Blog Critique- Ask Sam

I asked myself at the start of this blogging journey why it was that we blogged?

After 3 months of maintaining a blog I still haven't found an answer, however what I have found is a new world of communication. Within this new world of communication involves one medium...a blog...with numerous themes and topics!

Blogs can range anywhere from celebrity news, to fashion, promotional avenues for businesses and performers, personal insights from war zones and unknown individuals broadcasting their private feelings and thoughts.

The blog I have decided to critique is Ask Sam and it is one of the many blogs found on the Sydney Morning Herald website.

Ask Sam is maintained by Samantha Brett, a media personality and author. What began as Sam and the City in February of 2006 and herald as Australia's first dating blog has not only gone through a name change, but has quickly become one of Australia's most popular blogs.

The aim of the bolg is to provide an avenue for the men and women of Australia to ask questions about anything and everything to do with matters of the heart and mind...as well as physical matters! Not only will Sam answer bloggers questions, fellow bloggers are encouraged to post comments to open discussions about certain topics.

What I like about this blog is that each entry is unique and interesting! It is also covering topics that people are too afraid or find too taboo to talk about or merely mention in public. The entries in this blog are to the point and open, which allows the reader to relate to them. The also have a very personal touch, again making it easy to feel relaxed and to find them relatable.

There are some negatives however to this blog. It feels too much like Sex and the City, 'possibly' a reason for the name change... For me, and many other females Sex and the City was how we learnt not only about ourselves but also about life and love. This kinda feels like a cop out this blog, taking an idea, that when it first came out, was original and fresh and giving it a new name.

However any person who is so willing to open up about matters of the heart and mind deserves to be congratualted. What was once taboo is now open fodder on the internet and blogs have a lot to do with this, by providing people with a place to communicate their thoughts and feelings!

This blog doesn't aim to hurt or offend anyone, though it may offend some. The light hearted yet open approach to these topics makes it readable. I would recommend this blog to individuals who are looking for some guidance in a relationship, to anyone wishing to pinder some of the bigger questions in life because yes, it does raise some philosophical matters and anyone who wants to know what other people think about life and love.

M

All Good Things Must Come To An End

When I began this blog three months ago I was sure of one thing, no matter what, this blog wasn't going to become personal... It would remain free of any traces of my thoughts and feelings... though that has proved a difficult decision to follow through on...

I believe that you begin a journey without knowing where it will take you or who you will be when it ends...

I didn't even realise but three months ago I began a journey which would lead me to realise a lot of things about myself and how I was living my life...

So, upon making this discovery I felt it only fitting to write my last post on what it has meant to blog and how it has changed my perception of a few things...

I had never blogged before I created this page and I was quite hesitant to begin... If I felt as though I needed to have a say about something or I just wanted to rant about something I would approach family or friends to talk about it...However I came to discover that blogging gave me another avenue...

I knew these blogs didn't have to be personal and I was happy with that, but like most things in life after a while you cannot help but put little bits of yourself in... I think it was fear at first that kept me from writing about what I may have been thinking or feeling at the time, yet after a while what I found was a great avenue to explore my feelings!

I find at times that I can think too much and that when this happens I get so carried away with analysing my thoughts that I miss what is happening around me! This blog allowed me to write these feelings down and by doing so I was able to get them out of my head! Now I know people reading this may wonder why I am saying this and after reading previous posts, wonder where all these deep and meaningful posts are. The answer is many of them I never published I just found it good to be able to write them down somewhere.

I am looking forward to having a well deserved break but what I am really looking forward to is beginning my final chapter at Insearch. I cannot believe that a year has almost passed since I began this course and what a year it has been. Before you know it, Insearch will be a distant memory but they will be good ones. I know I have complained and been quite emotional many times about this course, but I think so many of my classmates will agree we have all come away with so much and for that I will be forever grateful and I will never regret the day I enrolled at Insearch.

Life sometimes has a different plan to the one you imagined but its good to sometimes take a different path because I like to think that you do have to go through harder times to appreciate the good ones. I didn't imagine that I would be studying at Insearch but it has been an eye opener. Back to blogs, if I had never enrolled at Insearch I would never have realised how important blogs had become to communication and being a communications student this is quite useful to know.

