The Way I See It... Photography

Hey guys! The other I was thinking about photography and what it means to me and I thought it would make a really cool addition to this series. Photography is definitely something I'm passionate and that's something I want to share with you. This post may get a bit poetic (aka I will ramble) but I feel like I'm in wonderland when I take photos so I suppose it's a reflection of how I feel.

Photography, according to the dictionary is "the art or practice of taking and processing photos". I suppose that capture what it is but to me, it is the thoughts that run through my head and the feeling I get when I'm taking photos.

Nature is probably my favourite thing to photograph. It is beautiful, whether or not we care. A flower blooms whether we are watching or not. The sun shines whether we are there to love it or not. I believe we can learn a lot from nature which is one of the reasons I love capturing that. When I take a beautiful photo, it hits me that every little part of nature is beautiful. It's hard sometimes to think about the little things that make up a beautiful, huge something that influences us so much but photography opens my eyes to that and I am so grateful.

Another thing that I love about photography is that I feel so free when I'm doing it. Being out there in the world, alone is something that I find so magical. I feel like my problems dissolve in the soft breeze and it's just me, the camera and the beauty. Something washes over me and tells me that I am safe, a feeling I don't get all that often.

I have been asked by Marianne over at Don't Burst My Bubble (she is lovely, definitely check her out) to do a post on photography tips, I have been trying really hard to squeeze something worthwhile out of my brain but it's proving difficult. Hang in there I promise I'm trying! Until I post that post, here is a tip, don't take it too seriously! Just go out there and enjoy yourself, the love will show up in your photos.

Thank you all for reading this post and until next Friday (at 5:00 pm New Zealand Standard Time)... The way I see it... photography is beautiful and magical. Goodbye (drops mic).

xxx

Catherine

A New Beginning

Hey guys! I have been away for quite a while, haven't I! I think I've been away for about two months. In the first month, I was stuck in a rut. I went to blog and nothing worth writing could escape my mind. My blogging life was turning into a The Fault In Our Stars quote, "my thoughts are stars I can not fathom into constellations". Ideas for posts buzzed around my mind but I could get them out in words. In the second month, I was house sitting with my family. The was no internet or TV. I know that I could have written post offline but having no internet doesn't exactly help when you're stuck in a rut. I decided what I needed was something new in my blog to give me back that excitement I get from blogging. I had been tossing around the idea of a new series before I got blogger's block but now I know the details of the series so today, I want to tell you about those details!

So this series will be called "The Way I See It...". It will be about my opinion on anything. What I really like about this series is that it leaves the subject quite open. I can write about anything that I feel inspired to write about. I have already got so many ideas up my sleeve and since it's a wide range series, you guys will still be getting a lot of the same kind of posts.

I will be posting every Friday at 1700 (5:00pm) New Zealand Standard Time (GMT+12:00). I'm having this series scheduled so that you can rely on the post being there every week at that time. I have always loved schedules on other blogs because I know that I can make myself some tea and read a new blog post, it's so relaxing and hopefully you can have that experience too.

I am really excited to get back into blogging and I can already tell you that today will be spend writing this month's posts and catching up on all the posts I missed, it's going to be a good day. Wish me luck with this series!

xxx

Catherine

Why I Blog | One Year Blogging Anniversary

Hey guys! I have a hopefully inspirational post planned for the very special day that is (drumroll) my one year blogging anniversary! I'm going to be talking about an Emma Watson quote (I bet you can't guess what it is haha) and why I blog. I am proud of this little baby (my blog) that I have created, I have put my entire being into it, I hope you like it too.

I started out blogging for no exciting reason, I saw other people doing blogging and YouTube and literally just thought "oh, that might be fun". I blog for many reasons a year later but here's the main one is that I have something to say. In the "real" world (to me blogging is real but I needed to get my point across), some (okay, most people older than me) people don't hear or choose to ignore what I'm saying. Maybe it's because they think "she's just a teen that thinks they know better than everybody else". I love knowledge and I want to learn from the generations before me but I want this respect to be returned. Those generations have taught me a lot and this generation has something to teach too. On my blog, people read what I have to say and reflect on it (that's my impression, I'm going by the comments you publish and the emails you send to me) instead of ignoring everything I say because I'm young. The quote in the picture above is from Emma Watson (one of the best people of all time) and it really inspires me to blog about what I know. Everybody has something important to tell the world that will change lives. I recommend you tell the world what you have to say before it's too late. We CAN and WILL change the world and I'm gonna do it through blogging - how about you?

