Authenticity....

This article is based on a poem I had to study as a part of my International Baccalaureate Diploma program. This poem is called ‘Revelation’ by Robert Frost, it basically illustrates how we, humans never really show our true selves as we always  hide behind lies and other forms of camouflage like “light words that tease and flout”. We hide our true selves because we fear that people around us will not accept us, most times this is because we do not conform to what people think we should be.

‘Authenticity’ can be defined as the genuineness or truth of something. It is something that is very uncommon today. I applaud Robert Frost for being bold enough to talk about it because not many people are. In his poem “Revelation”, he uses certain literary features to convey the seriousness and intensity of the situation. The title itself is an example of biblical allusion, revelation is the last book of the bible which shows that there is an end and people can only hide themselves for so long. Authenticity has lost its value in our world and people will do just about anything to have the approval of the world. We as humans fail to understand that if everyone is the same, our world would be flat and boring. The diversity of characters is what enables us learn from each other and learn to tolerate each other so that we can grow and develop as individuals.

Two years ago, I learned that being authentic is the only way to become relevant and stay that way for a long time. It was when I began my International Baccalaureate Diploma program, I was forced to leave my comfort zone and my parents and my school and basically everything I was used to. It was a very difficult time, the first few weeks were horrible, it would get me depressed and I began to miss home really badly. I didn’t fit in because the guys were really immature and I found that I had nothing in common with them. Unfortunately, the girls were worse because out of all of us, only one was considered to be really “cool”, so everyone except two of my friends and I tried very hard to conform to this girl’s version of being “cool”. After a few weeks of speaking to my mother and my older sister, I realized that I had being wasting my time trying to fit in. This is because “fitting in” meant erasing every form of individuality and becoming a fake version of someone else. Soon enough after I realized that I did not have to conform to anybody’s ideas of who I should be, I became more confident in being different and everything else just seemed to fall into place.

It is not uncommon for the lack of authenticity to be triggered by peer pressure. This is because young people are impressionable and they are yet to figure out who they want to be, therefore, due to the uncertainty, it is quite easy for someone else to manipulate them and make them alter their idea of who they want to become. They no longer look to discover who they are and embrace their individuality rather they spend their time trying to be more like the person who is manipulating them.

I once read an article about the costs of peer pressure and lack of authenticity. The article was based on a group of high school graduates who went on a trip to celebrate their finishing high school. The principal instructed the class to be on their best behavior and to be good ambassadors of the school. However, due to peer pressure and the intense desire to ‘fit-in’, some people brought alcohol on the trip. Unfortunately for them, the chaperons caught them and turned them into the principal for punishment and this resulted in the immediate expulsion of the the students who took the alcohol. It was especially heart breaking because this event occurred just a few days before graduation. It turned their graduation ceremony into a sad occasion and it tarnished the image of that grade in the school. In other words, all the good things they did while in the school were forgotten and replaced with this terrible mess. Sometimes, the lack of authenticity does not have such grave consequences but it is wiser to take precaution because one cannot predict the outcome of any situation. In my own case, it took quite a bit of courage from the students who didn't join in because they seemed "uncool" and were tagged “snubs” and “unfriendly” . They had realized the most important thing, which was being true to who they were and being confident in the people they had become. After reading the article, I starting realizing that the greatest people in the world where never afraid to be different and they were not shadows they were trail blazers. 

In my opinion, the problem of authenticity has gone on for too long, and this is because we keep doing the same things and expecting different results, which a wise man referred to as insanity. It is time for people to stand up and be confident and comfortable in exactly who they are. The world would be more exciting if everyone could just be exactly who they are. Authenticity has become old-fashioned and it is about time we bring it back in vogue. If God wanted two of the same person, he would have done that and not taking the time to create a whole other person. God does not waste resources, so he knows exactly why he created you the way you are. Stop trying to fulfill another person's purpose and start trying to discover and fulfill your own.Remember, if you try to be someone else, the best possible version of you is just a counterfeit of another person.

Love a little more...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”. I love this quote because it highlights an old principle that is still very relevant in this present generation. This is a generation were women now criticize and judge one another and there is no more unity or sense of togetherness. Showing love is popularly viewed as a sign of weakness or vulnerability or lack of character whereas it is and should be seen s as a sign of strength, dignity and respect.

