6 life lessons 'Exodus: God's and Kings' taught me.

Let me just start by explaining how much I LOVED  director Ridley Scott's Exodus. 

Movie poster

The film is the story and built mostly factually on the Bible's story of Moses. The story follows Moses from Egypt to the desert and all the way back to Pharaoh and then crossing the red sea. 

I learnt so many things from this movie. As I say a lot, there are so many things we can learn about ourselves and others from the movies. As you know by now, when I'm moved by a character or movie I HAVE to find out more...

Lessons: 

1. Bible characters are so human. As a church kid, I learnt about Moses the great leader of Israel, He was brave and rescued the people and of course they skipped through the red-sea. No ounce of pain, no insecurity, no frustrations. Can you imagine how Moses must have felt watching the place and people he came from suffering? I don't think He found it easy. They might come from the Bible but God's Holy book is full of all kinds of people who were just like you and me- living the human experience. 
2. Leaders are insecure too! we have a tendency to believe that our leaders are above the laws, like above feeling what me and you feel. The guy who gave Ramases a physical form - Joel Edgerton- said a great point about leaders having deep insecurities. There was a scene where Ramses is crowned as the new Pharaoh and He looks like unsure of himself, like someone is going to notice He is a phony anytime soon. Turns out that what Joel thought too! In another scene Ramases yells "I AM A GOD" like He is trying to convince himself (fun fact: Joel adlibbed that!!) interesting that a man who was worshipped as a God couldn't sleep himself and was a insecure wreck. 
3. The right things have the right time. I grapple with this idea of the right time for something, but its true. Moses tries to come back to Egypt and fight in his own strength and his own way. Ramases then just ups his game too, and more life is lost. When Moses waits for God to move and then moves when God moves in cohesion the result is different. Things have their time, and sometimes we have trust in the journey, the timing and the process. This taught me so much about my dreams, sometimes I think they're not happening fast enough, then I remember that I'm probably not ready or have all the skills to do the task adequately yet. 
4. I have a firmer idea of what how the red sea was crossed than I thought.  Okay, so confession time; The Prince of Egypt (dreamworks) animated musical film is one of my favroite films of all time. In the animation, the red sea is crossed by the water going to the sides- as though you're walking through a aquarium. It never states in the Bible what happened so this could've, that also means its possible that the sea just disapeared in the form of tide out- like in the Ridley Scott film. I was so confused as to why in Exodus: Gods and Kings, the people were walking on what looked like a desert floor. 
5. Its not easy to see someone you love suffer regardless of whether they are right or wrong. One scene I can't get out of my brain, is when Moses and his group meet Ramses and the Egyptian guards and Egyptians and Rameses has his child who is longer alive in his arms. Moses looks broken, thats His nephew. That man would've felt so so sad for his brother, it would've being hard to see someone you love suffer- even if you've warned them that its going to happen if they don't stop what they are doing. 
6. Knowing you're loved makes you sleep peacefully.  Hats off to the person who noticed Ramses in Exodus said the same line as Commodus in Gladiator? Both men, in both films looked at a sleeping child and said "you sleep so well because you know you are loved. Both characters said it completely differently, but focusing on Rameses He can't sleep- He watches him child sleep (before He is no longer alive). He is worried and concerned. Ramases didn't know He was loved, he felt his Dad loved Moses more than Him. It affects a person knowing their loved. 

Girls, this drawn on brow only looks good on a Pharaoh's eyebrows. Not everyday girls. 

'The Riot Club' is terrifyingly accurate.

'The Riot Club' it is fictitious take on the 'Bullingdon club'...

It follows a group of lads who are at the 'top table' of Oxford the absolute elite. They can do what they want, with who they want, how they want. They have no responsibilities in life, they have money to pay their way out of it. 

When you watch the film, there is an unease about it. Its a great film, but not easy to watch... you sit and think to yourself "gosh, there is something so real about that!" it doesn't feel a fake story but real events. In once scene, they beat a poor working man within an inch of his life and then the guy responsible gets a fancy lawyer- pays his way out- and then gets an internship in a politician's office (he will go straight through into being an MP most probably) after being kicked out of Oxford for nearly committing MURDER. 

