BOY FREE ZONE (no offence)

Today I was brave enough to visit Tyttöjen Talo (Girls´ house). The idea of this house is that every girl aged 12-28 can come and hang arround, talk with responsible and trustworthy people (also female). It just sounds too good to be true. No alcohol involved! Can it get any better?

They are not trying to brainwash girls to hate men, the Tyttöjen Talo is just purely a place where you can be a girl. Similar places for boys are being created!

I was welcomed warmly and I was able to talk with a worker there and I immediately felt like home. It was so strange! It's extremely lovely that the city I live in is funding this project. I mean it's free for us girls! It's really important that there are places like these. Well in my opinion atlest. There has to be a place where you can go and cry, laugh, be yourself and still be loved. Even in big cities today where you are supposed to save everything for Oprah. It makes my heart skip with joy when I see that there still are people who actually care about others (as in strangers!) than themselves (and show it).

I think today was a beginning of something beautiful!

Dove Damage Therapy - "Favourite Things" TV ad by Ogilvy & Mather

Fair or not?

I watched this BBC documentary series on unethical clothes. Six fashion addicts went to India to see how their cheap clothes are made. I was so shocked. It's not like I didn't know that people don't really get a good wage for making good clothes but what shocked me is that we in the west actually think we are better and more valuable here. Yes, we know that things aren't going too well for the workers who make our clothes, but life isn't fair, right? Atleast we get cheap clothes! So we are more or less saying: Our lives are more valuable than theirs.

I've heard arguments like: Well they are used to living like that. It's harder for us to understand their way of living. Right... Well, I think sleaping on floors, earning just enough money to survive and sending all your money to your family, wearing the same clothes forever sucks - INTERNATIONALLY. Not just in the rich countries.

Why doesn't anyone care? The most annoying part is that if we stop buying the unethical products, the poor workers wont get even the small ammount they get now! People leading countries should make unfairtrade illegal. But I guess it won't happen cause then WE would have to pay more for being fashionable. Well... pay more even if we aren't.

It's not just with clothes. It's the same sad story with everything. If we really wanted, there would be enough fairness for everybody but since we are so selfish things don't work out. Especially if you were born in the thirld world, which hardly anyone really cares about.

I'm pissed off! And it pisses me off that people who take this seriously are called fanatics, hippies, idealists etc. Is it ok that we actually have slaves? Would you like to be in the workers shoes? (Well if they have shoes that is...)

Fortunately one can make SOME ethical choises. There are ethical clothes, you can make a difference with. Yes, one person isn't that much but together we are many. I sound like John Lennon but I've truly made up my mind: I'm going to stand up for this and I'm not going to give in. It means that shopping (clothes) will be harder than ever but I want that every human being has equal rights.

Thread is an online magazine that has lots of good info about ethical fashion: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thread/about/. Yes, not everyone is interested in fashion. Life is more than the clothes we wear but we all need to wear something, so make sure what you are wearing is fair.

I'm serious!


The picture is BBC´s: http://www.rapanuiclothing.com/eco/ethical-fair-trade-clothing/child_labour.jpg

Purpose-driven life

Today I had one of those too familiar feelings of anxiety again. I just fealt so bad. All I could do was sit down and breathe. I just fealt like my life has no purpose. No... meaning at all. I just cried for a while until I was able to talk about how I feel.

I don't really know what kind of purpose I've been looking for but I was just tired of being lost. Tired of feeling so lame tired of loosing it tired of not knowing what to do with my life. I can't even think of what to study...

Luckily there are more wise and experienced people in my life and I learned something really important:
I'm truly loved by my family and in a way that makes me a purpose, which means my life isn't meaningless. And... I do cheer people by using the gifts that I have even though I can't always tell when or how. Then it just hit me: it's the small things that give your life a meaning, in away. I've been looking for something big but I should have consentrated on smaller things. But on the other hand what's bigger than loving your family and friends?

I have this passion to help people but I shouldn't try to be something I'm not or want to be someone else. I have lots of things I need to figure out... like what I want... but I have a place in this world and I shouldn't try to yearn for a purpose and then ironically miss the life I'm supposed to live. The truly great people that we still remember and think highly of didn't do great stuff just to lead great lives.... I think. They just worked hard to reach their full potential, to be as good as they could be in what they knew best. And they lived one day at a time.

I'm still learning to live one day at a time. I just realised that I don't need to have this plan here and now... a map of my life. I don't need to know what my profession will be in 10 years. I don't need to have a boyfriend now so that I'll be married in a certain age. I don't need to plan everything in advance. I'm not saying it's wrong to have a vision and dreams etc... but one just needs to be open... Willing to take life as it is... with all it's suprises - good and bad ones.

Sigh, I wish I made sence here..

but atlest in my head, I think I'm starting to grasp the concept.

An end. A new beginning maybe?

I think it's time to say goodbye, for now. This Ebony is really tired and needs a little rest. There'll be lots of adventures to share in the future (perhaps) but now it's time to pause - officially. I'm on facebook (etc) if you need me.

hug

Hugging isn't something that is culture bound... but Finns still don't tend to show their affection as openly (and superficially?) as people in warmer cultures... But people who want to hug often don't hug me. Even if they hug someone else infront of me. I don't think it's because they openly hate me but because I usually seem cold because I'm so shy... they sence the "coldness". I'm not kidding. Today I saw a friend who said she wanted to hug me to congratulate me but she didn't thus I was so tence. Today I also so another friend, after a long time no see, and she hugged me. Before we said goodbyes she paused and said: "You don't seem like a person who likes to hug". Gawie...

The thing is, I do like hugs.

42.195 km

I borrowed a book called Run Your First Marathon >> Everything you need to know to get you to the finish line by Grete Waitz and Gloria Averbuch


hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

The cover is really nice, though!

Sigh. Don't laugh, or I might really start training ;)