Before I end on what will possibly be my final post I would just like to say a big thank you to one person, Russell. I know it may seem at times as though our class wasn't interested but we really were. Having talked to a few fellow students about this class and having read most of the blogs, it seems that we have all gained something from this course. It has been an interesting and fun journey and one that has opened my eyes to a lot of things. It was also incredibly interesting to know how my classmates thought.

So on this note I will bid you all a fond farewell,

M,

x x

: )

What are friends for?

People enter your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.

Those who enter your life for a reason are only a part of it for a short time but they are there to help you realise something in your life, you will enjoy the time spent with them and then one day, without warning you will no longer have or need this person in your life.

Those who enter your life for a season are similar to those who enter your life for a reason but it is much deeper. The time spent with this person will change you and make you realise new things about yourself, again though this person will leave your life but the memories shared with them will never leave you, nor will what you gained or learnt from the friendship.

The last sort of person who enters your life if there for a lifetime. This person will understand you without needing you to explain yourself, they do not judge and this person will always be there for you. This friend will be one that you continuous grow with and share numerous experiences with. This person will remain a part of your life forever.

I remember being sent an email about this years ago, I couldn't remember exactly what it said but tried to explain the general gist of it!

I find this to be so true with friends, thinking back I can place so many different friends into these categories and more importantly I can see how these people have changed the person that I am and the life that I live.

I am starting to view life differently, it comes with growing older though, it's only natural.

I am starting to see that there comes a point when things only happen when I choose to let them happen and it's the same with friends, I choose to allow people into my life and sometimes it's important to let them in.

No matter how painful or testing certain friendships or relationships were I will never regret them, because it was from these that I grew, changed and became the person that I am today.

Though with saying that, I am still growing and forging new friendships, ones that are already proving to push the boundaries of who I am and who I want to be.

And I couldn't be happier...

To live or not to live

I stole this line from a film I just saw at the movies... N it has got me thinking...

everybody has bad times, everybody has problems,

but do we sacrifice the good times because of them?

I love this line... If you really think about it, there is a lot of meaning to be found and a lot to be gained from really thinking about that meaning!

How many times in life do we allow the negatives to control not only thoughts but our entire lives! I know this all too well, whenever something bad happens I automatically allow it to dictate my every move and fall into a cycle of feeling more and more sorry for myself instead of focusing on the positives or just moving on!

Life will throw some pretty messed up things at you and no matter how much you try to find guidance and assistance sometimes the only person who can help you make it through it all is yourself! What I'm trying to say is that, sometimes the only way you can truly get over something is when you are ready to move on! Though this can be a long process and one which will make you grow and change as an individual, it is all for the best though!

As I grow and mature as a person I am learning more and more about how to turn the negatives in life into positives! Before I go on, I know people will be sitting there reading this saying, well she obviously hasn't had a very hard life or experienced hard times, but I know what I am talking about, I may not share them but I have had enough experiences to allow me to grow!

I don't ignore the negatives in life, I've just learnt how to approach them differently and the way I do this is by knowing that in the end, I'll be a better person because of experiencing it and that when something good happens I'll enjoy it even more...

Maybe I'm just becoming more optimistic with my view of life, but there is nothing wrong with that... I have been too negative for too long... I made a new rule to view life for what it really is and to focus on making it as positive as a certain situation could be...

Don't Get It Twisted

I came out of a long term relationship a few months ago and so after a while began dating again!
It is so strange to enter this whole world of dates again and it is even stranger now that I've realised that guys are beginning to date like girls do...but I'll get back to that later...

Ok so I have been on some dates lately and it amazes me at the behaviour that some people display when they are on a date! I don't know if it is just these people being themselves or if they were just not paying attention to what they were doing or saying!

Maybe it's just the way I was brought, though I'm sure most people were brought up the same but there is certain things that really bug me...

Don't burp when we are having dinner, and if you must PLEASE cover your mouth...
I find it incredibly rude to be checking your phone the entire time you are on a date, and it's even worse when you decide to text back when I'm finally given a few minutes to talk...
High school was fun for most people but I don't care how popular you think you were... We have been out of school for a few years now, so get over it...
I know a lot of people don't follow this, but I don't care what car your parents drive, in fact it's a pet hate of mine... don't pick me up in it if you think it will impress me, it's you I'm interested in getting to know, so what car your parents drive doesn't bother me...


