Art Isn't Useless

I'm an artist by nature, I run after any opportunity I have to turn the fleeting whims of my mind into something permanent, something real. Whether it be through writing or painting or photographs, nothing makes me happier than taking a moment or thought and making it into something inherently beautiful. However for as long as I've had this need to create, there have also been people trying to pull me down from the clouds; people telling me that being an artist isn't a real job, that I'm not good enough to get any where with such silly ideas, people who have forgotten that art is one of life's most important endeavors. People who believe that art itself is useless.

However that is not true. Without art how would we see anything as beautiful. How would we know love if it weren't depicted in every art-form we know of? How would we see that nothing in life is either black or white, but all of the colours in between? How would we have language if someone had not use it to create? How would we know of beauty? Or of other cultures? Or of independence? Without art and the power it hold we would be blind to the world! It was Shakespeare who created most of the English language to put his beautiful stories into it's physical forms, the ancient Greek authors who teach us of their culture through their writing. Art is everlasting. In Psalms 149:3 of the Bible it states 'Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with Timbrel and Lyre' in God's eyes art is one pf the truest forms of prayer, there is nothing more genuine than song. Why would God make such a beautiful gift if it was useless

Art is a force to be reckoned with, it gives people independence and free will and there is nothing more powerful than that. Hitler burned libraries, ISIS plan to destroy museums all because they understand that art cannot lie, cannot be censored and cannot be hidden; therefore for their causes it must be destroyed before it reveals their true natures. It gives people a voice in a world where they may not have one; gives people the chance to be heard in a world on full blast. It gives people the freedom they are being denied. Art is a key that unlocks the mind of not only the artist, but also the minds of the people who get to experience it. For some it's a glimmer of hope in a world where this is little left of it, a beacon of light, a promise, a wish. Like Oscar Wilde said 'Art is the most intense form of individualism the world has ever known' whether you are looking to lose yourself in it or use it to find yourself with it art is one of the few ways in which people are truly able to be themselves.

How could something with so much power be useless?

Wanderlust

Ever since I was a little girl I have been obsessed with travelling. When the teacher at primary school asked us what we wanted to do when we grew up I would get some funny looks from the want to be police men and rock stars for saying 'I want to see the world' and teachers would always claim that I had misunderstood the question. The reality was that I wasn't confused or unsure, I've just always known that my career has been optional, what is definite is that what I do with my life has to somehow tie into my need to see and experience everything. Now that isn't to say that I look down on anyone who doesn't have the same need to explore that I do or the people who would rather have a relaxed life with a more consistent schedule, it's just that way of living has never really interested me. One place is just too small for the dreams I have in my head...

My Nana has always said that I get my wanderlust from her; like me, the she can't stand to be in the same place for more than a month or two, and the idea of being stuck in the same place forever makes her feel ill. She's been travelling since my mum was young and I've rarely seen her stay home for more than four months at a time, I'd be surprised if she hasn't seen every part of the world possible by the time she's 70, and even then I know she won't be satisfied. People always joke that I was born with a suitcase, I went on my first holiday when I was 6 months old and ,according to my mum,  I was the only baby who didn't make a sound on the plane! My favourite memories are of holidays, there's just something about being far away from home, and all of the problems there that makes me immeasurably happy.

But this need to see everything isn't always as happy as this. It means that my automatic response to even the smallest problem in life is to run, to run until my feet don't touch the ground and to not turn back until the problem is gone. The amount of times I've gone as far as to look for a plane ticket to nowhere is unreal! It means that when I'm home, I never quite feel right, like I'm trapped. Home isn't home to me anymore, I feel more out of place here than I do in a country where I can't even speak the common tongue.  I guess I just wasn't born for life in one corner, the whole world is my home.

For as long as I've understood the options I have for my future, I've known that the first chance I have I'm going to be running away as far as I can and staying there until I'm dragged home by some commitment or other. I've been counting down the days until then for as long as I can remember, with the promise that I will see as much of the world as possible in that short space of time. I want to see the world, experience other cultures and help as many people as I can along the way.

Whether it's backpacking around Thailand, road-tripping through America or building orphanages in Africa; I just want to leave my mark on the world, and learn some things along the way...

The 'U' word

My whole life my parents have been tight on language, and what words are and aren't acceptable for a young lady, or person, to use. I spent most of my childhood referring to words the grown-ups and naughty kids used as the 'F' word or the 'B' word, simply because to my young mind, they were the worst things you could possibly say aloud. However there was one word that no-one ever warned me about. A word that can ruin lives and alter the way a person lives. That word is the 'U' word, and to me, that is a word no person should ever use.