I am a Christian and it saddens me that most many churches have lost their focus from the teachings of the Bible on love and compassion and they show more hatred than is displayed by the so called “sinners’. The Bible clearly teaches us to love the sinner and to hate sin. The Bible does not teach us Christians to chastise one another or to criticize one another, it teaches us to show love and to live by example and not force our beliefs on other people. Nowadays, pastors blatantly admonish congregations to stay away from homosexuals and separate themselves from them as much as possible. This is really disappointing because in my opinion, this is a very condescending and judgmental way to deal with such situations. It is certainly not the Christian approach. I believe that a more appropriate way to deal with such situations is not to condemn but to show love and use our own lives as examples. By doing this, we are not forcing our personal values and beliefs on other people; rather we are exposing our light and giving them control over their own lives.

Love is the most important principle in our generation today. Most of the problems our society faces today are directly or inversely as a result of a lack of love. Love is a pivotal force, it ties with almost every other positive attitude or attribute. With love, comes respect for yourself and everyone else. If people had respect for themselves and each other, there would be less fighting and more people living in peace irrespective of their race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. One of the main problems of government today is corruption, if government officials had respect for themselves and the people they were in authority over, they will not steal from them and lie to them so consistently. 

With love also comes giving, if people gave more there would be less people on streets, less people dying of hunger and thirst and less hatred in people’s hearts.. With love comes empathy, which is the ability to understand and share feelings of another.  If people were more empathetic, they would be less likely to show what they feel, and more likely to act and respond the way they would want to receive if they were in that situation, which in most cases is not a pat on the back, it is just understanding and love, not for being right but for being human.

According to the Bible, which is my guidebook for life, ‘love is patient, love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. In my opinion, this says it all and this is a perfect definition of what love truly is.

Ok, so this whole article has been about the importance and the fundamental nature of love and how it makes the world a better place but the truth is, most people only do things when there is a sure benefit not just to the society at large, but to them as an individual. So, here are some personal benefits of love. First, love gives you a certain pleasant aura, it adds a certain glow to your personality and there is nothing more attractive than a person of good character. Also, love removes all forms of stress and anxiety; it makes a person look youthful, vibrant and confident. Finally, love affects everyone around you, so you become a joy to be around and a shining light in the crowd, the one everyone admires and secretly wants to be like. I will admit that showing love is not always an easy thing but it is well worth it in the end.

In our society, love is overrated but the power of love is underrated. Love does not take as much of an effort as it seems. Love does not have to be devoting your whole day to someone or giving them a truck load of money. Love could just be a smile or a hug or a tender touch but it could do as much as save a life. So please, love a little more…

Let's have C.O.F.F.E.E

The road to success is different for anyone, the importance and the significance therefore, does not lie at the destination but in the journey. Everyone has the same or very similar destinations, but the path one chooses to take separates the weak from the strong, the bold from the timid and the gold from the wood. There are many skills and values one needs to acquire and imbibe as tools and weapons on this tricky road and it is important for one to know their desired destination in the early laps of the race. It is also very important to have the right company on their way. Company that will ensure that you have C.O.F.F.E.E every step of the way

C.O.F.F.E.E is confidence, outside of the box attitude, faith, focus, enthusiasm and excellence. C.O.F.F.E.E is very important because it is the one common denominator on the journey to success. ‘C’ stands for confidence. Norman Vincent Peale once said “Believe in you! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy”. This quote is amazing because it pretty much sums up everything one needs to know about confidence and its significance. Peale is right, true confidence is not arrogant or pompous. It is just being sure of your abilities and having the wisdom to know when and when not to speak or react. Success is all about timing, the difference between who gets the job and who doesn’t is not usually the experience they have or the education they have, it is usually their ability to sell themselves. Confidence can be defined as a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something or a feeling or belief that someone or something is good or the feeling of being certain that something will happen or that something is true. You cannot market what you do not believe, therefore, it is important that you believe in you, so that you can sell yourself in the best way and convince others you are worth their time and resources. Be confident in yourself and in your art, because for starters, you are the only you in the world and that’s an immense advantage.

