the romantic era in history

so lately in class, we have been exploring the romantic era - mainly poetry - throughout history. english being my major, it is no wonder i have fallen completely head over heals in love with this period in time.

if you take a look at the breakdown of the romantic era, it it no wonder why it has swept me off my feet. originating in the second half of the 18th century (1780 to 1850 to be exact), the romantic era, which followed a period of strict laws, structure and physics, focused on the simplicity and beauty of nature, the world and emotions. emotions and the focus on the self was a huge part of the romantic era. the romantics opposed war, and the very nature of idustrial society. they believed that such society robbed individuals of their ability to think freely and be unique in thought. the romantic era saw the likes of william blake, william wordsworth, mary shelly, john keats, to name just a few. the facination with emotions can clearly be seen in blakes poem, entitled "london" (see below) blake is concerned with the way in which moral thinking, and the human mind has been influenced and corrupted by society’s power over what people are allowed to think and believe.

I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry
Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

blake is concerned about the way in which the human minds are influnced and inhibited to think freely, due to societies influence over the individuals thought. a classical example of what romantic poets were concerned with during this time - they were speaking out against this lack of freedom of thought, and rather encouraging individuality.

which is why i love this era so much. if you look at todays world, not much has changed. everyday, we allow society, the media to tell us what is beautiful and what is acceptable. everyday we allow them to have control over our thoughts and ultimately our happiness. i believe, as i have said before, that we are the only ones who have control over what we think and believe. no one has the ability to climb inside your mind and think for you. society and the media are just there to make you feel worse about yourself, and encourage you to buy some fake-ass product that will make you feel 'prettier', 'happier', 'thinner', blah blah blah - its rubbish. you as an individual are beautiful beyond words. there is no one else in the world who has your thoughts, your intellect and your beauty.

love yourself, appreciate your individuality and marvel at your entire being. you are gorgeous and that alone should make you happy.

happiness is key to life, remember - don't allow anyone to take that away from you.

stress. what i have learnt (or have yet to learn) and how it affects our happiness.

so here is the thing.

in my life, i find myself in situations where i subconsciously, or consciously (who knows) exposing myself to large doses of stress. for someone who tries to fill their life with all that is simple, refreshing and soul-rewarding, stress seems to be a contradicting factor in my outlook on life. it seems as though it is conflicting, if not, the very opposite of my quest for complete happiness. however, strangley enough i have discovered the link between the two to be a lot stronger than one would have imagined it to be.

when given an assignment to do, or a task to complete, i will be the first person to not stress about it. in fact, the opposite is done. i don't even think about it at all, let alone worry about it. it is simply shoved to the back of my mind, not to be thought about until the utmost last minute when it needs to be. now one may think, surely if i deal with the task at hand, i will reduced the chance of becoming stressed out later, when i am desparately trying to finish it at the last minute. i must say, that does seems logical, and is probably correct, but does not work for me unfortunately.

see i live. i live and live and remain stress free until the moment where procrastination is no longer an option, and crunch time has hit. stress levels rise, and i find myself being thrown into a mount of work i had no time to stop and think about prior to this 'freak-out' stage. but here is the thing. i ALWAYS, without fail, get it done. and that feeling that is felt once you hit print, once you staple the pages together, once you gently slide that neatly composed document into the assignment box, a sense of euphoria is felt - like a huge weight has been lifted and the world looks and feels brighter and more positive than you have ever felt it to be.

so yes, i am an emotional junkie. i crave the extremes, happiness being my drug i will do anything to experience it at a higher level than before. and some my think it is super unhealthy, i however, feel it is necessary for me to live. for why live a life of mediocracy? simply doing everything on time, no stress, and a plain, old boring lie on monotomous emotion. i couldn't live like that. for every high there is a low. sometimes we need to hit a low in our lives, in order to remember how to appreciate those highs - to experience them like we are for the first time in our lives. that could not be possible, if we never experience a low. this goes for all things in life, i am not only speaking of the stress we encounter before a big assignment, exam or meeting. i am speaking about life in general. and life is a journey. happiness is a gift, something that should never be taken for granted. and i, i wish to experience it at an optimal level, every opportunity i get.

