Best Day Of My Life – My Spoken Word Performance + Meeting A Blogging Bestie IRL For First Time EVER!

Yesterday was undoubtedly one of the best days of my life. This was because of two major events –

1. I met a blogging friend in real life for the first time ever.
2. I performed spoken word poetry live on stage in front of an audience at a theatre in an urban music show.

I really can’t believing I’m telling you this. It  still all feels totally and utterly surreal.

Note – I’ve written a lot about this ‘spoken word poetry’ and I’ve suddenly realised that a lot of you probably have no idea what I’m on about. You know when something’s, like, the centre of your world? Well, you don’t really think about other people not understanding it or not having heard of it, do you? That’s how I feel.

Anyway, spoken word poetry is basically poetry that is written to be performed. It’s extremely similar to something called ‘slam poetry’. You may have heard of that.

I love love love spoken word. It is how I express myself. It is what I feel born to do and when I was up on that stage yesterday, I felt confident, I felt like I belonged. When I looked around the theatre and saw all those people here, listening….and then I looked at all the new friends I’d made sitting there, watching me, as well as some very special people right in the front row (more on that soon 😀), I felt so happy and so content and so….like I’d found myself. Weird, I know, but true. It’s impossible for me to describe the feeling – belonging, maybe? Or ecstasy? Lol.

Sadly, when my Mum tried to record during the performance, she didn’t manage to get it (instead she got a very blurry photo – don’t ask 😝)However, she very kindly agreed to film me performing both pieces again today. Here it is –

Oh, hold on, before you watch. If you want to hear more about the show click HERE!!!

Bonus photos below!

A very excited, energetic me before a day of train journeys and rehearsals left me an exhausted wreck.

Adam – my spoken word ‘mentor’ and the evening’s host.

Now, the blogosphere and ‘the real world’ are two completely different universes and two different identities for the blogger and, although I’ve always dreamed about what beautiful things might happen if these collided, I never once thought they would.

I was wrong.

A few weeks ago I was writing about my show (and gushing about how excited I was) when a very lovely human left me a comment. I quote:

Is the thing in London something you book for? Because honestly, I’d love to come and see it. No joke. Love you lots xxx

 

And my reply?

Oh my goodness {you totally should come and see it} Yesssssssssssss!

And so yeah! It happened. And it was absolutely incredible, better than I ever could have imagined. I got to meet and hang out with the AMAZINGGGGG Elm!!!

Oh and btw, this all happened on her 3 year blogoversary so get on over to her and wish her a good one, please!

I would like to thank her and her lovely friend who I also had the pleasure of meeting for being such fantastic humans and for supporting me throughout my performance. You guys really made me day – you deserve loads of love. Actually, this post is dedicated to you.

In a way, this post is a collaboration with Elm, she will be posting later on about her experience as an audience member so watch out for that.

 

Thank you to everyone who wished me luck or sent me messages of support before my performance. Loadsa love to you all.

I think that’s all, yeah. I’ll stop rambling now. Peace out, guys.

Wish Me Luck – Spoken Word Poetry Performance Update

Hello there!

In my recent post I talked about an urban music and spoken word poetry performance I am going to be a part of very soon. Well, I’m here with an update on that!

• The performance is on Thursday and I am SO excited.
• I went to London for the rehearsals last week and it was AMAZINGGGGG!
• I have two solos.
• I am performing two very poignant, topical spoken word pieces written by yours truly.
• At the rehearsal I spent a hardcore one and a half hours with a spoken word poet learning everything you need to know about performing.
• I spent another hour running through the whole thing with the rest of the group who are sharing all different genres of music, but all with an urban twist – rap, acapella, reggae, etc.
• I am basically the complete polar opposite of the word urban #countrygirrrrl so I went to the rehearsals in my wellies. Picture below!

Stay tuned for photos of the actual performance coming soon! Oh, and wish me luck, my friends! *dances* *practices like crazyyyyy* 

 

#How Are You? Get Involved!

How are you? 

Simple question, right? One you’ll hear pretty much everyday, probably several times. I’m sure you’ll have your automatic answer all lined up.  Something along the lines of ‘Fine, thanks’ or ‘I’m okay’ or ‘Good’ or whatever. You say it without even thinking.

What happens if you do think about it though? What happens if you pause before you answer and ask yourself how you really are? Would your answer be different?

So I’m asking you – how are you? 

Be creative, be thoughtful, but most importantly, be honest.

Now, if you think this is great, please get involved by either sharing this post or writing your own, spread this around the blogosphere, encourage people to be open and honest, show people how to care about each other! We can do this, guys!

