Is this a prison?

   
       I might sound like a rebellious little girl who has never tasted a TRULY hard life given the privileged, lucky circumstances I live in compared to many people in the world, but no matter how good my day is, I always have the pending feeling that I'm trapped. Wherever I go. Like our society is a prison.
Do you know what I mean?

       This feeling comes from many different aspects of our society, but I especially get it from school. I go to a big school, surrounded by even bigger green spaces, and every single day, as I look out the window, I wonder, why is it that I am trapped in here, when I could be out there? And as time goes on, and school gets more and more stressful, I have the increasing sense that something is just not right. Don't get me wrong, I know school is important (and I'm lucky to be attending it), but I feel like it has became a much bigger deal than it should be. I don't know if this everywhere in the world, or if it's just in France or more particularly just in my school, but I think I can safely say that it has made many students, myself included, feel bad about themselves. It almost seems to me that school doesn't have as a goal to teach us stuff anymore, but to assign us a grade which ultimately rates us as a person. I have several teachers who have completely lost the joy in teaching, and prefer to yell at us instead.

       I know I am an overthinker, but I can't help but notice these things. It looks to me like school is just a test to see how apt we will be later on in life to obey the rules of society. I go to school five days a week, from 8:45 to 4:30, and have (excuse my language) a shitload of homework  to complete when I get home (... I am talking HOURS). I probably have, on average, an hour of free time per day, if I don't go to bed after 11 p.m. And I'm getting seriously sick of it.

Now tell me: is this how you've lived/live school? Is it just MY situation that's oppressing? I know that many, if not most, countries around the world,only  have a half day of school. To me that sounds like a much better system. And sometimes I imagine all the things I would do differently to reform the school system to make it customizable, a system where each student can study itheir domains of interest and therefore make the whole experience more enjoyable.

All of this to say... I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS SUMMER. I am more than ready for vacation, sun, and fun to start. :)
    Happy first day of June!

Just another fan-girly post about Divergent

     I might possibly be the last teen alive who has not yet finished reading the Divergent series.

I must admit that I avoided it because I didn't like it's cover.

I know I am defying one of the most important bookworm rules here; don't judge a book by it's cover.

Sorry about that. I am truly sorry... Because I also defied another very important bookworm rule: read the book before watching the movie.

Yes, I watched the movie first. But it made me realize that I was missing out big-time on something amazing.

All of this to say, I started reading the book. 

YES it's amazing, and YES I'm totally in love with Tobias. The minute I started reading Divergent, I could not put it down. I just started book two.

     I'm sure there are already a billion other blog posts out there about this series, but I think it has some philosophical content which should definitely still be shared HERE. I quote:

   "A brave man acknowledges the strength of others."

...

"I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different."

...

"Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear and how to be free from it."

These statements bring tears to my eyes. Especially the last one; it is so, so important to remember we cannot be fearless, that knowing our flaws is what brings us strength and what helps us surpass them.

I made these to illustrate this quote. Which do you like better?

April in Pictures

How was your April? My April was pretty crazy (good crazy!). It consisted primarily of major studying, the visit of my cousins, and catching up on all the books and blogs I wanted to read and didn't have time to before.



Here's what I posted on Instagram for April:

This is my cousin Alex and me chillin' in the parc near my house. This was one of the first nights my cousins were visiting. They stayed with us for a week and we had so much fun!

We took a long bike ride one morning. Although the air was brisk it was nice to see all the blooming flowers.

On the last night of their visit, instead of sitting around like the screen-obsessed modern kids we are, my cousins and I practiced our mad drawing skills. What do you think?

Last Saturday, my friends came over and we made Caramel-Pecan milkshakes. This may possibly be the best milkshake recipe on earth. You have to try it ----> Caramel-Pecan Milkshakes

This is me trying out my new tee-shirt from Urban Outfitters. Did you know I'm obsessed with that store? I swear I could live in there. I had to order this tee-shirt because tragically, there is no UO in Lyon.



P.S:   Did you notice the change in my blog design? The wonderful Rose C. has been re-designing it for me, and she's doing a great job! Thank you, Rose! ♥

And miles to go before I sleep ~♥

These days I've been reading a lot of poetry. 