The ‘O’ in C.O.F.F.E.E stands for thinking outside the box, it is the secret ingredient every successful person possesses. If people know what you are going to say next, then you lack innovation and creativity and authenticity. You also do not think outside the box because if someone knows what you are going to say next, chances are they have heard someone else say it before. Thinking outside the box involves courage and a little bit of paranoia. Courage because it involves creating ideas that will seem crazy and outrageous to everyone else, and so the motivation to move forward with it, not knowing whether it will be a smashing success or an epic disaster requires courage. A little bit of paranoia because if you keep in the back of your mind that someone may have already thought of your idea then it will push you to make your representation better than it already is and this will only improve yours. However, paying attention to the fact that only a little bit of paranoia is needed is very important. This is because if you have more than you need, it can prove to be stumbling block and an obstacle to your progress. If you have an overdose of paranoia, you will never get anything completed and your journey to success will be over before you reach your destination because you will be stuck in one place for too long. Maya Angelou once said “you can’t use up creativity, the more you use the more you have”

The first ‘F’ in C.O.F.F.E.E stands for family and friends. The relationships one has are a major determinant of their altitude on the ladder of success. This just has to do with relationships and how significant they are. The only difference between your family and your friends are that you are born to a family but you decide who your friends are. This just highlights the infinite wisdom of God because He realizes what every child he makes needs and that is what he provides that child with in the form of a family. On the other hand, God believes that you too should have a hand in your destiny therefore he gives every person the chance to pick who they want to share their life with. Hence, friends are often referred to as a person’s ‘chosen family’. Now, some people who have dysfunctional families may question God and ask Him if the family he gave to them is what they deserve. However, God is never wrong and he always has a plan. If for example, one was born to a mother who is a drug addict or a father who left them when they were really young, one may find it hard to see a bright future. Being born to parents who are not role models or a support system is incredibly difficult but it is also a vital learning experience. It may have an effect on the line of work a person decides to choose or just their personal life goals. A person with a junkie for a mother could decide to become an addiction counselor to help many people to not be like their mother. They would be especially effective because they would know first-hand the feelings of the addict and their loved ones as well and this is always the first step in helping someone who has such a problem. Understanding the way someone feels is instrumental in understanding what they do and the way they behave. Not having a father or a father-figure can be equally as destructive for both boys and girls. A boy without a father would not know how to treat a lady and how to be a leader and a girl without a father would not know how a man is supposed to treat her and as such, she would not wait for her prince charming, she would be willing to kiss any frog that comes her way.

The second ‘F’ in C.O.F.F.E.E stands for focus. Focus is defined by the dictionary (a.k.a me) as the ability to not lose sight of a goal and the willingness to do whatever needs to be done to achieve the goal. Focus is very important in life because if you have a goal then you would have the wisdom to realize whether something is contributing or taking away from the successful completion of the goal. If you did not have goals then you would not be able to tell the difference between a distraction and a good use of time and effort. Not having goals is like not having a road map or in our more technologically savvy world, a navigation system while going somewhere you have never been before. Goals are not only a road map but they help tell you if you are on the way to your destination or you are on the wrong route. Sometimes, staying focused n your goals and the destination can prove to be very difficult, so finding a mentor can prove to be very helpful. Not a friend, a mentor, there is a huge difference. A friend is an amazing companion and a person everyone needs but they are often patronizing and tell us not necessarily what we need to hear but what we want to hear because they are too afraid of hurting us. A mentor is a person who is not afraid to say the truth and tell it like it is. He or she is more concerned with the bigger goal than with one’s feelings being hurt. This is very important to have because most people have friends but only successful people have mentors. Mentors help one develop a thick skin and help one learn to cope with criticism.

