Speaking.

"I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silent hurt more." - C.S. Lewis

I think speaking to someone about things that are worrying or troubling you can help you so much more than if you try and go it alone without anybody else. They can look at everything with a clear mind and a different point of view of the situation - something which you will never be able to do yourself. Let people help you, then you'll be helping yourself. You don't have to go through everything alone.

Laura.

Song: On Your Side by Thriving Ivory

Dear Laura,

Don't let your own mind get you down, you can't answer all the questions you ask yourself. Just remember your own advice and take it rather than dismissing it. Everything passes eventually, nothing lasts forever. Don't let people change you into something you don't want to be, you're in charge of that - no one else. Do what you think is right at the time, don't regret the choices you made because they were what you wanted at the time. Of course some choices are going to be wrong but it happened, learn from it instead of thinking what could have been. Keep your positive thinking up, nothings more powerful than that. If people don't like you for being who you are then let them walk away - you definitely don't need them, if old friends who you thought you knew walk away you'll have to make a decision whether you need to stop them. You'll make the right choice. You always tell everyone things change, don't blame yourself for everything that happens - you simply can't control the world. Stick to what you say you're going to do, don't let people change your final decisions you made them for a reason.

Basically be who you want to be and most importantly always be you. Nobody can ask for more than that.

Laura.

(Post inspired by Mitchell Davis)
Song: I Won't Let You Go by James Morrison

Magazine writing.

The new issue of Etoilee Magazine is out now, this is the 5th one I've written a page for. I'm not the best at language or writing but I really like doing it because it's different to coursework and other school work, it also links in with my blog a bit. So I hope you like the piece I did in this issue! There's a bit of dodgy punctuation that's meant to be at the end of a sentence instead of the beginning, (you'll know what I mean when you read it, it's just the layout of the page). I think that this issue is the best so far. Check out the rest of it too - there are some lovely photos and interviews.

Think link is here.

Laura.

Song: Replaced by Kate McGill

Castles.

"Don't worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be - now put the foundations under them."

Relationships and friendships are like castles, they all need foundations to support them otherwise they'll collapse under the pressure. Sometimes we forget to start with the more simple things like communication or trust, simply rushing into the more complicated things. Things will fall apart and afterwards there won't be any pieces to pick up & put back together again because there never was anything there to begin with.

Basically put time into getting to know people before you go running into a relationship blindly and get hurt and caught out. If you don't have the foundations there first - build it up before they fall out of your grasp. Fix it while you still can.

Laura.

Song: I Ask You This by Greg Holden

The past.

Don't waste your time living in the past.
Things change and life goes on. People you once knew so well can turn into strangers. Things you once thought to be true can suddenly be an illusion. Instead of letting yourself be pulled back into the past, move forwards. It might hurt at first but just because you're moving on doesn't mean your past is going anywhere - you're just creating a new start. A new beginning.

"It's your chance, embrace it."

Laura.

Song: Fix You originally by Coldplay, but listen to Gabrielle Aplin's cover - so beautiful.

The girl who waited...

"You know when sometimes you meet someone so beautiful and then you actually talk to them and five minutes later they're as dull as a brick? Then there's other people, when you meet them you think 'Not bad. They're okay.' And then you get to know them and their face just sort of becomes them, like their personality's written all over it. And they just turn into something so beautiful..."

Laura.

Song: Someday by Nickelback