Thank you very much for reading this blog post, today means a lot to me. I hope you have been inspired to make your mark on the world. Even though this blog post isn't going to solve all of the world's problems, I believe that you and me and everybody else reading this, can make a small difference in this world.

I feel like, as it's my one year blogging anniversary, I can ask you if you would like to follow my blog on Bloglovin'. I recently joined so I want to tell, how else are you going to find out haha!

xxx

Catherine

Male Feminists | Let's Talk About Feminism

All subjects talked about in this post are not meant to offend anybody. If I have offended you or if you disagree with me, comment on this post or alternatively, send me an email here. I would love to hear you opinions.

Hey guys! It's been a while since I last talked to you all and I apologise for that, thank you for your patience. As I said in my first Let's Talk About Feminism post, the second installment of the series is going to be about male feminists. Both of these topics are things something I am very passionate about, it is one of the stupidest myths about feminism and I really want to talk about the misconception. 

First of all, let's get things straight - males CAN be feminists. As I talked about in the first post in this series, feminism is the will for gender equality. That's it. Men are allowed to want equality, men are allowed for fight for equal rights, men can be feminists. Saying that men can't be feminists for the sole reason that they are men, is going against everything feminism stands for. Men and women have the equal right to fight for equality.

Another thing I wanted to talk about is the feeling of men being less manly if they are feminists. No, men are still men if they believe in equality... I think this came around because of the most common myth about feminism - "feminists are angry women that think they are better than men". This isn't true in any way of course. I think that once that first myth is cleared up, everything else will fall into place. My suggestion to men, if it comes up in conversation, is to say that you believe in equality, this will get your message across until the true meaning of feminism is known to everybody.

So if you are a man, you should be proud to call yourself a feminist among the people that know the true meaning of feminism and a person who wishes and fights for gender equality among those people that don't. If you are a woman, embrace the feminism for the other gender, they are going to help us win this fight for gender equality.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, I know that is just a drop in the ocean in this fight for gender equality but I want to help in anyway I can. If there is anything about feminism you are unsure of, email me here and I will do my very best to help you out. Have a lovely day and I will talk to you all very soon!

xxx

Catherine

The Truth About Reaching Out To Bloggers

Hey guys! I have had such an amazing time collaborating with seven of you lovelies in Q&A Week and I have learnt so much about collaborating. I want to share my knowledge on this subject with you all, if you have never collaborated with somebody, I know exactly how you feel. It's scary. Hopefully this list will make you feel a bit more confident when reaching out to other bloggers.

1. They are real people

One of the most important things to remember when reaching out to other bloggers is that they are people too. They won't try to hurt your feelings, they have feelings too. You are allowed to be scared of talking to them but it helps if you try to view these bloggers as people instead of professional monsters!

2. The worst thing they can say is no (which isn't likely)

(I just want to say that it is pretty unlikely that the blogger will say no, especially with if you have connected with each other in the past, even if that just means reading each other's posts.) Okay, worst case scenario - they say no. If they are going to say no, they will probably do so graciously, like I said before they are people with feelings! If this blogger says no, you might be a little upset, but you pick yourself up and you try again with another blogger and you have a great time.

3. Don't be scared of 'big' bloggers
I have a blogging friend called Lou from Lou's World (she's amazing, check her out), she has about ten times as many pageviews as I do, but for us, that's not a problem. I reached out to her, she reached out to me. It really always comes back to number one, these bloggers are people, if they like your work, pageviews shouldn't matter all that much. If they say no, and you can tell it's because they can't gain anything from you, it's not even worth collaborating with them. A collaboration should be fun, the sole purpose should NEVER be to gain pageviews.

4. You might make a friend
I have made so many blogging friends through Q&A Week, it's wonderful that we can talk on different sides of the world and be great friends. I have definitely sent and received emails that might not be entirely about the collaboration, we are talking as real friends, emailing each other about life. If you collaborate with somebody, you are going to get a wonderful post and possibly a real friend. Don't be scared of what could go wrong, give it a go!

So there are just a few of the things I have learnt in this giant collaboration project called Q&A Week, the most important thing to remember is to give collaborating a go, you won't regret it.

xxx

Catherine