The first ‘E’ in C.O.F.F.E.E stands for enthusiasm. Enthusiasm can be defined as a strong excitement about something and a strong feeling of active interest in something that you like or enjoy.  This is a very valid definition of enthusiasm because it highlights the different ingredients that are required for it. Firstly, to be enthusiastic, one has to be excited about what they are doing, if the path you take does not seem exciting, you will soon lose interest and the motivation required to continue.  Also, to be successful, one has to like what it is they are doing because if one does not like the path they take then the journey to the destination would be quite boring and when the going gets tough and one faces obstacles, they are less likely to fight through them if they actually do not have a genuine love for what they do, it is very easy to quit if you are not enjoying what you do. Also, enthusiasm pushes and encourages one to be optimistic, to see the glass “half full” not “half empty”. If one is enthusiastic about what they do, they tend to be very optimistic as well and this is important because failure is inevitable. Enthusiasm and hope is what separates the person who falls and dusts themselves off and continues the journey, and a man who falls and decides to turn back or worse just sits there and licks his wounds. An enthusiast sees failure not as a stumbling block but just any another obstacle to be crossed over. A successful person cannot be lazy because the road to success is the road less traveled, so there are many more thorns and bushes in the path. As Robert frost said “I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference”

The final letter, the last ‘E’ stands for excellence. Excellence can be defined as being of extremely high quality. Being excellent is not a choice in this society; it is just another requirement of success. It is not a choice, it is a necessity. Most people have been excellent at something at one point or another in their lives but the type of excellence that success requires is balanced and consistent. Balance is an essential part of excellence in today’s society one cannot be good at one thing at the expense of another thing. One does not get to chose what they are good at; they have to be multipurpose. Consistency is also very important because as much as a one-hit wonder is celebrated during the time when his song s still popular, the time is very short but if they make hit after hit after hit, then they can be counted as successful. The only difference between a one-hit wonder and a legend is consistency. To become a legend or an expert in a field, one has to be willing to try it over and over again after failing. The hunger and the thirst for success should be enough to motivate you to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. Being excellent does not happen overnight. Even if, you are from a musical family and it is in your genes to sing beautifully, it was passed from generation to generation and the first person who started the trend certainly put in the consistent effort needed to become great.

Finally, the road to success may seem bleak and too hard but remember that it has to be traveled to get to your destination. Instead of looking for short-cuts and easier routes, face the challenge like a warrior and come out victorious. Being successful is not about enduring the pain and suffering in sight of a greater goal, it is about turning the pain and suffering into a good experience and making the most of them. The journey to success does not have to be painful and exhausting, it can be enjoyable, filled with laughter and love and great memories. I did not say it will be easy but it is now left for you to decide whether you are going to enjoy the hardship and turn into a motivating force or dwell on it and remain stagnant. Success like everything in life is a choice; so I ask do you want to be successful?  if yes, then let’s do C.O.F.F.E.E!!

Life is just like green tea lemonade...

Ok, so this is not a Starbucks commercial…although, Starbucks should make me a shareholder because I’m pretty sure the amount of green tea lemonade I have had should be illegal. So back to the point, before you right me off, let me make my case.

From research, I have gathered that green-tea lemonade contains hot water, ice, sugar, lemon and of course, green-tea. Each ingredient has its own value and significance, its own addition to its rich blend and taste. All the ingredients are metaphors for life experiences.

Starting with the sugar, as we all know, is sweet, therefore it represents all the good experiences we have in life. Good experiences being joy and happiness and they are to be remembered and cherished especially because they are what will help one survive and make it through all the bad experiences. Next, there is hot water, which represents trouble and stressful situations. As a first-year university student, I have the tendency to dwell on such. This is a very important aspect of life because everyone finds themselves in stressful situations at one point or the other. For me, it is mostly school related but for those a bit older than I am, it could be a very heavy work load, insanely long working hours, difficult co-workers or a mean boss. Whatever they are, the significance of the situations is not the situations themselves but noticing the silver-lining and looking at each of them as learning experiences. Attitude is key element in life, it is what makes the difference, it is what gives one an edge.

The next ingredient in green-tea is lemon; it adds a sour and tangy element and quality to the whole drink. In life, these are experiences that start out wonderful but end very poorly. Therefore, this is an important lesson to learn, in that we should never take any good experience we have for granted, we should be appreciative and realize that it is a right not a privilege. There is a popular saying that goes “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”. This saying has two very significant implications, first, is the fact this saying acknowledges the fact that experiences like this are inevitable, because it says “when” not “if”. The second significance, which is more important, is the fact that it encourages us not to dwell on the disappointment but to pick up the pieces and find a way to make the best out of the situation.

