Easter eggs

So, the beautiful Easter is gradually catching us up, with Thorntons and Asda bulging with hungry crowds and children screaming for chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies. But why is chocolate so strongly associated with Easter...how did chocolate become the theme of this Christian celebration?

Well, the symbolism of eggs and bunny rabbits I assume represent new life and reflect the real meaning of Easter which is resurrection and new life through Jesus Christ. The rolling eggs symbolises the stone that was rolled away from Jesus' tomb. Chocolate is just the commercialism and the money grabbing object...but it's not so bad. Chocolate is just the champagne that we crack open on the day, it's where we celebrate Jesus' resurrection with chocolate!

So...let's party and celebrate!

The Marmite cereal bar...

On a very unusual day, where public transport didn't seem to get on with me and stopped me from getting where I wanted to go, a Marmite cereal bar salesman approached me with a hopeful grin. He was gripping a bunch of cereal bars...Marmite cereal bars! I was so bewildered and starving that I agreed to whatever he asked me. As long as I got some food down me, I didn't mind what I did. After filling out what seemed like an endless form and signing it, I thought I could go and get myself a cup of coffee to end the non-eventful day, but he directed me into a photo booth. They expected me to take a bite out of the bar and on a screen where my face would appear, the camera would catch my expression as to whether I loved it or hated it. Surely enough I sat on the unstable stool, wondering to myself why I on earth I agreed to all of this and after "1...2...3...Marmite!" there was a snapshot of my expression that read, why am I here??

The bar was neither to be loved nor hated. It was interesting and I was hungry, I was given four more bars to occupy my rumbling stomach and the taste grew on me. But, it has much more work to do if it expects me to love it. I don't know whether this bar has that love/hate relationship. It's an inbetweener.

A strip of pain

Purederm Deep cleansing nose strips are a form of torture that has been dipped into a bowl full of another form of torture. It’s as if a troubled man, with no knowledge of how to slowly peel off the strip got a knife and started to shred your nose little bit by bit. The pain is ridiculous and right at this moment I have not yet made my mind up as to whether it was worth it. I feel as though my nose is going to bleed any moment now and I am holding a tissue where the blood could possibly drip. I’ve done waxing, I’ve sat and stared at chocolate that I couldn’t touch, I’ve left a shop where the sale items are as cheap as Primark and as good quality as Jack Wills, but this has by far been the most painful experience. Whoever says that labour is the world’s most painful experience has obviously never bought deep cleansing nose strips. If your blackheads are thousands of bullets shot into your nose that reoccur every day and can be seen by the blind, then buy them. But, if you have speckled black dots that you could join up, but that aren’t tormenting you, give it a miss and simply exfoliate.

Glorious, glorious, rain

The delightful rain picked up today, it came pouring down like a flood from the heavens, drowning every dry nook and cranny. I was out among the shops...picking up a few sale items that would have been left all on their own if I hadn't picked them up and gave them a good home...when I bounced out into the downfall. Normally, I guess you would think Oh no and for a few minutes I did...but then I found refuge under a shelter and smiled at how refreshing the outdoors was. The high street was thinning out, people were running, and it was quite entertaining to watch how almost a stampede collected in the centre. I just stood and watched the world go by, wondering why people were out in the town, where they were heading next and whether they too found the most amazing sale in Republic.

The air speaks of Spring

As I walked out of my house today the air was dry and outside appeared very different. The sweet smell of freshly cut grass spiralled around in the air and everywhere was very quiet. The sun was in hiding, but there were not really any clouds; there was no rain either. It felt ghostly, but friendly at the same time and even though everywhere seemed dead, it felt alive. Spring has definitely clung onto us now and is tightening its grip around us. I don't think any more snow will be chasing us now.

It's raining cats and dogs!

Someone said to me today, '...oh it's just one of those things...', after a pause for thought, the question crept up on me, 'one of what things?'

We use these phrases in every day language, because we've learnt them...but have we ever really questioned them?

'It's raining cats and dogs' - Apparently, in tornado's, the debris that gets sucked up and spun around wildly, including cats and dogs, fires right back down onto land when the tornado dies down. Therefore, as the cats and dogs seem to be falling from the sky, it looks as though it is raining cats and dogs!

What is real beauty?

The sunshine has been beating down amongst the breezy wind, painting smiles on people's faces and a summer glow beams all around. For the first time in a while I went for a casual walk in the country side with only a t-shirt on....obviously I was carrying my coat...just incase, but the beauty that shone out to me was magnificent. The green velvety hills were lush, the brook was glittering and the tree's looked alive. It was gorgeous, and it was real beauty.

I wondered about all of the things that people would call 'beautiful'. Celebrities, fashion, diamonds, all of those material possessions are seen as beautiful and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think they were either. But, the natural things that are free....grass, trees, water, sunshine, mountains, flowers....they really do perk you up, they make me grin exactly like the Cheshire cat!...I have to remind myself most of the time that I really do look silly and I'm on my own so I just look mad.

I found out that the word 'beauty' from Latin, means 'to be happy' and just from that I can see how nature really does mean beauty because nature is a mood changer. Do you notice how when it rains you may feel a bit down? (I, on the contrary love the rain, but it still changes my mood-just to a more positive one) When the clouds clothe us in a robe of boredom and depression, that is fairly noticeable, isn't it? The snow just gets everybody excited and pushes us right back to our playful childhood...if it doesn't, something is wrong.

Beauty is out there in the world we live in, it means something deeper than what's just on the surface and it is a free gift to us. So, let's notice the real beauty of this world and just enjoy it!