Am the Star that I want to be

Am the star that shines in the sky,

When the nights are dark I brighten the way.

Am the star that wishes to grow,

That's why am able to grant your wishes each time you believe in your biggest dream.

Stars are big, some are small, either way you are who you are by the amount of life you want to reach.

By touching lives, your as special as you think.


Just back to writing, its been a while. Damn how i missed the space!

We don’t know their stories

Vinolia Mashego drum.co.za

Amy Winehouse

I thought that while growing up, we used to watched a lot of fairy tales while growing up and they all had the conclusion that life ends with a happily ever after slogan.

We realise when we much older, that it is a made believe fantasy. While reality is a total contradiction and very often more hush then what is portrayed in fairy tales, because we get to live the experience. No one writes our lives for us because it is not a movie nor is it a book, it has no director or script writer who plans out the next scene or the next chapter in the book. For a lot of celebrities this seems to be the opposite, because the media portrays celebrities life as role models, but are waiting to report on any thing wrong they do. Life is a sheer experience filled laughter, tears, hardships, achievements, joy, fear and everything else that which comes with our day to day living and it happens to the best of us, forcing celebrities to be more responsible with what they do in public or in private.

Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston and Vinolia Mashego are some of the celebrities who were in tabloid media, because of their drug abuse addiction which led to Amy and Whitney’s death and allegedly Vinolia’s financial difficulty. In a documentary on Vinolia’s life on SABC in January she mentioned that she turned to drugs because it made her feel good about certain issues and pressures in her life. Thus one thing led to another and eventually she had lost everything, read more where they talked and commented on how she got in the situation that she is. When I read the article and the comments I felt that it was based on ignorance with no relevant facts of what is being said about her experience and with no evidence, but rather based on what the writer heard. I would like you to follow the link to read it and see readers misunderstanding of the concept ‘Networking’ and the comparisons of celebrities who are not in the same stages of the entertainment or financial stability as it is more than decades ago.  Normal individuals every day people go through the same issues, such as stress, depression, anxiety and other pressures of life leading others to fall into situations like drug and alcohol abuse, financial strain or eating disorders. The only difference is the celebrities’ lives are given more public attention by the media and normal individuals don’t get as much public attention because it is in a much smaller context.  It made me think do we really know celebrities or do we think we know half their story.

Celebrities are humans just like each one of us, why do we treat them differently, do we writing their lives just like script writes or directors. How do we contribute to what they do?

Early detection of breast cancer

If breast cancer is detected early , there a more treatment options and a beter survival chance.

One out of 29 women in South Africa will be diagnosed with breast cancer examine your breasts regularly and go for a mammogram (a special x-ray to detect lumps in the breast).There is very little media attention regarding the awareness and education of self-examination. Most of these awareness campaigns are created by Non Profit Organisations (NPO's) and charities, however if we get the media to participate in the Pink Ocktober, these NPO's and charities would be educating and informing citizens am a large scale. The media is doing what they can to promote this campaign but more will be better.

Clinical breast examinations are available at  CANSA's mobile health units and care centres country wide. According to CANSA Brease Self- Examination (BSE) should be done one a month during ovulation. They also included that you should know how your breast normally look and feel, many women have a pattern of lumpiness in their breast which can be normal.


They give  you instructions on HOW TO DO A BREAST SELF-EXAMINATION IN 3 EASY STEPS read more....

1. In the mirror



In front of a mirror, check for any changes in the normal look amd feel of your breast,

such as dimpling, size difference and nipple discharge.

 

2. Lying Down



Lie on your back with a pillow under your rigth shoulder and your right hand under your

head. with the four fingers if your left hand make small circular motions, follow an up and down pattern over your entire breast.

3. While bathing


With your arm raised, check your right breast with a soapy left hand and fingers flat using the method described under step number 2 "Lying down"  and repeat on the left side.

 

 

I have examined myself, have you?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pink for October



www.motivatorscompanyblog.com



 



www.suziehumphreys.com



 

 

 

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer in women and the second-leading cause of death in women. 







 

October is nationally recognized as Breast Cancer Awareness month and for many, this means it is time to get involved and fight for a cure. Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) is an annual international health campaign organised by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.

 

The campaign includes information and support to those affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer does not discriminate, women need to know that it is important to get screened,”  says Mary-Kathryn Walker, associate director of communications and marketing for the Mid-South Division of the American Cancer Society .

 

Am all for figthing breast cancer and pracitipate in various campaigns around the awareness and celebration of survivers, where it is to create awareness or celebrating surivers. A few years ago I went for a screening just to make sure am on the save side, after I found a lump on my right breast. I felt the need to do so, because it is beter to treat the cause early, because ultimately there is still no cure for this deardfull disease. My initial problem with this campaign it that it is ONLY LIMITED to a single month out of twelve to create awareness about a disease where over 3,450 women in Alabama are diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, and over 710 will die from the disease, according to Mary-Kathryn Walker. At the time I went for the screening, I read on a pamphelt at Helen Josphes Hospital that the diagnosis had dropped from to age of 35 to the ages under 25, the media should create more awareness regarding the breast cancer because many women die from this disease because it is not detected early.

 

Breast Cancer:

 

1 in 29 women in South Africa will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Many breast lumps are harmless, but they should all be checked. It is important to examine your breasts regularly and if you are over 40, to go for a mammogram (a special x-ray to detect lumps in the breast). Read more about the Donna Glove Breast Lump Detector.
 
