A whole bunch of updates

I need to meet some new people. I seem to be talking to the same two or three people all the time- not that it's a bad thing- I love those people. But the less people that you expose yourself to, the less you remember that everyone is different, the more judgmental you become (or seem). The more that happens, the stronger your bubble grows. And you eventually spiral into a socially awkward mess. Socially awkward people can be cute, but they can also be uncomfortably... awkward. So yeah, I need some fresh faces in my life. The problem with being twenty-two is that you already know so many people that you should be spending time with but can't find the time to spend time with. Uni, work, family, uni, uni,  the internet - they all guilt trip you into thinking that you don't have enough time for them, so how on earth will you ever have time for newness?

I recently remembered how much I used to love public speaking in high school. I liked it because you could say some words, which, if they were different enough, or relateable enough, and spoken with the right kinda emotions - could change someone else's perspective, even if it's in a very tiny way. I have an opportunity to speak for sixty seconds about a pretty interesting topic, on Monday. I am really looking forward to it - I haven't spoken about something silly in front of an audience for a very long time!

We Skyped with nanu today. Her Skype sound wasn't working properly, so we had to speak on the phone simultaneously. Nanu is one of the most real person I've ever come across. She doesn't have a pretentious bone in her body, which is why I don't feel the need of filling up silent moments with her. I can just look at her face and keep quite, and know that she will talk if she has something in her mind, otherwise, she will just sit there and look back too. She always asks me where I am with my uni degree. It's always the same answer, but she seems okay with that. She takes everything matter-of-factly. She doesn't really talk about dreams, and I love that. I love the fact that she is an eighty-three year old woman who has learnt so much from life that she knows that worldly dreams can be crushed so bad that they are often irrelevant. I hate it when I come across adults who learn nothing from life.

My sister recommended a book to me - Organised for Life. It's for people who were not born organised, but want to reform themselves - ie: not my mother, but me. I can live with a decent level of mess I suppose (another one of my numerous qualities that is socially seen as something guys would have)... but I also suppose life becomes easier if you learn to live without it. I don't see myself turning into a clean freak who can't see a speck of dust on her furniture any time soon, but I can see the difference in my room already. One of the tips the author gave was to clean for 15 mins per day. So, I've started that yesterday - I set a 15-min-timer and start cleaning - and yes, it's working. :) (I know.. too early to tell.. but why so negative?!)

One of my friends dubbed me as 'Emma' last year - for my great enthusiasm in pairing people up, providing couples counselling and other Emma kinda stuff. I was talking to TA about this today, and I realised, I am no longer Emma. In fact, currently, I am so far from Emma and that it would be an insult to Jane Austen to call me Emma. I have learnt to stay as far away as I can from couples. TA said she had a similar experience where she felt 'scarred' by the effect that she had on a relationship - and I can relate to that so well. Even though a lot of our actions are well meaning, they have consequences that turn into nightmares and subconsciously change your perceptions so dramatically that people that met you before your change find it very hard to recognise you.

I finished watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries today. It's a clever vlog adaptation of Pride and Prejudice - and although the acting is a little awkward at times, they did a very good job of it. The casting was great and fit the roles - the skeptic Lizzie, nice Jane, (super)hot Wickham - all of it. So yeah, I finished all hundred episodes in about three days. I've also been watching Vlogbrothers - they have an amazing outlook on life and seem to be able to summarise anything in about five minutes.

I should get a cup of tea and get back to learning about Sensation and Perception - a subject that sounds very philosophical and fun, but is just philosophical and tedious.