Negativity Vs Positivity: The Epic Battle

Positivity. What does that word make you think? A lot of the time people view being positive as something to leave to optimistic, naïve people who dance around singing about how every little thing is gonna be alright.

Well, I’m telling you, they’re wrong.

Positivity isn’t about that. It’s just about how you view your life. It’s about being content with what you have and focusing on the good things.

Different people have different realities and for some it’s a lot harder to make the best of their situation, but everyone has lows, everyone struggles, everyone falls behind, everyone doubts themselves, everyone feels alone, but everyone can rise above it, everyone can be determined never to give up.

That is what positivity is, my friends.

Now, I’ve got a quick survey here and I’d really appreciate it if you’d like to answer the questions. Won’t take a minute! Thank you!

Click HERE!!! to take it!

Did you agree with my thoughts on positivity? Have you taken the survey? Do you think A Light In The Darkness gives off positive or negative vibes? 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Update: Headaches and Hope, Honesty and Positivity + Things To Look Forward To!

So hello everybody, I feel the need to do a life update just because I feel like my blog has become really impersonal recently and that I haven’t really been sharing my honest thoughts – which is what I’ve always done on this blog and what I want to continue doing to fulfill the purpose of this site – to be a light in the darkness.

So first off, I’ve had quite a lot of headaches lately, partly because of how busy I am (I’ve started a ton of new projects and schoolwork activities – more on that later) and partly because I have been getting a bit stressed at everything that’s going on in my life.

This time – between now and the beginning of summer – is being spent by my family preparing to go away traveling at some point in the autumn. We keep going through option after option, plan after plan, changing our minds and having loads of long conversations. This gets me really stressed out because, though I’m super excited for what the future holds, the lack of having a definite plan really throws me and stresses me out. So yeah, that whole thing gets a bit emotional at times. 🙂

 

Another reason I’ve been getting headaches is the business of my days, I’ve taken huge steps in my education – I am now learning Italian, socio-anthropology (the social study of human beings 🙂 for all those who participated in my ‘social experiment’ a few months ago, watch out for the results soon…), film-making, creative writing, yoga, British Sign Language, cooking, as well as maths and other academics. This is one of the amazing things about my homeschool journey. I’m learning what is important and relevant to my future and that is awesome!

The whole friendship crisis and comparing myself to others and all that trash has died down a lot and I’m starting to feel a lot better about myself and my way of life. This is due to a few different factors:

• Yoga! Oh my goodness, it makes you think about your life and the world around you in a completely different, more positive way. It’s amazing, seriously.
• You guys! Yup, for definite. Some of you in particular, you may or may not know who you are. 😉
• My parents. You might read this, I’m not sure, if you do, I love you. Thank you. xxxxx 🙂
• Making some new friends in real life, more social interaction and hanging out with some other people my age! This has been really fun and rejuvenating for me.
• Remembering what I do have and not focusing on the negatives.

So yeah! *thumbs up*

Aside from all our future plans, I have a lot to look forward to! So, remember the spoken word and urban music day that I went to in London? Yes? Well, the theatre invited me back to perform with the rest of the young people at an event at the end of this month!!! It’s, like, a performance that’s open to the public and I’m so excited! I’m getting a solo slot as well. Asdfghjkl. Wish me luck…..I’ll keep you posted.

Also, I am going on a teen home-ed voyage in May! Yep, sailing on the ocean! We learn how to sail a yacht, navigate and all about life on the waves. We also get to see wildlife, as well as a load of beautiful ports and islands along the South West coast of England. It’ll be a real experience and I’m super excited. Usually, this would be really expensive, but there’s a huge discount of homeschooled kids and so we’re making the most of an amazing opportunity.

A while ago my parents wanted to teach me a lesson in motivation, it was just something they thought was important for me to learn. So they thought of something I really wanted to do – go abroad – and made me work to earn my passport. But that’s all in the past now! I have only £7 to get (out of £191) and soon I’ll be going to a different country for the first time in my entire life!

I think that’s about it at the moment! Please get in touch! What are you all doing? Any news? Tell me everything and, as always,  FEEL FREE TO BE HONEST!

 

 

Prepare Yourself For Amazing Writing: The Winner’s Stories!

Today you all will get to read the stories of the winners from the writing contest that Gracie Chick and I hosted!!! 😀 ~~~~~~~~~ 1st place. Andrea from Spaceships, Vampires and Very Secret Agents with her story ‘Flames’! Flames Nessa “Nessa, they’re waiting for you. It’s time.” I’ve been standing at the foot of the makeshift […]

via ….The WINNERS!!! — Through the Eyes of Gracie