 
Symptoms include the folowing: 

• Difference in size breasts |
• Lumps 
• Unusual swellings 
• Puckering of the skin |
• Sores 
• Pain 
•  Discharges

If you have these symptoms go to a health professional without delay.

Women in power

Women in power (source Longwood Blogs)

Women in power,am not writing this post on the basis of women’s month, my previous post was about the celebration of women’s month and why it is celebrated. I would like to tackle on the issue of success and purpose. Women need to position themselves in their industry of choice or field of expertise. People think, act and communicate in the same way, but how you do it, sets you apart from the rest. Thus women should do what they love, which will automatically give them an advantage over man as they are women’s competitors and prove that they are all talk and no game. Besides men being female’s competitors, we need to fight to leave a legacy for those who still need to follow behind us.

The road to success is not an easy one and it will never be, because there aren't short cuts in life, it is filled with hardships and too often pain. We all want something in life, some want something out of life. Regardless of want we want we have to work hard and some would say work smart. The main reason for this would be, because a lot of men believe women shouldn’t be in power, and their reason for this is never valid. Their reasoning are mere opinions and it’s really fortunate that those opinion can be opposed by proving a point. Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton made their way up the presidential polls, even thou they have not been successful but they have surely left their mark to prove their capabilities and it is not impossible read more.

Driven by purpose

This is known to be quiche statement, but there’s more to it than meets the eye .The road to success that you are on, can be the worst time of your life, we randomly believe in the saying "After dusk comes dawn" because, our minds are clouded with negativity and yes so many issues which are obstacles to success. The question would be who am i to be talking about purpose and women in power? Well am not famous philosopher, or an expert in business or any form of trade, but i believe what you believe and this is the simple prove of why i write what i write. A purpose is a reason for assurance, in doing what you love and doing it with passion.  

Don't be discouraged, your time of healing will come, your time of sorrow will pass, your achievements will be reached and your satisfaction will be filled. Just hold on a little longer, be stronger for that time is almost closer. Women are busy making moves and doing what they love.

The celebration of women’s month

Why women’s month is celebrated?

I would like to give a little more inside to the history of Women’s role in society. Traditionally women where ignored because their lives were dedicated to their homes and family and they were subjects that historians have not considered to be important. Recent interpretations of history focus more on the contributions of women—contributions that are often very different from those made by men, but still integral to understanding our past. This new focus provides us with a view of history that is more inclusive thus this is why the celebration of South Africa’s women month was initiated

South Africa's women's month:

Women workers strike in 1912, Source EarthSky

South Africa's women's month this year (August 2012), takes a look at the rich feminist struggle history and gives space to remembering the contribution of some of the anti-apartheid women activists. There are many un-acknowledged and undocumented women who fought against the apartheid regime and for women's rights issues said the African Gender Institution (AGI).

The AGI also acknowledges how far South Africa has come since the first democratic elections and how much women have contributed to this. However, there are many struggles still being fought. Violence against women and girls is a pandemic;   lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender and intersexed people face horrific abuse and often murder from homophobic and patriarchal elements; funding is hard to find and the government, local and national, is not responding. Brave women are confronting these multiple violence’s at huge risk to their own safety.

The basis of the celebration of women’s rights is focus “Women’s Education—Women’s Empowerment,” honours pioneering teachers and advocates who helped women and other groups gain access to advanced learning according to http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history-month.

Women should position themselves better in society:

I truly think and feel this is a very fair chance for women to use these rights in order to up lift themselves because many of us have right and can use them to better our position in society. Thus being equal to men in the work place and share our place in the kitchen because home and family is not only the dedication of women but of both sexes. When I was little I never understood why my mother want to be so independent and  yet never neglected her family because she would go to work and we would still sleep in clean sheets and have a healthy mean. She never got the education she wanted, but she empower herself by taking short courses here and there and earned her respect from my father because he saw her as his better half not the one that has to kneel to him because we are from a culturally based household and so are many South Africans.

I have a dream, and my dream is to be educated, empowered and to help others access what I have. I don’t want to be equal to men however I would like them to respect me the same way they would respect a men in the same position as they are. This is not because it’s my responsibility to take care of our families but because times have changed thus our roles have been adjusted. 

With or Without

Anyone can look good on Photoshop.

Doves had an awareness campaign in 2006 with the aim at making young women aware about the truth of  images that are portrayed in Media. The main message of this campaign was to show young women what is done to the images, in terms of the twiggs and changes that are done on Billboard models using photoshop. Wikipedia defines Photoshop as a graphic editing programme that edits, organise, restore, crop and slice images, pictures, drawings, and logo's. Ideally this changes how things actually look, I wanted to specifically focus on how we view beauty.

 

What is beauty?  

Beauty is the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, this is how Dictionary.com defines beauty.

However, how do you define beauty, my Media Lecturer shared the Doves video in class with us,  I went and looked at it again. The video made me question why is it that we know that most images and people on television, magazines and Billboards are photoshoped but we still continue aspiring be to like that people portrayed in these mediums? The definition says that beauty is a quality in a person that gives intense pleasure or deep satifaction to the mind. Does this mean that we find satisfaction in the images we see in these mediums, is that why we continue to aspire to be like the portrayed models, and this is what leads to the satisfaction of our beauty. I was told that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I have learned to love and appreciate myself they way I am, even though I wish to like a bit different or should i say a little prettier. It doesn't mean you should change yourself into someone who is not real, even if the person in the magazine know that that's not how they really look.

Beauty should be seen as something that you live in content with, and let letting someone else define haw you should look. Love, live and admire your beauty.