so yes, i am a procrastinator, a lover of the thrill of pressure and anxiety, i thrive off of it. and only when someone can say they have experienced the happiness and euphoria which follows, will truly be able to understand what i mean.

so stress is a good thing - it results in a happiness like no other. everything in life balances out. it always has, and no matter your situation - always will.

in life there are givers and receivers.

these past few weeks especially have really taught me something about life.

in life, there are those people who give, give of themselves, their thoughts, their emotions, their life stories and advice to others. then there are those people who are the recievers of these things. and sadly, one is generally one and not the other. either someone who gives, and never recieves, or someone who recieves and never gives. but its funny how the latter person will never admit to being who they are. it is then ever the more reason for those of us who fall 'victim' to the first characteristic, to step out and voice how we feel.

i am not sure about how you feel on this matter but i hav found myself in a place where i am constantly giving. giving advice, giving my ear for people to talk to me, my shoulder for some to cry on, my hand for those few to hold and most importantly, my time for people to occupy. this has served to be the most taxing on me.

its funny how for the period when people need you the most you become everything that they need. you're thoughts are occupied with their stories, your heart feels heavy and even breaks when theirs does, you put everything on hold when they need to talk to you. assignments are left unwritten until the last night, jobs are turned down, your own relationships suffer because you feel too consumed and emotionally drained by someone elses problems, that when it comes to your own, you simply cant deal. WHY DO WE DO THIS TO OURSELVES?

then, once their problems are fixed, and they are standing on top of their little world again, you become an after thought, you take the backseat. gosh, sometimes you are even kicked out of the car completely.
these kinds of people will always find their way into your life. and sometimes, thats ok. they strengthen you.

we need to look after our own wellbeing. we need to included givers into our lives as well. for we as givers, have far much more of a chance of finding more givers like ourselves, and having a balanced life, than those takers.

and when you find someone who can share this load with you, someone who you give so much to, and they give so much more back, and the cycle continues forever, then you know. you know that you have found someone worth fighting for. someone who your sacrifices are going to mean something to. this person in my life. he knows who he is. i love you in a way far greater than words could ever define.

what i have learnt about happiness

certain recent events have led me to wondering what it is that truly makes one happy, and how much we are willing to sacrifice in order to be happy.

someone very close to me, whom i love has recently found themselves in a situation where they need to choose between temporary loneliness for the chance when happiness will ultimately follow indefinately. or a life filled with patterns of heartache loneliness and anxiety, followed by moments of happiness, love and belonging. for me the answer seems so clear. rather remove yourself from a unstable environment where happiness is fickle and heartache is unavoidable and suffer a few months of sadness then live a life of roller coaset emotions. i am sad to announce this person has chosen the latter. they are willing to sacrifice their happiness for those fickle moments of love with this specific other.

now being in a long term relationship of nearly four years, i understand what it is like to feel as though you have given everything to someone and leaving them seems impossible. but i don't believe i would stay if i knew my happiness was going to be in someone else's control for the rest of my life. it is my happiness, ultimately my sanity, i want control of it.

which brings me to this. our happiness should be in our own hands. no one else has the ability to climb inside of our minds and control what we think. if something makes you sad, makes you anxious or feel worthless - get rid of it! yeah. if only it were that simple you might think. well it is. life is way too short to allow ourselves to be controlled by another.

happiness is sanity. and sanity is what we need in order to have a shot of happiness. happiness is what we need to get through this life. and life. it is what we need in order to live.

quotes that make one think a little.

there is nothing like a wonderful, insightful quote from a former or currently famous figure. these are some that make me think twice, and have me wanting to change the way i apply my mind to life.

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

- Groucho Marx


Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

- Abraham Lincoln

Happiness, it seems to me, consists of two things: first, in being where you belong, and second -- and best -- in comfortably going through everyday life, that is, having had a good night's sleep and not being hurt by new shoes.

- Theodor Fontane