Some people get away with things scott free and others get all the blame. 

The Bullingdon club, is a famous club in Oxford for its debauchery and elitist ideals. It once had as a member: David Cameron  ( current Prime Minister), Boris Johnson (Mayer of London), George Osborne (chancellor of the Exchequer) and Nick Clegg (Lib Dem leader)... Yes, you do recognise those names because they are English politicians. Awkward. 

The system we have in England is a problem. We have a class problem, we have to actually admit it. However, the biggest issue I've found is the disillusionment. You're a politician, person for the people. NOT for yourself.  Where is the empathy and understanding of another person's life... why are selfless politicians. The 2015 election is the only one on record where all is to play for, because of how reckless and untrustworthy politicians have become. WE voted for you!! So LISTEN to us. 

The film reflects the current political situation: its not working. 

Our politics can be so ignorant at times. They are not working, they are not understanding or sympathetic. 

Until we are willing to get some empathy and listen to each other, we are going no further. Unless you understand the life of another person or try to understand their lives, you can't stand and govern them. You don't have to live the same way, you can be rich and they poor- but you absolutely need to understand their trials and battles in life before telling them what their lives are going to look like. 

The Riot Club helped me understand how accurate the gap and lack of understanding between the rich and poor is. 

Celebrity and Royalty.

I think celebrity is some form of modern Royalty- Joel Edgerton. 

I love watching real interviews, not the crappy Hollywood trash where someone says some mediocre rubbish and gets praise for stating the obvious.  Real, honest and good conversations that are utterly thoughtful. Those kinds are the greatest kinds. 

I watched Joel Edgerton (Actor, writer...etc etc) and his brother Nash (stunt man, director...etc etc) on '60 minutes' an Australian TV show. However, as I'm a Brit living in good ol' England I couldn't watch the real thing just a few snippets on YouTube. 

After watching 'Exodus: God's and King's' directed by Ridley Scott, I was stuck by Ramases and Joel's portrayal because it truley challenged me and my perceptions of Kings and being at the top table. Ramases was so arrogant yet at the same time so so so insecure. When I'm challenged like that, reading interviews and watching video's is the way forward because a curiosity bites and questions rage; How did I just feel compassion for a raging lunatic? That was believable why? WOW, I never considered how Moses would've felt and Ramases! endlessly searching, I began looking. 

Wow. 

Joel Edgerton is a bit intelligent. He hates celebrity (ME TOO!!!), He hates the whole fame thing and just wants to act and get on with life. Great, I want you to answer my questions, challenge me and then I can get on with my life. AHH. We see eye to eye! I really respect him for being a talented believable actor but I don't have the same respect for the A-listers actor & celebrity people/things/objects. Celebrity is the modern day royalty- hmm, great idea. 

For a while, I've had a thought; America's celebrity is the British equivalent of Royalty. We already have a system of class, the Queen...then everyone else. They don't. America don't so they make one, think about it. Celebrity is not AS big a phenomenon in England as it is America. I quoted Edgerton because I felt He put it better than me, but what a thought to ponder on. 

Has society ever moved on, or just morphed with the same problem- just now clothed differently? 

We've made Prince Harry into a celebrity, putting his daily musings in the newspapers. We never did that with the Queen or even with Charles- only when it was newsworthy- not now when Harry eats Nando's does it go in the news. This is celebrity. There is a mix, the reaction we give to celebrity would've being that they gave the Queen's coronation. The hysteria, the phenomenon, the obsession, the tea towels back then or now the t-shirts. Its all muddled, muddy and blurred lines. 

Thanks to Joel Edgerton for not talking crap. Appreciate it mate. 

What 2014 taught me...

This year I learnt...