I love how a few beautiful words, arranged in a rhythmical, fluid manner, can change your state of mind and give you something to reflect on for the rest of the day. This is what I hope to do in my life with writing.

As the days go on, I am more and more certain that there will be no return to the cold, harsh weather, and that the spring sun is finally here to stay.

So I wanted to share this sweet and "wintery" poem with you as a way to officially embrace spring.

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

----Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

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OR.GA.NIZE! #2 Wall art

Hey everyone! Is it as sunny where you live as it is here? The sun has finally shown itself and I LOVE it!

     Today I present you with the second post of my series OR.GA.NIZE! which I started a few weeks ago.
This project is a simple one. It's not particularly organizational; it's more decorative. This post is meant to encourage you to decorate your walls, by giving you a cute example of what I did!

     I recently purchased this poster from an Etsy shop owned by the lovely Ella Moe in Stockholm, Sweden.

It arrived in the cutest package and with a nice little note inside.

And because I had no frame to put it in, my dad and I ventured out to Ikea this weekend. We bought a very nice frame for JUST nine euros! Almost everybody I know has something from Ikea in their house, and I know that some people tend to avoid it because "it's not unique" or "too simple". But I have to say, you can buy some really great stuff there! Don't you agree?

     As I said earlier, this isn't the most complicated or unheard-of of projects but it really dressed up my bedroom wall so I wanted to share it with you.
And I only just noticed that Ella Moe's Etsy shop AND Ikea are both Swedish! Funny right?

To recap:

• Buy a poster (I recommend browsing on Etsy)
• Buy a frame at Ikea (it really does look nice!)

I hope this is inspiring to you! For so long  my bedroom wall was bare and it made me feel so frustrated! This poster has already made a huge difference. 

Save the world! We can do it. YOU can do it!

Guys.
This is important, please listen.
We live our lives every day as if nothing bad will ever happen to us. We go to school, we go to work, we read our books, we tweet our thoughts, we eat our cake.
The world is going to end, guys.
It might not look so bad right now, but things are going seriously downhill in terms of the health of our environment. I know you already know this, but the truth is, it seems secondary to all of us at some point. But it shouldn't be. It's DEFINITELY our business. To each and every one of us.

What I am talking about here today is the Arctic disappearing. It's disappearing because oil exploiters want to access the oil waaay beneath the Arctic waters, the oils which will make the ice melt. It's disappearing because giant fishing companies are starting (and have started) exploiting the Arctic Ocean, which is destroying the icebergs. And it's disappearing because countries are fighting over the Arctic. Yes, that's right: the five neighboring countries are advancing their pawns to try to extend their territory. I quote Greenpeace:

"Countries are spending billions on Arctic weaponry, threatening the long-term peace of the region. Nuclear-powered ice-breakers, submarines and fighter jets are being purchased by Arctic states with overlapping claims on the area around the North Pole."

And why should we care about this? Because the health of the ice determines OUR health. No ice, no life.

"The ice at the top of the world reflects much of the sun’s heat back into space and keeps our whole planet cool, stabilising the weather systems that we depend on to grow our food. Protecting the ice means protecting us all."

This video also explains it.





SIGN THE PETITION TO PROTECT THE ARCTIC HERE: http://www.savethearctic.org/en-US/
Tweet it! Facebook it! Pin it! You can do so from anywhere it the world! We can stop this mistreatment of our earth! Our goal is 6,000,000  signatures and we've already gotten 5,162, 223! Sign now!

Let's save the world. :)

Motivation

I feel like I've disappeared from the blogosphere this week... I'm in a really busy period right now. Coming up on Tuesday are nine hours of tests which will determine whether I go to Lycée next year, which is the equivalent of high school (high school starts one year later in France than in the states). 
This means I'll be studying ALL WEEKEND!!! Yippee!

Sooo... I better get started. But first, here's some motivation. All of us, sometimes, need motivation, whether we need it for studying, exercising or ANYTHING really!

These are quotes I love... they're not very philosophical, but they sure are true, no matter which way you cut it. Which one of these is your favorite?


 


Have a nice week everybody :]