Ugly is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and because of this people seem to not realise the power behind it. It's come to a point where people treat the word as a joke, and expect others to feel the same way, without considering how the recipients of the word may feel about it.

My whole childhood I was called ugly. I was picked on because I was chubbier than the other kids my age, I was called fat and ugly among other things, however looking back, I don't think half of the kids calling me these things really understood how it was affecting me. However whether they were aware of the the issues they cause for me or not, it is still something that has influenced my life to this very moment. Now I'm not going into detail on its exact affect because it's something I'm still dealing with and something very personal to me.

To me, there is only one explanation for the way I was treated and it's that because of how often the word is used in both media and real life, these kids didn't understand the weight of what they were saying.

Everyday there is a celebrity being called 'fat' or 'a mess' by a troll on the internet, or a grimey journalist and everyday we compare ourselves to these people, especially young girls, and ask ourselves 'If these beautiful people are unattractive, what does that make me?' and the answer is always the same, 'ugly'. And this thought process is what leaves us with such a dangerous word being thrown around so carelessly.

We expect people to handle that word in the same way we do ourselves, forgetting that some people don't feel the same way about the word. For example a few of my friends will jokingly call themselves and others ugly without thinking about it, because to them it is meaningless, but for some people like myself whether the tone was joking or not, it still has a powerful effect on my already low self esteem and mood generally. And I don't blame them for that, whether it's a personal experience with the word that has made me feel this way or not, they aren't aware of the effect it has. But I simply believe it is a word with a lot of power that people underestimate.

So please next time you're thinking about calling somebody ugly, whether it's yourself, somebody else or whether it's as a joke or seriously, just don't.

Let's Talk Music

So as festival season is officially over and I have started saving up for Leeds next year I thought I'd tell you about 2 of the gigs I am going to next year and my dream lineup/setlist for them. First I'd like to point out that my music taste is VERY eclectic ranging from pop to classical to rock and all of the sub-genres in between so because of that some of these 'dream gigs' are going to be very muddled and also very unlikely to happen in more than a few cases. I'll make sure to use the full names of the songs and bands I mention so that you can check them out because I promise you will be better off from at least trying them. There is nothing better than a broad taste in music, it means you'll rarely be disappointed by what's playing. So with that lets get started...

The two biggest music events I have lined up next year are Leeds festival and the one-night only All Time Low show at Wembley Stadium, both of which I am already counting down the days for. So since these are my guaranteed shows of next year lets start with my dream line-up/ set-list for these.

So for Leeds I'm not going to say a full lineup because that would take way too long so I'll just mention the a few that I would want to play the main stage over the three days;

First off I would LOVE to see All Time Low co-headline with Green Day and 5 Seconds of Summer just because they are 3 of my all time favourite bands and Green Day are both of the bands source of inspiration, so to see them play the same stage would be amazing! Plus they are all amazing live and to see them play such a big event is a dream I've had ever since I heard 'Weightless', 'Basket Case' and 'Try Hard' respectively. Next I would love to see The Summer Set, Tonight Alive and Set It Off play because every time I have seen them they have been brilliant and the atmosphere has been electric. I'd also love to see Pierce The Veil play there since I missed their set at SlamDunk last year and since I missed the Arctic Monkeys play this year I'd love for them to be there as well. And to top it off I'd love for Demi Lovato, the 1975, Cassadee Pope, The Piano Guys, You Me At Six, We Are The In Crowd and Mayday Parade to be the support acts. That along with whoever else happened to play would make Leeds Festival one of the best experiences of my life.

So now onto my dream support acts and set lists for the All Time Low show. So since 5 Seconds of Summer and All Time Low are pretty good friends at this point and I've already mentioned them playing together in the Leeds lineup I'm just going to have them 5SOS support All Time Low for this show too, I just think a show with the two of them together would be insanely good. I'd also love for Cassadee Pope and Pierce The Veil, or Vic at least, to perform so that we could get the full effect of A Love Like War. But if this were to happen the set-list would have to be along the lines of:

5SOS:
Independence Day
English Love Affair
Don't Stop
Rejects
American Idiot
She Looks So Perfect
Voodoo Doll
Long Way Home/End Up Here (feat Alex Gaskarth)

