all I needed to do for my exam was to speak with my teacher in French for 15-20 minutes. This was so horrible because I knew what I wanted to say but I just couldn’t because I got stuck on every word and I could see that my teacher wanted this to be over so that added more pressure and in the end I couldn’t even get a word out. It’s been many years now and sometimes my stutter does come back and it’s really hard to manage. Keep an eye on my blog as I will be dedicating future posts/discussions specifically on stuttering and how I get by with it.
6. My younger sister pushed me to continue blogging when I wanted to give up.
Sometimes we starts projects and when things don’t go our way, we tend to want to give up. It’s only natural but the best thing you can ever do for yourself is to not give up. When I started my blog, I wanted to give up after a month or two because I wasn’t getting enough views or readers and it was just driving me insane to the point where I wanted give up and move on to the next project. Lucky for me, I have an efficient and diligent younger sister who motivated me to continue and convinced me that blogging would be a great thing for me to do since I love fashion to the moon and back. My sister then reminded me of my habit of starting something new, not finishing it and immediately moving on to a new project. Bare in mind she’s 6 years younger than me. Of course I was annoyed that she was telling me this, but I listened and I am so grateful I did because I have come so far and I am doing so well.
7. I actually have a full time job on the side
Being a blogger/social media Influencer takes up so much times and there is so much to do behind the scenes that it can be quite hard if you don’t invest time in it. I have always had a full time job along my blog but honestly the blog feels like a full time job on its own and I am constantly having to be on social media to engage with my followers and others who engage with my posts. If you’re a blogger reading this, then you know what I am talking about. The main goal for me is to one day go full time with my blog but for now I have actually got to work in order to pay for bills and generally have a good life. I work night shift on a 4 days on and 4 days off rotation to try and maintain my blog. Last year I tried a 9-5 job and day shift work but honesty they didn’t work for my blog because I was always tired and stressed after work and I just went to bed, hence why last year I only made 2 posts in the whole year. But it’s a new year, it’s a new day and a new job for me… so more posts.
8. I nearly drowned.
Looking back at myself when I was a teenager, I can see I was often stupid, ridiculous and naive about life. Once my mother had family friends visiting for a month or two and there was a guy around my age who I thought was rather cute and took an interest in him. One day my mother dropped us off at Aqua Splash to go swimming and for some reason in my little silly brain it occurred to me that If I could swim, the guy would notice me. We all went up to go on one of the biggest slides there. There was a life guard at the top that was asking every one if they were a strong swimmer, all my sisters said yes but I was the last one left and when I was asked the same question, I answered ‘yes I am’. I hope you can see where I am going with this. Now I knew I wasn’t a strong swimmer but I desperately wanted this boy to notice me. So I went down the slide elegantly and making sure my braids were in place while totally forgetting how deep the water was at the bottom. When my body hit the water, I totally lost control, I was confused and hit my head in the corner of the pool and just sank all the way down to the bottom. I remember sinking and I remember waking up with my sisters looking so worried and scared. Apparently I was unconscious for a whole minute. The lesson I learned here is don’t try and impress anyone at all and to just be myself, if they don’t like you for you then there is no point trying.
9. If was stuck in a desert, I would bring these five things: water, jerky, a pen knife, a wind up torch and a compass and here is why.
Water: I would bring water because it’s a necessity to one’s survival. The desert is a very dry place and it could be hard to find water initially.Jerky: A nutritious, easy to carry and very filling food source which can last in most environments, you can’t go wrong with it.
Pen knife: A pen knife is very useful because it comes with a variety of tools such as scissors, knifes, a bottle opener, and so much more. There will come a point when you’ll need to use it.
Wind up Torch: we all know how useful and important a torch is especially for night time. The fact that it can be charged by hand would ensure it would be useful long after other batteries would have died. I would bring a torch to help me identify things at night and to keep me safe.Compass: I would bring a compass so that I can make sure I am walking the right way and not doubling back on myself.
So what would you bring?I hope reading this has helped you understand me a little bit more and why I do things a certain way. If you have any questions about any of the topics in this post, send a comment below and I’ll be happy to answer you.