The Random Ramblings of Lauren

People talk. Every single second of every day, millions of us talk. The world is alive with conversation. It buzzes with the energy of words across every corner of our planet, from hushed whispers to assertive shouts, from drunken slurs to hummed rhymes and everything in between. With all the languages, accents, sociolect and idiolect in the world, we talk. The power and potential of language is truly limitless. It exceeds our wildest imagination.  With words we teach, we learn, we share, we confide, we fight, we make-up, we express, we create, we explore, we imagine, we advise, we support, we debate, we challenge, we lead, we promise, we confess, we lie, we forgive, we fall in love, we live... Without words, we would be nothing. And with them, we can be anything. Our language provides each and every one of us with the golden opportunity to find our own way, to form our own path, to make our own mind up. And, even better, we are granted the freedom of...

It's a new year, and so once again comes the time to promise yourself this year you'll be; thinner, happier, healthier, wealthier, better. We resolve to be improved versions of ourselves, but our best selves are right here waiting, and hoping, and praying, to be seen. This year, why not save your promises, and instead allow yourself, just this once, the freedom to be entirely, unashamedly, and unapologetically you. Because you are loved just as you are. You never needed to change you just needed to see how incredible you truly are. Happy New Year. Thanks for reading, over and out...

I dislike mirrors. They taunt me with all the ways I will never be the person I so desperately yearn to see. I thought I was beautiful. People used to tell me so. But looking back at me is a stranger I do not know. When did I get so pale?  So fat? So exhausted? So broken? I hate mirrors. I avoid them at all costs. But more than anything, I hate the person I have become. So I'll avoid mirrors, until the day comes that I can accept my reflection or change my perception.

So, hello again! I guess I've been away a while, haven't I? I never intended to leave, but then again, I never intended to start a blog in the first place. Alas, it seems that I got out of the habit of using writing to help me process and deal with the trials and tribulations of daily existence. I found myself not dealing with things, or dealing with things in the wrong way, and it was only when I realised this that I remembered what the sense of calm and joy I found in writing. I lost the power of my voice, or rather, I allowed someone else to take it from me. I allowed someone to make me believe I had no voice and no power at all. So I've not been speaking my truth for quite a while. I've forgotten the power and potential of words, and how they help give meaning to life. But I'm back. And I'm sorry it's been a while. But I'm intending to stick around for the foreseeable. And if you're reading this, I guess that means that you hung around, or you...

I am a fighter. Every day, I fight little battles. Battles against prejudice, battles against ignorance, battles against pressures, battles against judgement, battles against habits, battles against other people. But mostly, I fight battles against myself. And those, my friends, are the biggest battles of all. Because you see, can never win a battle against yourself. No matter what the outcome, a part of you will always feel disappointed. Even if you fight to do what you think is right, it might not be what you want. Or you fight for what you want, even if you know it's not exactly right. In other words, a part of you will always lose. And here lies my problem... I hate to lose. I fight against myself, and yet I know whatever the outcome I won't be completely happy. Because I am a fighter. And I fight to win. But how can you win a battle against yourself? In the battle between what you want and what you need, how can you ever come out on top? How can you ...

We live in a society of prejudice. The world has become a place where judgement, disapproval, hate and discrimination choke the air like smog. It fills our lungs and seeps into our skin, infecting our minds and blinding us to the consequences of our actions. We are surrounded by prejudice, and many of us are too ignorant to notice it.  The problem is that ignorance, f ear, anger and self-righteousness fester and grow into attitudes of prejudice. Even worse, these attitudes can spread like wildfire amongst certain individuals that are too afraid to have their own opinion, for fear of it being considered wrong. People become sheep, following blindly into a lifestyle that refuses to accept anything that they cannot understand. And the more people that follow, the more people follow them, and so on. It doesn't matter if it's something trivial, such as differences in taste or style, or something more fundamental like a differing religion, race or sexuality. If something is d...

Well hello there! As I currently type this, I am sat on an uncomfortably stuffy coach, crawling along the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City. It's a scorching Sunday evening here and what was supposed to be my last day (Day 5) here in Saigon.. That's now changed a little, but more on that later! My plans for today involved an amazing full tour, which unfortunately meant my day began this morning with, and is now ending with, a two hour crowded bus ride. Right now the air is thick and dizzying, and the smell of sweat is unavoidable, circulated by the feeble and shuddering fan system. To distract from the increasing feeling of claustrophobia and exhaustion, I thought it would be nice to start an update post on yesterday / today. DAY 4: The day began with a trip back to the police station, this time with a lovely girl from the Hotel, in order to report our belongings as stolen and get a police report for insurance purposes. Frustratingly, it takes 2-3 days to pr...