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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Opportunities

Audrey Hepburn once said: "Opportunities don't often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them."


These words could not be more true in my life right now, and, though you may not see it, In yours too. 


I'm a firm believer that every day we are faced with an opportunity in some aspect of our lives. It could be the opportunity to meet someone new and make a new friend. Or like for me tomorrow, an opportunity to get an internship at a magazine. 


So as I sit here scanning the website of the magazine to make the most of the interview, I realize I'm completely unprepared. I've done countless job interviews but never one for a magazine. 


Yet here's the opportunity. I have to seize it. I can't let my doubts or fears stop me from doing my best and thinking that I have it in the bag. Let's be honest, there's probably a chance that I could get the internship. They obviously liked my resume enough to set up an interview. Points for me. As far as how the interview goes? That's all up to me and my attitude. 


You see, in interviews, your answers to the questions are only 50% of what they're looking for. Personality and attitude is the other half. So if you go in with a positive attitude that I've got this then chances are, you probably have it. 


Now, I'm not going to go in feeling like they're lucky if they pick me and if not it's their loss. On the contrary, this is a learning experience. They could love me or they could hate me but either way I've learned something for the next time and I've taken the opportunities life is handing to me.


As humans we waste too much time being scared of our opportunities. We're scared of failure, when in truth, failure is the only thing that keeps us trying harder.


So take every opportunity you're faced with, why live your life any other way?

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Overheard on Campus

I have a problem with eavesdropping. I love listening to conversations and even butting in. I can't help it! I'm a journalist - my curiosity is insatiable, especially for information.

Today at school, I had a 7 and a half hour break (horrible, I know) and found myself eavesdropping more than usual. The topic of every conversation seemed to be Jay-Z and Beyonce's fetus. I first heard of it in class yesterday (apparently it was announced at the VMAs) and then again on the radio this morning. Obviously, everyone's talking about it and the surrounding circumstances.

All I can think of is WHO CARES!!!?!

Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is a very beautiful thing. But why does a celebrity's pregnancy mean so much more than a nobody's?

Again, I'm part of the media. But the realities and focus of the media really angers me. The story is not in the celebrities.

The real story lies in the family that lives down the street with the son who's away at war or your boyfriend's sister's life as a single mom with an autistic child. The true stories are the ones not being told.

We each have a story.

Instead of focusing on these over-dramatized lives, let's ask each other to hear our stories.

What's yours?

Friendship and Stress :)

Wasn't I just talking about this?

My coworker's mom is a columnist for The Examiner and she's a lady after my own heart. Tonight's blogpost is courtesy of her column. Enjoy!!

http://www.examiner.com/female-friendship-in-national/make-sure-to-take-your-friendship-meds

-Raewyn

Thursday, August 25, 2011

This is your life



Spa Night

I know all of the time I talk about pampering yourself when you're in a funk -- manicures, pedicures, retail therapy etc. It's something I could swear by because you're giving yourself positive attention that you need to destress.

On Tuesday, I was enlightened to an even better way of pampering yourself. Yeah, all of that stuff is amazing and relieves some tension temporarily, but the ability to truly de-stress through a spa / girl's night vastly surpasses a simple manicure or pedicure.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but my roommates and I have been in a little bit of a funk for part of this summer. We were all kind of "ehh" on Tuesday, but luckily we were hosting a spa party. Spa parties are similar to Cookie Lee events. Someone hosts it and a professional will come in with products and test them out on you and show them off and then you can decide to purchase some after.

We started off the evening with cheese and crackers, fruits and veggies, and a nice pitcher of Sangria (we're all over 21, but refreshing iced tea works if you're younger too!) Once our professional arrived (she's a close friend of my roommate) we moved into the living room and she gave us various mini spa treatments. We had miniature facials, lip facials, hand and feet scrubs / moisturizers.

All of this was absolutely phenomenal and can help peel of tons of stress and toxins from our bodies. To top it all off, the estrogen was flowing and our endorphins were high. Women release the hormone oxytocin when they are together bonding and it's a "feel good" hormone.

It is a beyond amazing experience. I suggest trying it. And next time you're feeling sad, surround yourself with your best girlfriends because your oxytocin's gonna brighten things up quicker than you think :)



**Our spa party was hosted by a representative of BeautiControl

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Tattoos

What are your thoughts on tattoos?

Personally, I think they're a particularly awesome way of expressing yourself, especially if it's something personal. Tattoos are there forever. So it better be meaningful.