1. I'm more capable that I think! I currently have a placement for 15 hrs per week, a full time degree, a Job and a somewhat of a social life. 
2. I'm stronger than I think! The things I've seen this year I never knew I could deal with but I can. 
3. I can be stylish and look good. I just gotta put in some effort.
4. I am a geek and I totally own that. I LOVE READING!!
5. I really like eating cheese. 

What did you learn this year?

Respect the Platform.

Social Media is a platform. Use it wisely. 

A place to express what you feel and think, your love or hatred for something. Take Youtube, It has launched the likes of Michelle Phan, NigaHiga and Jefferson Bethke's into the public domein. 

NigaHiga

Ryan Higa is a guy who used his loneliness and his Attention Deficit Disorder and again channelled it into something good. He is entertaining does ironic humorous video's poking fun at life situations; such as his serious of reality of situations vs. what we are lead to believe. He speaks about things that bother him with humour, about relationships  and He spoofs Movies. He uses his platform for good! to talk about something that matters. He uses humour to challenge racism. 

Photo: Ryan Higa

Photo cred: Jen Galaze

Photo cred: mashable.com

Michelle Phan

Michelle Phan is the makeup artist who works with Lancome, has her own brand with L'Oreal called 'EM: cosmetics'. She makes videos with millions of views with the hopes of colliding her love or art and makeup together. She wants to make a women feel her most beautiful and just be creative- How beautiful?! She is using her voice to talk about issues effective young people and all people: Self-esteem, self-worth and insecurity. Why do her video's draw attention? she is socially relevent and speaks about a matter that touches your soul. 

Jefferson Bethke

Now, Jefferson Bethke- a person hero of mine- made one YouTube video that went viral. About Jesus...what? Yeah, he shared His amazing beliefs and faith with the world in a video called 'I love Jesus but hate religion' He challenged religiousness and spoke straight to the heart of a generation of people who wanted to see real authenticity real change and wanted the real Jesus now some weird perfect man but someone who understood them. Jeff started in America first with its impact then globally He started A big discussion.... what was religion? who is Jesus? Why are is there social injustice if the Church is so big? 

He spoke about something that mattered and ended up writing a book about it too, he travels, makes YouTube video's, has a beautiful Wife- who is one of the prettiest people on the planet in my opinion- and is now a Dad. He uses His platform to discuss to be open to questions. 

Social Media is a platform to discuss to talk about things, use it wisely, think about what you are posting. In current events, China is having a protest formed by young people; how? Social Media spread the word. When London was rioting, Blackberry server got taken down; why? because Social media spread the word. It is important that you really realise that you have a power in using social media and respect it. I'm not saying start being the next Mandela, I'm saying respect the platform. 

Matthew Hussey taught be more than how to 'Get the guy'.

Photo: google

So.  Lets talk Matthew Hussey- the love life and human dynamics expert. 

This guy has written a book called 'Get the guy' educating women on the male mind and all about attraction and interaction between men and women. ON the surface, it appears that He is just teaching you how to get that hot guy and how to talk to the guy you fancy; now he is actually doing this but when you look a little deeper you see something else... 

First; let me tell you how I was introduced to Matthew... 

I had a situation where I couldn't tell if a man fancied me or not. I am hopeless at telling if a man actually fancies me- if a man confessed undying love for me I'd think he was being kind and polite- So I was naive would be subtly saying it. I'm scared of falling in love because I'm a passionate and committed person- if I'm in, I'm in! That terrify's me and I suppose I didn't have any self belief that I was worth it- why would a man like me? I went searching for answers and I found them; Matthew then helped me build on them.  (As Matthew explains, you have to be a 'rare gemstone' to Him- for him to want you in his life- but to be that you have to believe you are worth a great deal and are a rare gem.) 

