My Happy Place

 My parents detest tattoos, and yet I so far have two. This is partly because I began telling them I was getting tattoos when I was 12, which gave them six years to warm to the idea before I got my first one. Again to help them, but also to ease myself into the whole lifelong ink business, I decided to get a small yet meaningful one first.

I decided to go with a bass clef and a treble clef in the shape of heart, because, simply, 'I heart music'. Without wanting to induce eye rolls, music means an incredible amount to me. I feel it's fixed my heart on many an occasion, and it really helps me connect with God, whether it's through openly religious music or songs that I put my own faithful meaning to. For me, 'my happy place' where I can just be calm and content, has often been a state of mind induced by a particular song.

 A stunning song that recently came back into my life is 'Sound of Silence'. I sang this in my primary school choir, and I think the repetitiveness of practicing it, along with my young age, prevented me from truly listening to it to gain an understanding of the lyrics. Through a Spotify playlist I follow, a couple of weeks ago I heard Disturbed's cover of it. Being familiar with Disturbed I had an idea of what to expect, but their rendition completely blew me away. Instantly, in the midst of deadlines and exam drama (which ended yesterday, so long third year!!) I had my new happy place.
Why not have a listen as you read through what thoughts the lyrics inspire me to have.

 

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Darkness can feel safe, familiar, a place that's always been there to envelope me.
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
It's ok for things to take me back to the darkness, it's going to happen, but I shouldn't stay there.
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
Things can be so bothersome, even peace and quiet can't eradicate them.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
The world can be a lonely place. But there's always light in the world, for me that's been Jesus.
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
Humans can, and in some cases have gone too far. Simplicity is sometimes best. Do we really need modernity thrust in our faces, disrupting the peace and quiet we've appreciated for so long?

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
Modernity has brought us closer together than ever before, but our ineffectiveness is pushing us further apart than is healthy.
People talking without speaking
So many people have been gifted, blessed, with platforms from which to speak, but they don't. They just talk, unhelpfully, inconsiderately, and unnecessarily. That needs to stop.
People hearing without listening
PAY ATTENTION. Constantly falling out with someone? Listen, they're probably telling you what you do that hurts them so much they have to fight back. Don't understand someone? Listen, they're probably telling you everything you could ever need to know. PAY ATTENTION.
People writing songs that voices never share
'Your art matters, it's what got me here'. What do you have left when you don't have art, or expression? Take the colour out of the world and it will be the most dreary place you could ever imagine. Don't waste your talent. Don't tell someone to give up on their art. Embrace expression and passion.
And no one dared
I dare you. Do it. Whatever it is, whatever you're afraid of, just do it. Don't be afraid, just believe.
Disturb the sound of silence
Ignorance is not bliss.

"Fools" said I
"You do not know, silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence
The person who does not step in to stop the bully is as bad, if not worse, than the bully themselves. 

I understand this is definitely not the world's 'happiest' song, so it may seem odd that it has become my 'happy place'. However, I find Disturbed's version beautiful, yet arousing, it brings to the fore all that is wrong with the world and leaves you with a person's attempt to make a change. Sometimes the beauty is in the attempt. There is always worth in trying. I can't think of many happier, more comforting sentiments.

 

Trying To See How Far This Can Go

When I started this blog, I honestly thought it would end once I got home from Texas, but it hasn't! And my readership has stayed steady, so now I want to live up to its title of 'Laura Meets World', not just through how far I travel, how far this blog travels.
I recently started google+ing all of my posts, and I post them all on my personal twitter account. Now, I'm going to try out Bloglovin too: <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14900509/?claim=q9wh3sz25v9">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
If anyone has any ideas to help, whether it be to do with the blog's content, or other platforms to promote from, then please let me know. Thanks!

The Experience of Writing a Dissertation (or two...)

Yesterday, I handed in my history dissertation, almost two weeks after completing my criminology one - PHEW. The experience of writing them both has been slightly traumatic, but also rewarding, and I'm just hoping now that my grades reflect the fact I worked so hard on them for at least 9 months...we shall see. To round it all off, I thought I would share a little of my experience with them, along with some tips I picked up along the way.