On Sunday, my little brother turned 18 and we had a tattoo party in celebration. My dad, brother, roommate and I all got tattoos that meant something to us.

My brother and I got tattoos for our cousin Gregory who died after having cancer when he was a child. It was an incredibly beautiful moment of us getting our tattoos. Here's some pix!



Raewyn

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Confidence for All

Hey guys,

So I'm very lucky that my friends posted blogs this week because I was in Vegas living up the good life (or relaxing by the pool to be more accurate). Sitting in Vegas, I got a good look at appearances and insecurities because that's what Vegas is built on.

Of course we have the girls faked to the extreme and the buildings are all glitz and glamour until you get off the strip and realize it's just another desert town. The part that actually struck me, was the high amount of faked up insecure guys.

I thought this would go perfectly with the previous post about girls and confidence, because it's important for us to remember that most guys lack confidence too. It's how our society breaks us down and how it makes money off of us.

Walking around the pool there were so many guys built to the extreme, strutting their stuff and trying to woo any girl they could. Just by glimpsing these guys, immediately you're gonna think they're cocky and have a lot of confidence, nothing can bring them down.

Not true.

Girls spend hours getting their hair and nails done, putting on makeup, shopping etc. Boys? They spend hours at the gym.

So whenever we're feeling insecure about ourselves, we should probably think that everyone else feels insecure too.

Let's all build our confidence up, shall we?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Warrior of Warrior Queen

Dear ladies of Warrior Queen,
If you have been following us for a little while you are aware, or possibly not, that there is a Warrior (or warrior king) helping with the warrior queen. I will remain nameless, but for those of you who do not know me, lets call me Jason. I am a guy, I have simple ideas and I believe firmly in the mission statement of Warrior Queen (in fact I helped write it). 



I have been lucky enough to have been surrounded by women who are confident, or so I thought, throughout my entire life. It has taken me almost 20 years to learn a few things about “confident” women. First off, there are two different types of confident women. There are women who are confident in themselves and there are women who have confidence given to them by the outside world. WELL I am here to tell you, the more confident you are in the beauty that you have, the more beautiful you become. Have you ever known someone who at first did not seem that attractive to you, but the more you got to know them the more attractive they became?


 On the opposite side of that I have a close friend who is not confident in herself. She cannot see that she is beautiful, no matter how many people tell her, and as harsh as it may be it almost makes her less attractive to the actually good class of men. And yes, I promise that there are a better class of men than the lying, cheating, D***** bags that most of you seem to surround yourselves with. I am not saying that we are easy to find, nor am I saying that we are perfect in any way. But those of us that like to think of ourselves, as the “good guys” want a girl who is confident. The problem that my friend has is that, she is seen as an easier target for the guys who are less than adequate. She embodies what they go for, a girl who does not believe in herself, who is not confident enough to know that she can find someone else.  My friend stayed in a horrible relationship for way too long, she will give a million reasons for it, but the truth was she got comfortable, and she wasn’t confident enough in herself to believe that someone else would come along and make her happier than she ever knew possible.


 The thing, at least for me, is not if a girl is the next super model, or the “hottest” girl at the party, it is what she perceives herself to be. I am not going to lie to you; one of my longest relationships was with a girl who, though incredibly beautiful to me, was not someone who would cause you to stare if you walked by. But to me, she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She was the girl who could smile at me, and melt my heart. And EVERY GIRL reading this right now deserves that.. Every girl deserves to be with a guy who wakes up every morning thanking his lucky stars that he found you. Because it does not matter if you are perfect, it matters that you know that you are worth it. Most of the guys that girls say they want, want a girl who is not only happy with who she is, but knows who she is and embraces it. 


My sister is the perfect example of this. She knows (or thinks) that she is not the most beautiful girl, and that she is a little nerdy, but she embraces it with all of her heart. She knows that there is going to be a guy out there that is going to love the fact that she is a person who would rather spend a night sipping tea and reading a book than going to a club and partying it up. 


And every girl reading this right now, can learn something from that. 


Joe Nichols has a song called gimme that girl. It is a favorite of mine for many reasons. The main reason is that the lyrics speak towards what I personally, want and look for in a girl. “Gimme a girl that's beautiful Without a trace of makeup on Barefoot in the kitchen, singing her favorite song Dancin' aroun' like a fool Starin' in her own little show Gimme the girl that the rest of the world ain't lucky enough to know.” 