Ice is one of the last ingredients to be added to the mixture. It is added to neutralize the effect of the hot water. In life, this is the calm after the storm of a stressful situation or more generally, these are the situations that make us at peace. These are the situations that we look forward to, the good grade after studying really hard, the bonus after putting in long hours in the office, the relief after paying off your mortgage. For some people, the calm is not just something they feel after a stressful situation, it is a way of life for them. For example, some people feel this calmness and tranquility from their religion. As a Christian, this is very valid for me, my religion gives me peace and it centers me, it makes me choose to feel at peace no matter what the situation is. Due to life being the way it is, not having a constant phenomenon that calms you means that you actually only get a very limited amount of time to feel at peace. Ice, even though it has a cooling, calming effect, if left too long, it can melt and end up taking away from the taste of the green tea lemonade. Metaphorically, this means that in life, if we dwell on the calm after the storm and not prepare for the next storm, we would likely be caught unawares and the next storm will be able to do more harm than it should be able too. Also, leaving the ice too long gives rise to mediocrity. For example, if a young woman realizes she wants to be promoted and she puts in the effort, and she eventually gets promoted, there is a temptation for her to rest on her oars. Resting is not a bad thing but waiting too long can result in her giving in substandard work in the end and being stagnant. Being at the beginning of the ladder and working your way up is better than being at the top and just staying there because those who work will meet up with you and continue to move up by creating new heights for themselves, while you remain stagnant and barren. This is why depending on religion for peace is a good strategy because the peace is constant, and the teachings discourage mediocrity in any area of life.

Finally, the main ingredient of green tea lemonade, which is the green tea, it is popular for its many benefits but it is also known for its very, very, very bitter taste. Green tea has a number of benefits which include; prevention of heart diseases, weight imbalances, asthma, allergies and immunity. Therefore, as a result of its numerous benefits, people are willing to overlook the horrible taste. Green tea represents bitter, horrible experiences that we go through in life. Just as people are willing to drink green tea for its benefits, therefore, as difficult as it will sometimes be, people should have this attitude towards life. This is because they are perfect as learning experiences. Bitter experiences, like green tea, protect one from making the mistake that led them there in the first place. Also, it helps one to step back and re-evaluate our choices. Having experienced something horrible, one would be less susceptible to be affected physically or emotionally by less traumatic events. If the bitter experience was inevitable, like say, the death of a loved one, it would help someone discover their inner strength. Sometimes, it helps people discover good qualities they possess, like the example of losing someone in the family, in such situations, the person who unifies everyone and emerges a leader is more often than not, not the person everyone would expect it to be.

Green tea lemonade to Starbucks is like us, human beings to God. This is because, just as Starbucks gives its customers the chance to order green tea lemonade the way they want it, God gives everyone the chance to “order” what they want out of life. Personally, I order mine with an insane amount of sugar and that’s the way I recommend everyone to have green-tea lemonade and experience life. If you do not seem to have good experiences, make them! Make every experience good, no matter how it starts out. Also, according to Starbucks’ policy if you taste the drink and it is not what you wanted, you get the chance to make changes to what you originally ordered. In life, if we make a choice we regret, we have a chance to make different choices and get the result we wanted in the first place.

Green tea lemonade is reflective of the garbage-in-garbage-out theory. It is what you order that get, therefore accountability is not a choice it is a necessity. In as much as one can return their order and get a new one, they have to go back and ask for an exchange. Therefore, going back and asking for an exchange makes one accountable for the bad decision they may have made. They cannot blame the undesirable outcome on anybody else but themselves. Starbucks serves green tea lemonade in a transparent cup of different sizes. This is reflective of the fact that how you chose to live your life is your own decision but you cannot hide your decision from anyone. The results of your choices and actions may not be visible immediately but they will be. Also, the fact that Starbucks serves green tea lemonade in cups of different sizes proves that you decide how much of life you chose to take advantage of.

Whew! Who knew that a drink would have such similar symbolic significance with life .  So I’m not going crazy, life is just like green tea lemonade.

IT’S YOUR FAULT!!!

A wise man……or woman once said “the first stage of fixing a mistake or a problem is admitting you are wrong”. This basically summarizes accountability. Accountability can be further described as the act of taking responsibility for something or someone. Accountability does not only count when the outcome of whatever one is responsible for is positive, as a matter of fact it is more important when there is a negative outcome.