1. Make an Effort with Your Tutor
Seriously. The help, advice, and patience I received from my tutors was invaluable to the process. I think this was because I kept in regular contact with them, met the deadlines set, and openly took their advice on board. Writing a dissertation is a solo adventure, supposedly, so your tutor isn't going to chase you about it, you have to go to them, and from my experience whatever effort you put in, they will match.

2. Start Early
I started the reading for my dissertations last June. Considering one of my subjects is history there was a hell of a lot of literature to get through so it really was necessary for me start then, I most definitely see that now. I easily have 50,000 words of notes across the two of them, but that meant that it only took me a week to write the first drafts. Yes, they were definitely the first drafts, and I'm not recommending spending only 40 hours writing it, and then sending it straight to submission as some have, but gathering evidence is the most arduous bit, so give yourself time to do it all thoroughly.

3. You Will Have a Breakdown
Don't kid yourself that you're going to fly through the process no bother, I'm sorry but no one ever has and no one ever will. Accept that you will get very emotional about it all at some point, so when it does happen you can deal with it and move on, rather than overly freak out.

4. Enjoy Your Topics
My criminology dissertation was entitled: The Criminological Relevance of Stereotypical Cultural Representations of the Offender: the case of the Joker in the Batman Franchise, and my history was: Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King: An Examination of How Race, Religion and Gender Impacted Upon Their Lives'. This meant I spent a whole year looking into comic books and strong women - awesome. Even on bad days, I was ultimately enjoying what I was reading/writing and that is damn important.

5. Everything Else Still Goes On
I was at a baptism 3 days before I had my criminology dissertation in, and I have a 3,000 word essay due tomorrow aka 2 days after my history dissertation was due. You need to plan your time wisely, because yes, dissertation's are absolutely mega, but the world and life don't care enough to stop happening.

6. Look After Yourself
If you're the kind of person that stresses out a ridiculous amount, then do your best with your timings to reduce that, and be kind enough to yourself to allow any necessary outbursts. Though sugary snacks are really easy to reach for, and you're definitely entitled to indulge during this stressful time, in the long run it is actually fruit and vegetables that will keep your energy levels up, and your body healthy. Don't let the rest of your body down because your brain work is taking up so much time. In the same vein, don't let the rest of your brain down by allowing stress to seriously affect your mental health because you're brain's so busy being academic. As I've said, outbursts and being emotional is perfectly normal during this time, but if it gets too much, talk to a doctor and don't be afraid to ask for help and support.

7. Don't Compare Yourself to Anyone Else
In my case, I handed in my criminology dissertation 5 days early, and those who were struggling with theirs could easily have hated me for it, but guess what? I had a history dissertation due in 10 days after the criminology one, an essay due in 12 days after and an exam 3 weeks after. I needed to get that first dissertation done as soon as possible so I had a hope of completing the other things on time and well. Everyone has their own situations and motivations, so do yourself a favour and don't distract yourself with other people's work, focus on your own.

8. Take Pride in Your Work
This is probably the biggest piece of work you've ever taken on, right? When it's finished be incredibly proud of yourself that you got there! You did it!! Follow that pride through and make sure you present your work nicely, you don't want to let yourself down by the thing being amazing in content, but not put together well enough that you will be able to keep it and display it.

9. Learn From Your First OneIf, like me, you decide to do two dissertations and they have very different hand-in dates, then learn from your experience with the first one to better your experience with your second. In my case, I made changes to my criminology one within an hour of handing it in and panicked about, so when it came to my history one I accepted that might be normal, and removed the panic. I also found out that after handing in a dissertation your motivation to do anything borderline academic is zero, and my head and I had a complete falling out. Consequently, I wrote my notes for and planned tomorrow's essay while my dad was reading over my history dissertation and the weekend, so now only the 'easy' bit of actually writing the thing is left.

10. Celebrate the Hell Out of Finishing
YOU DID IT. WELL DONE. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