All Time Low:
Teenage Dirtbag(cover feat 5SOS)
A Party Song (feat 5SOS)
True Colours (cover)
For Baltimore
Time Bomb
Weightless
Me Without You
Somewhere In Neverland (acoustic feat Cassadee Pope)
Remembering Sunday (feat Cassadee Pope)
Therapy (with a speech)
Lullabies
Actors
Coffee Shop Soundtrack (feat Michael Clifford of 5SOS and Vic Fuentes)
A Love Like War (feat Vic Fuentes)
Memories That Fade Like Photographs/ The Reckless & The Brave
Heroes
Jasey Rae
I Feel Like Dancing
Dear Maria Count Me In (feat all support acts)

I'll try to upload something every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for you, but since I am awful for meeting deadlines, they probably wont always be on time, but I will make a promise that there will be three posts a week and I will try to get them to you on time. If there is anything you would like me to talk about please do let me know and I'll try to get it done for you and please leave me some nice pointers and advice for my content because I am still learning and would love to hear you thoughts and advice.

Lots Of Love,

Georgia xx

Introducing Me

So considering this is my first blog post, I thought it would be best if I introduced myself, so here is my TMI tag in blog form so you can learn a little bit more about me before you actually listen to me write about my life and interests. So lets start with something easy before I answer the questions...

Hi I'm Georgia, I'm sixteen and here are my TMI answers:

1: What are you wearing? Black highwaisted skinny jeans from Topshop and a grey oversized jersey jumper with beaded detailing on it from H&M
2: Ever been in love? Maybe
3: Ever had a terrible breakup? No
4: How tall are you? 5"1 (yes I am a dot)
5: How much do you weigh? Lets skip that one
6: Any tattoos? None, but I can't wait to get some done
7: Any piercings? I have my ears pieced twice 
8: OTP? Literally too many to list
9: Favorite Show? Game of Thrones
10: Favorite bands? All Time Low, 5 Seconds of Summer, Pierce the Veil and My Chemical Romance
11: Something you miss? .Certain friends and relationships I used to have
12: Favorite song? At the minute it's either Me Without You by All Time Low or End Up Here by 5SOS
13: How old are you? I'm 16 and wont be 17 until June 3rd 
14: Zodiac sign? Gemini
15: Quality you look for in a partner? Someone who can make me laugh (and great cuddles) 
16: Favorite Quote? 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars'
17: Favorite actor? Helena Bonham Carter
18: Favorite color? Purple
19: Loud music or soft? LOUD!!
20: Where do you go when you're sad? In my head- Disneyland In real life- My room 
21: How long does it take you to shower? Depends-usually about 25 minutes...
22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? About an hour unless I'm showering
23: Ever been in a physical fight? Nope 
24: Turn on? A great smile and sense of humor 
25: Turn off? Arrogance and narcissism 
26: Fears? Basically anything but my biggest fear is probably talking in front of people I don't know
27: Last thing that made you cry? A video of a soldier surprising his daughter
28: Last time you said you loved someone? Probably earlier today or yesterday
29: Meaning behind your blog title? It's from the saying 'I'm just a girl with a whole lot of heart'
30: Last book you read? The Picture of Dorian Grey
31: The book you're currently reading? Game of Thrones
32: Last show you watched? Keeping up with the Kardashians
33: Last person you talked to? My friends
34: The relationship between you and the person you last texted? He's my dad  
35: Favorite food? I don't know actually...
36: Place you want to visit? I really want to go to Italy or do a road trip through America 
37: Last place you were? College
38: Do you have a crush? Nope 
39: Last time you kissed someone? Wouldn't you like to know
40: Last time you were insulted? Probably earlier today at some point
41: Favourite flavour of sweet? Lemon
42: What instruments do you play? I can't play any really, I can kind of play drums, piano and clarinet though 
43: Favourite piece of jewellery? Either my Links necklace or the ring my nana bought for me
44: Last sport you played? HAHAHA I don't do sport 
45: Last song you sang? Queen of Hearts by We The Kings 
46: Favourite chat up line?  'Hey baby I'd ask for your name but I'd muck rather hear your phone number' 
47:Have you ever used it? God no, it's awful!
48: Last time you hung out with anyone? Earlier today at college 

So there you go that a little bit about me that you probably wouldn't of known otherwise, I promise I'll post something a little more interesting soon! If you want to hear more from me between posts then you can find me on:

Twitter- @GeorgiaIsAWhat
Instagram- @georgiajunepowell
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Thanks for reading, With Love Georgia