So I needed educating and I googled it- as with everything in life google solves it! and his website came up. I spent hours reading his material, listening to his podcasts and watching his YouTube videos. This guy was good, he was intriguing. He could occupy my thoughts and stimulate my mind- most love life experts are boring and not really honest and don't give me the answer I want- the truthful one! This guy was honest and down-to-earth. He made me see some ways I'd being getting it wrong, for starters I tell a man I feel safe with him thinking its a compliment not realizing I'm drawing him in. In my female brain, its just a compliment its not a sign I like him! I also want to sort out every argument there and then, men retract and then come back when they've thought about what they're going to say, so I freak men out by coming across intense at times. I loved all this new learning and because of it I've got a bad habit of sleeping at 3am! I blame Matthew for his content... or myself for reading it at bedtime. I also realized my power as a women! Ladies, never underestimate your power! You are enough and you are beautiful. When I fixed these things my love life altered, I'm still single and I've never had a boyfriend but I'm more open.  

Then I noticed something different; when you take away talking about attraction you find at his core Matthew is educating you about the way people function. The way men think and women think, He is helping bring unity among st the sexes by doing what many men DON'T do- explaining. Simply explaining, taking the time to calmly explain. He'd say make me see how to calmly explain my point, He'd make see how to change the 'there is no men!!' mindset and how to not be scared of falling in love. He was actually interested in what I'm interested in and love- human dynamics. I love people watching on a bench- in a non-stalker manner- the way people interact is interesting and how it culture differences and male/female dynamics effect it. 

The thing I've realized, that everything has a root problem. For example, your problem with your love life and pushing men away may be at its root a fear of rejection- deal with that and the problem of pushing men away will be easily fixed. I've noticed how to talk to people, believe in what I say. 

Most importantly I felt convinced that my character was acceptable... 

I'll let you into a not so secret secret- I'm a massive geek. I love politics, history, world affairs, culture and human dynamics and religion! I have passion, I'm training to be a youth worker- I love working with young people, I'm not afraid to live my passion - okay I won't be a millionaire from helping young people- but I come alive mentoring and in a room full of youngsters!  being passionate is a good quality. I don't just casually stroll through life, I'm a total geek and I own that geekness. I love going out and relaxing but not every weekend and that okay. I used to think, "gosh I'm not the norm- I don't live for the next iphone, I don't really like small talk and my sole purpose in life is not to party it away- I'm boring!" This isn't true, I have interesting stories and interesting places that I've being. 

If you read his material, watch his Youtube videos or listen to his podcasts- look deeper next time. Underneath explaining attraction, what else can you learn? At our core we're all looking for love and acceptance. That's the thing with human dynamics, how we get there is different but we are all the same. Matthew explains, its not all about looks! sure, a man is physical but then after you've got him you have to keep him with your personality. That was interesting for me!

Lean how to be you. You can't keep a man or anyone if you can't be yourself... This is an important life lesson that you'll learn from watching him. 

If we we're all ourselves then okay, dating would be scary crazy but if we got more confident and believed in yourself if we came across rejection we'd be downcast but not destroyed- there is a massive difference. Focus on being the right person, if you wanna meet the right person. Focus on building your confidence you you can go anywhere. Rather than going anywhere in hopes to find it in a man, build your foundation of confidence by knowing what love really is and the truth then go and find your guy! This is what I've learnt watching and listening to Matthew. 

He really is more of an educator of life than just a love guru and dynamics coach. 

My hair changed and I feel different!

Photo: me

So this is my new hair.

 It was a chestnut brown but now has many highlights. Now I've never being a girl  who was bothered about changing her hair color but the opportunity to be a hair model arose and I took the plunge. I hated the idea of a dramatic change but wanted something new. So the excitement overtook the fear! 

I never realized how much a hair change can alter how you look or feel. I felt so daring and adventurous, my hair doesn't grow fast so if it looked terrible it would be like this for the next year!

I noticed in human nature people treat you differently, this picture above got 40+ likes on facebook and plenty of comments which I found very interesting, not because it was nice to get a compliment but because hair effects so much of our lives. We spend time effort and energy and money on it! the hair industry is a billion pound industry.

Not many people touch your hair! Your other half, close family and friends but that it is! You wouldn't touch a strangers hair!? or someone you just met. There is something in it that effects the way we think and I have no idea why... but I'm going to figure it out- hopefully!