The perfect housewife - Not me.

My notice board at uni. I couldn't even fit it all in the picture, but you get the idea. 

This blog post centres around the ideas and ideals of the "Perfect Housewife," and my inability to relate to said ideals.

Blogging from my newly moved in uni room, looking around the bare walls and back-to-basic living conditions, I ask myself: "Am I content to sit here with substandard curtains, and mismatching furniture?" The answer, quite frankly, is yes.

I have no desire to improve my living conditions to any drastic length... I am, after all, a uni student. I'm meant to be living somewhat akin to the downtrodden heroes of classic literature - think Oliver (from Oliver) or erm... Well to be honest, I'm not a big reader, but I'm sure there are more suiting examples... -_-

It's not like I'm living in squalor... far from it. I just have no intentions to equip myself with soft furnishings and fancy throws... I have a notice board currently consisting of my NHS medical card, and a post-it found in a package from my dad. I have a feeling even those might not last long up there. I may stretch to a calender, for practical purposes... but aesthetically, they serve no function. Indeed, it has been the subject of a few conversations last year at my severe lack of "homely" touches to my room at halls. 

This isn't me, but I want to know how he gets his hair so shiny... :')

If I had been born a more proactive/artistic person, I'd say "Sure. My room could do with a art Deco desk lamp. Why not? Yes, I could turn that wall into a fancy-schmancy 'feature wall...' It would be a great 'focal point' for the eyes." (is it obvious that I spent most of my gap-year watching 60-Minute Makeover...? :| ) Unfortunately, I wasn't born that person. Instead, I was born not to care. And it is this lack of care that I pride myself on. For it leaves me more time to focus on the more important aspects on life (reading great works of literature, apparently isn't one of those...).


My lack of home-making ability stretches to my limited skills in the kitchen. Example: My housemate Laura made BREAD today... :O (breadmaking machine, but still required far more effort than walking a minute to the local corner shop for the pre-sliced variety). Was it delicious? Yes. Was it a very thoughtful gesture? Yes. Would I likely be following in her footsteps any time soon...? Highly unlikely. I survive on two meals a day - MAX. (Soup being a staple of my supremely unbalanced diet - COSTCO SOUP TRAYS FTW!!!).

This is how I imagine I'd be if ever I were to (God forbid) redecorate.
As you can clearly see, it can only end in disaster. 

What is my point exactly...? That what I lack in homemaking skills or desire for soft-furnishings, I make up for in satirical wit, and laziness. I only see myself hanging ONE thing on my wall this year: A piece of artwork given to me by my best friends mother, in an explicit way of sparing her daughters feelings by not throwing it away... I can imagine she was pretty offended anyway, given that it was more or less described as an eyesore, that didn't match the decor of the newly refurbished entrance hall... However, I find that one can NEVER have too many artworks of a guide dog eating what I can only guess as a variety of biscuit from a table. They're the modern day equivalent of that really famous bowl of fruit... or something. I think I forgot my original point, but I really like the picture - honest :) 

Judge for yourself...? Would you have this on your wall? No question. 

Talent - It's not for everyone.

Is this the face of talent...?
Chances are - no. 

Yep... you guessed it. This blog post is going to be somewhat self-absorbed, and centres around the ideals of "talent." More specifically, why some people possess extraordinary talent(s), and others don't. 

I myself, without wanting to sound too egotistical, possess a talent: being able to play the piano. This is something that I like to think I can do more proficiently than most everyday people (i.e. those everyday people that haven't been having piano lessons for 7 years...). I haven't been "lucky" in the sense that I was born with this talent. I have never considered myself prodigious in any way. I didn't sit at a piano one day and start pumping out concerto's like the great composers of Western history. I had to ask for piano lessons... and that was only the first step. To say that I put effort into my practice of music is an understatement. I would stray from the guidance of my teacher, and teach myself a few pages ahead every week, pursuing my own set goals. It even got to the point when I would stop following instruction altogether, and manage to blag my way through my lessons week after week, based on my sight-reading skills alone. My progress was relatively fast, and (again) without wanting to sound egotistical, was told on a number of occasions how impressive my abilities were.

But I digress... It is my belief that I achieved none of this through talent. It was a combination of my own determination and hard work (and a certain amount of "blagging" apparently...)

People aren't born with gifts these days. It doesn't happen. I don't believe either that it has anything to do with genetics. For example, my grandmother plays piano, but my father does not. Does this mean that the "musical gene" skipped a generation? Or simply that my father didn't have the same opportunities to learn an instrument as my grandmother...? I know which is more likely.

Talent is something that you have to work for - to strive for. I have no doubt in my mind that there is not one single person who - providing they have all their fingers intact - given the opportunity, would make an excellent pianist.

Moving on, the talents that other people possess (and appropriately, ones I lack) are a great source of envy to me. My two best friends, both accomplished artists, find the fact that I can barely even hold a pencil correctly a great source of amusement, not to mention the fact that my artistic skills are SHOCKING. It's at this point that I tend to forget my talents in music. I barely recognize the skills I already have and can only see the ones I lack.

Does this make me any less of a musician? To know that I can't put pencil to paper and create beautiful artworks, or that I can't juggle more than two things at once... or even that I can't do press-ups with one finger?! (OK, I'll be honest - I wouldn't want that talent... it grosses me out...)

What I'm trying to say is, don't downplay your talents. If it's something you're specifically proficient in, then embrace it and make the most of it. Because not everyone will have the same opportunities as you.


And that's my thought for the day... :D