Unfortunately, in our society today there is a lack of accountability, and what is worse is the fact that it begins at a very tender age. The society has deemed it acceptable to shift blame or total deny any involvement with the situation in question. A typical example is that of a child who is caught red-handed doing something wrong but still denies it. It may seem hilarious or trivial to the parents but if they don’t correct him, he would think it is acceptable behavior and he will do much worse when he is older. Nowadays, people are too comfortable in their lack of responsibility and this had enabled it to spread across all age groups and social circles.

For example, an eighteen year old in high school applies to an ivy-league university like Columbia University and he does not get accepted. Obviously he will experience a whirlwind of emotions but his first will probably be to blame his college counselor for being ineffective or the university itself for setting their requirements unreasonably high. If he was accountable, he would have blamed himself immediately because in reality, he is the only one to blame. He could have planned earlier and put a strategy in pace, he could have studied more and sacrificed some of his time with friends to research deeper into the admission process of the university amongst a million other things.

The impression in society is that once one grows up, he is automatically more accountable because he is older and hence more mature after having a few life experiences but this is far from reality. A graduate in her mid twenties who goes for an interview looking like a scruffy mess and unable to answer questions without stuttering is obviously not going to secure the job. However when she is does not get a call back, she throws a tantrum and says things like “that job was not right for me” or “I didn’t like those people anyway, they are too snobbish” or “it was just not the right time for me”. Meanwhile, she could just admit that she could have presented herself in a better way. This is a very common problem and it is probably why many people are still unemployed. Do not get me wrong, there are sometimes when the job is not right or the people are snobbish or the time is not right. However, it becomes a problem and an obstacle when people hide behind these assertions to shift blame and not take responsibility for their issues.

In Nigeria for example, when a person cannot seem to secure employment he makes plans to start a business because he has needs to meet, probably not only his. For example, a person in this situation, in his early thirties has started a business and has been running it for a couple of years. If he experiences a few bad business years, he blames the unfavorable economy or his family for putting too much pressure on him or his workers for being incompetent. He blames everyone and everything around him except himself, the obvious cause of the problem. At this age, it is really sad that a person will still lack accountability but it happens more often than you would think. It is probably because he is so used to blaming other people that it never occurs to him to take responsibility for his own problems. Even though this it is very bad if someone is still not accountable at this age, it is still not too late to start being accountable.

I am not sure I can say that for the people who are still not accountable for their actions when they are over 40. This is because if they cannot be accountable for their own actions, then the possibility of them taking responsibility for the actions of their children is very slim. By this time, they have children old enough to do wrong things. Since they themselves are still not accountable, rather than discipline their children, they will blame it on the victims, which doesn't make them witty, it just makes them look like unfit parents.

A man in his fifties who suffers from heart failure is very unlikely to blame his poor eating habits. He is most likely going to blame his “troublesome” wife for nagging him up to the point that he suffers heart failure. This is a pity because most times, it ends up being the wife’s fault, whether it is because she nags a lot or the food she is preparing for him is unhealthy. It is unfortunate for the man because if he has a son, he will grow up and treat his wife the same way. Worse still, if he has a daughter, she will think it is acceptable to be treated that way. 

As a Christian, the story of accountability that comes to mind is the parable of the talents. In the Bible, Jesus told the parable of the talents where he summoned three men, he gave one five, the second own two and the last one talent. After a period of time, he summoned the three men again to give accounts to him of what they had done with their talents. The first and second men had used their talents effectively, so they were given double of what they already had but the last man buried his own talent, so it was taken from him and he was punished accordingly.

We need to start taking responsibility for our actions and what happens in our lives. After all our lives are our own and no one else has power to control it, except of course we give it to them. So the next time something unpleasant happens to you, PAUSE….and reflect before blaming someone else because chances are …. IT’S YOUR FAULT!!!!!

Green tea lemonade: Hi,I'm new at this so its not going to be perfect...

Green tea lemonade: Hi,
I'm new at this so its not going to be perfect...: Hi, I'm new at this so its not going to be perfect for a while but I'd try. I just want a chance to be brutally honest and speak my mind.

Hi,
I'm new at this so its not going to be perfect for a while but I'd try. I'm not hoping to make a career out of this, I just wanted an outlet. So, here it is, brutally honest me!