Time.

"As time goes on you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve,  you have to solve yourself." - Unknown

Time. Years. Months. Weeks. Days. Hours. Minutes. Seconds. Collectively, it makes up our lives. 

Time is one of the most powerful objects on earth. Time has the unique power of healing whether it be nursing a hangover, getting over a break up or simply getting over a crush. 

The hardest thing about time is waiting. Watching that clock tick second by second, time passing ever so slowly. Watching the toaster cook your bread or watching the kettle boil the water, both simple tasks but painfully slow when it is the only thing you are concentrating on. It is only when you want time to pass that it stops, seemingly standing frozen in your pain.

But don't forget, time keeps ticking.

We can always find comfort in the fact that whatever happens, time will always move on, even if you are finding it difficult to. Whenever I am having a rough time I remind myself, whatever happens, I will still be in my bed tonight by 11pm. 

We have all had moments when we thought we would never recover. Whether that be the death of a loved one, being rejected by someone you cared about or even being sick. Guess what? You have made it. Time has passed. Time has healed.

Love, Nicole Marie

Duller than dirt.

"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out" - Alfred Hitchcock

It's easy to allow your life to become dull. To get stuck in an endless routine of the same old things, day after day after day... You wake up, you go to school, you come home, you do homework, you eat, you shower, you sleep. Simple yet boring. 

Personally, I like routine. I like knowing what I am doing during the week but sometimes routine is not enough. Sometimes routines can cause you to feel trapped in your own life. 

Life becoms so predictable that we just wait for the week to end so the cycle can begin again.

We complain that it's only Tuesday but what are you waiting for? I am waiting for the week to end but then it starts all over again. That's what the rest of my life will be, waiting for the week to end.

Don't let your life be dull like a pile of dirt. Instead, be the flower that emerges from the dirt, standing tall and high for its entire lifespan.

Wake up to your life like a flower waking up from the dirt. Start now, start growing.

Love, Nicole Marie

Blackouts.

'The next time you experience a blackout, take some solace by looking at the sky. You will not recognize it.' - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Most people hate blackouts. I love them. A blackout is a forced excuse for you to simply be alone. No sound. No lights. Nothing.

It was only when the flickering lights disappeared into darkness that I finally felt free. 

Free from expectations. Free from 'friends'. Free from the demons that bring negativity into my life. 

A blackout leaves you alone, in darkness, with only your own thoughts to occupy your mind. This can be a scary yet freeing experience. For me, my phone died within minutes of the power outage meaning I had no one to talk to, no one to message. I didn't have to stop myself from checking a message that could potentially hurt me. It was like the internet and the big bad world had disappeared. I felt safe.

Blackouts can open your eyes to a world without technology. Yes, technology has brought amazing opportunities BUT it has been taken advantage of. Some things that have happened to a lot of us may never have happened without social media. For this reason I think it is important to make your own blackouts. Set time aside to be away from the world, blacked out from the life you have created online.

Try it, you might be surprised with what you discover.

Love, Nicole Marie

Calm After The Storm.

"Rain came pouring down when I was drowning. That's when I could finally breathe." - Taylor Swift

I used to hate storms. I feared them. I feared the possibility of getting struck by lightning or the possibility of losing power. There is a lot of things to fear about a storm but it is only when you appreciate the beauty of it that the fear disappears.

Last night there was a storm. A short lived storm but one of the most brutal that I have ever seen (and I live in Sydney so the storms here aren't that bad). The rain came first, sort of like the entree to a three course meal, small but just enough to keep you waiting for the main event. After the entree comes the main course, the biggest and most filling part of the meal. This is the lightning flashing through the windows of your bedroom, causing loud claps of thunder to vibrate through the whole house. That feeling that once scared me, now excites me.

Once the main meal had been served it's time for everyones favourite part, dessert. To me, this is the cleanliness felt after the storm has passed. People talk about the 'calm before the storm' but I think it's the opposite way around. There is peace and stillness AFTER the storm. The smell of rain in the air, the cool breeze, the darkness of the night... it is all so peaceful, so...clean.

I have been struggling lately. There have been some people who have made me feel like I was drowning, sucking the air out of my lungs. But as Taylor Swift so perfectly describes, 'By morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean'

And I think I am. I think I am finally clean.

Love, Nicole Marie