It's All Supernatural

Ok ... I haven't posted since February.

I've been too busy pinning on Pinterest, blogging monthly on my work blog, training away, coming up with tips, tools and resources and thinking about the Supernatural.

It's everywhere! Books, movies and TV programmes especially. I've been watching Grimm and been creeped out by fairytales which come to life in this rather easy viewing series. 

My fascination with the other worlds started with reading fairytales as a child and later learning that most of the fairytales were supposedly based on truth. During the times of the Grimm Brothers there was darkness, forests, woods, danger and people did not venture outdoors after dark.

The Grimm Brothers history is incredible, they travelled to villages to meet people to hear and record their stories.They were professors and scholars and worked to record the stories. And we are lucky that people like the Grimm Brothers had the foresight to listen and help us remember!

It has been said that some or most of the fairytales served as a warning, for girls to stay tucked inside and warm at home and even warnings about men or fathers to keep women safe. Perhaps just warnings about what could happen to you after dark and perhaps what you could encounter in the woods. It seems like everyone was surrounded by forests and trees in those days. I get creeped out just thinking about what it must have been like then.

There is a darker side to fairytales and there are thousands of books, movies, adverts, programmes and the like which bring this premise to life. I loved this book review by Ammy Belle and the comments in this article which explores the origins of fairytales.

Now with Once Upon A Time just out in Australian TV; it begs the premise - are fairytales real? Or are they incredibly powerful stories because they tap into our consciousness, heighten our imaginations and make us question the known vs the unknown? And what is the fascination with angels, demons, vampires, werewolves, fairies, fairytales, goblins ... and so on?

Are we letting our horrible imaginations roam freely? ("Where there is no imagination, there is no horror," wrote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Today there is a new universe in which our imaginations can roam: and it's horrible.)

Since I began to read; I have been surrounded by books about magic, werewolves and of course vampires. I have devoured books about good vs evil and I have been captivated by the idea of choosing and overcoming any battle along the way. These haven't all been fictitious books; I have read biographies and memoirs about people who had to battle very real demons and had to make very difficult choices. These memoirs have inspired me and taught me lessons I may have had no other way of learning.

In each fictitious book; it is incredible how much the main characters differ; some glow, some can freely walk around in the daytime, some are vegetarians!, some can change at will, some have no free will - what amazes me about stories is that they evolve and develop.
Here is a list of Supernatural books to read by goodreads.com - if you're curious about this genre.

I love reading and learning about the other world; the supernatural elements and books on fairytales. I don't believe in demons and I don't think that fairytales are in fact real but I do like to believe that there could be a once upon a time and a happy ever after because maybe, hopefully, in the end; good will defeat evil.

via http://colorfully.eu/some-day-you-will-be-old-enough-to-start-reading-fairy-tales-again/#!prettyPhoto-2447/0/

Reading ...

I read on average a book a day. Which means I read a lot, mainly chick it - which I adore because I really relate to the modern 30 something, hip, positivity of these books even though I know the format.

Girls generally have menial or assistant jobs, they are single not happy with their lives and are looking for a change. Or a boyfriend. Or to leave their jobs. Or are choosing between two guys. Or are raising a child. Or are getting over something.

In chick lit books (I prefer to call them contemporary lit) I relate to the character because generally she is finding out things about herself and trying to make positive changes.

The books cover depression, break ups, moving to new cities, starting jobs, leaving jobs, money problems, weight issues, other issues and circumstances, starting their own businesses, really seeing a relationship for what it is and ultimately (and happily ending) finding their right paths.

And I gather the women who write these books (and men) write from their own experiences or observations or dreams or goals or imagination.

The books which stay with me are the ones with the least obvious endings and the ones where the main character finds her/his own path and happiness despite whatever happens to him/her throughout the pages.

Books, whether they are fiction or not, are to be a way of finding out who I am or not by reading about other lives. I love books that take pace in countries I haven't been to and about jobs which I have never done. The ones about parenting or money issues or weight issues, give me an insight into the choices or struggle or determination of characters and the ones that have a happy ending, make me feel good (and relieved - depending on the book itself).