There are so many other things I could say, but I know you don't have all night to read it...so i'll just end on one last major point...

Just because I go on a date with you or show a slight interest in you, doesn't mean I wanna marry you and have your babies... I mean most guys are nice that you meet at this age, but I don't know what I want for breakfast let alone the man I want to marry... Guys automatically assume that a girl saying hi to them means that she is ready to settle down with you... I really don't know where guys get this from... I know very few girls who think like this... Most girls I know are more interested in finishing uni and travelling the world not which one of the guy they just met will become their husband... Oh and it is ok for a guy and a girl to be friends without there having to be anything to do with sex or relationships... Guys just don't seem to get it...

Ok I needed to get that off my chest...it was a bit of a rant but it is really starting to frustrate me...

M
x x

Suddenly I See...

A conversation with a new friend the other day has made me think of what I actually want in life.

I thought I knew exactly want I wanted; to study a certain course, travel to certain countries, work at a certain magazine, LIVE A CERTAIN LIFE... but now I'm not so sure!

For years I have wanted to study communications and planned on one day becoming a world famous magazine editor...at a certain publication...but I don't think that excites me anymore?

I thought for years that there were only a few countries that I wanted to see...but now I want to see them all (well most)!

I don't know what I want anymore...maybe I'm just exhausted from work n assignments n not actually getting any days off anymore...maybe I'm growing up!

Whatever it is, I'm actually really excited about it, because I think for once I might actually step out of my comfort zone and do something different! I might also break the mould of who everybody THINKS I am and actually allow myself to shine through!

I feel like getting away...taking a big leep and doing something different!

I like to think about life a lot...if you can't already tell...and I guess this blog is about me rethinking what I want in life...so what do I want?

Well...I know if I could have one thing...it would be that all my friends n family were happy n healthy...what more could I ask for!

Other than that I guess my own happiness...and I couldn't find greater happiness than in knowing that everything I did was because I wanted to...not because others expect me to!

I'm starting to see that being somebody your not leads you only to unhappiness and that actually being true to yourself will lead you to happiness!

So what do I want in life...to begin to be true to myself in who I want to be and in what sort of life I want to live! For too long I've allowed other people to dictate my life and allow their beliefs to become mine...

I guess what I really want now...is to live my life!

Till next time,

M

Change, what is it good for?

I've been thinking lately... dangerous I know, actually thinking for myself!
But what I've been thinking of is where this year has taken me!

Every (average) year has:
12 months,
52 weeks,
365 days.

What I've begun to think of is how much my life has changed in that time.

I began this year surrounded by many people I love n now some of those people have gone.
Which fits in to what I thought this year would be about, 2007 was, for me, going to be a year of change!

So back to the thinking, I'm relfecting on what this year has been and ultimatley who I have become!

To look at the person I began the year as and the person I now am, they are two very different people. Why? Because I removed some people from my life who did nothing but bring out the worst in me and allowed others in who make me shine.

Another change has been accepting that in the end, I am ultimately responsible for my destiny.
For years I had blamed others decisions on my outcomes and was happy to blame them when things didn't go my way. Now I look at it as even though you may not directly choose everything that happens to you, it's you who can make them work in your benefit and it's you who can the make the most out of it!

Change is important, it pushes us and makes us re-evaluate everything we thought we were and knew! It allows us to grow as individuals and it can give us another chance.
Change has taken me to some of the most beautiful cities in this sunburnt country and allowed me to meet amazing people. It has allowed me to grow and discover new and amazing things about myself, other people and the world.

Some people fear change, they like what is familiar and are happy to continue living like that!
I'm not, because even though sometimes it seems like making a change was the worst thing ever, I remind myself that things can only get better and that worse things happen to better people!

Ok so maybe this rant is a bit strange, but I'm just happy to be thinking about this year and that by allowing myself and my world to change, I've become a better person.

Not quite sure what 2008 will be about yet, but I'm ready for it,

Till next time,

M.