I liked Jennifer Love Hewitt's The Day I Shot Cupid because it was sweet. It was how I imagined her to be. Sure, it was not the most brilliant nor there was nothing new there that I haven't already heard from peope who want to give others advice about love and relationships.

But it was honest. And quirky. About what she had learnt along her way and things she had found out about herself. And mistakes she had made and what she would and wouldn't do in the future. But it was too simple for me, a little too cutesy and as much as I love Jennifer Love Hewitt in Ghost Whisperer, I can see that she was reflecting and emphasising how much love, romance and getting it right with men (with some contradictions, from not playing games, to playing games, to being the woman the man wants you to be, to being more ballsy ... it was a bit confusing)

It got many many reviews, mainly referring to the book as cute, a bit pre-teen, a bit too fluffy and led me the to this blog about book reviews and Big Al's thoughts on negative book reviews. And got me thinking about book reviews.

We read what we want to read. I know that a lot of people have guilty reading pleasures and read books they would not admit to anyone, Mamamia's blog about book shame puts this very nicely; we don't all read classics and huge history tomes every day - at least I don't.

I don't read reviews and so don't really review books on here, because it is just my opinion. I am reading a book about influenza  called the Last Town on Earth which I love because it is fascinating and intriguing and in my opinion very well written and I love learning about something whenever I read a book.

I have just finished I Never fancied Him Anyway where Cassie spends a lot of the book dealing with being psychic and finding out about herself. And love. And men. And work. I found the book fascinating because not all pyschics are stereotypical and Cassandra has to face strangers opinions of her.

Even if we are not love a holics like Jennifer or psychics or into a certain genre of books, reading reviews comes (for me) after I have read the book or when I write a post about a certain book . I don't read book reviews that often.

Funny, I am not like this with movies, I will read a review and then not go see a movie based on a stranger's opinion, I love Rotten Tomatoes and I think with me I'd prefer to read than see a movie and when I do, I want to make sure it is something I really want to see.

Not with books, I love to read, and if something is not as good, not as well written, I forget about it very quickly. But the ones that are good, well written, made some sort of impact on me,  stay in my head.

Books give me insight, educate me, comfort me, feed me and inspire me. I read to learn.

Do you read reviews before you buy a book?

Or do you just read and read?

 I choose books by their titles and covers and the little blurb at the back. And because I read so much, I buy second hand or from charity shops. You?

A journey ...

These past 5 weeks have been a journey.

I am going to bore you again and tell you I have been looking for full time work for over a year. That I have applied to many, many jobs. And I wanted to make sure that while I was unemployed and in this position; that I still did something with my life.

So I started a business and used it to go on a journey. I decided to do some studying whixh I started and have til next year to go; and I spent months researching, marketing, advertising, writing blog posts, setting up social media, reading books about all of this and building a personal brand for Social Status.

Bob Marley once said "Love the life you live, live the life you love." And for everyone, for me especially that means what ever choices I make and what ever direction I choose; I want it to be a full, passionate, interesting, learning, growing, exciting life, soulful, blissful and accepting. I believe in first do no harm and looking at people as role models, keeping healthy, addressing errors and issues and learning along the way. Oh and kindness, doing the occassional acts of kindness and being aware. And being surrounded by pets, books and having plants on my shelf and in my courtyard. And amazingly living like this; is suprisingly good and unexpected things keep happening.

I believe Bob Marley had it right; love your life, which I think means giving yourself permission to shine and allowing others to shine around you.To be proud of who you are, to being passionate and open and happy; really truly content.

My business is incredible. There is a lot of work involved and building the website took forever. But this passion, this feeling I get when I work and I don't feel like it is work (all the time, there are of course exceptions!) means that I am incredibly incredibly lucky.

It's a journey, a choice, decisions and growth some of us get the luxury and pure bliss in finally finding where our talents lie and our calling. And everything else, although it is hard and takes effort, work, energy and time, starts slotting into place.