Now NOT ONLY is this what I look for in a girl, but girls, you need to start looking for a guy who sees all of these things in you. There are countless songs about being who you are and that being beautiful. Every girl reading this should know that someone is going to see you for what you are. I am going to leave you now with these words from Jaron and the Long Road Home, in their song You’re Beautiful.
Babe, you coulda gone with RomeoBut you let him go And you stayed with me instead And every day I find new ways that make you beautifulYou're beautiful and thats beautifulWhat's she doing with a guy like me?You're so cool and I'm high tea.I don't deserve toHave a girl as beautiful as you

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Why?

Hello friends!

I'm sorry, once again, I went missing. But! I'm still here. Anyway I'd like to share a thought with you, an experience I had today.

Recently, this question has crossed my mind various times, as I'm sure it has yours also:

Why?

We may ask on terms of pure curiosity, amusement and/or in search for an answer in relation to the things that happen in life. It's perfectly normal too, to ask the question. We've been doing it ever since we were young.

I am a server at The Lazydog Cafe and I helped a wonderful couple today. They were fun to talk to. They told me about their dog that they have been training to become a service dog for Alzheimer's patients for the past 4 years. They rescued him from the pound, as he was an abused dog. Interestingly, they told me that the dog tends to have a bad reaction to certain people. Why? It's very likely that this dog has developed a barrier against people that remind him of the days he was abused.

As a result, the couple told me that the dog has come a long way since they first took him in. It made me happy to see and hear how proud they were of this dog. Yet, I couldn't help but ask, Why? Why do people think it's okay to abuse of animals in such ways?

Sadly, I may not ever know the answer to this. It's more than likely that no one will. Yet, not having the answer didn't stop this couple from trying to turn this situation around. What I'm getting at here is that, there are some questions we will never be able to know the answer to and others that we will. Whichever the one, we should try to find a way to turn our why into how. How can I change this situation for the better? It's important to remember though that it's also important to recognize when we have the power to change a situation or not. However, this couple is a great example of the former. No one asked them to do what they have done for this dog and the patients he will soon be able to help.

It warmed my heart to know: that the good in people still exists, that there are plenty of people that don't think it's okay to abuse of animals, and most importantly that there are ways to change the bad for good.

So now I ask you, how can (and will) you try to turn a situation around?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Dream Big!


I saw this picture today and it totally inspired me to write a blog. As I was about to sit down and write it, my friend who just left to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL started talking to me on Facebook. When you dream, dream big, right? 

Let me tell you a little bit about Tyler Williams: he's 20 and he played football throughout high school and community college. This past school year he got the opportunity to go to not one, but several schools to play football. Many of these schools offered him a scholarship. He finally settled on St. Anselm in New Hampshire and left last week to start training for football season. 

This kid is such an inspiration. Everyday he does what he can to follow his dream - whether it's working out to stay in shape or if it's some positive thinking. I worked with Tyler for the past six months and there wasn't a day that he came in and wasn't exuding positivity. 

Try it out. Follow your dreams. Turn your dreams into SOMETHING. If you don't have a dream yet, sit down and really think about what it is you love. It could be born out of nothing; I didn't realize my dream until senior year of high school, but looking back...it was there the whole time. 

Have a wonderful day. And Tyler, thank you for being an inspiration and a great friend. 


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Lovestrong

Hey guys,
Sorry I've been MIA. I went on a crazy concert extravaganza this past week all across SoCal and I'm still in recovery mode. I wanted to share this video with you. I'm sure many of you have heard this song or seen the music video. But think of it from a WQ standpoint.

I saw Christina Perri in Los Angeles on Thursday and her intro from this song was along the lines of finally figuring out what she deserves. She had a WQ moment. She calls it lovestrong, which is also the name of the album.

She's amazing. This song's amazing. Always be inspired.


Sunday, August 7, 2011

Demi Lovato

Has anyone been following Demi Lovato's struggles. Unlike many celebrities who put their problems on display (drug use, duis, rehab, etc) but don't fix them, Demi took her problems and tries to help those struggling too.

Demi started out as a Disney starlet, like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and so many more. Instead of abandoning her young fans when she moved into the music scene she has embraced them. Especially, because she's dealing with an issue that starts with pre-teens. For those of you who don't know what she's been going through - Demi has opened up about bulemia, cutting, and her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. She publicly works to help others struggling and her new song is one of amazing strength. Today, I'm honoring her for being a warrior queen -- the best of herself in spite of her struggles and for taking her struggles and using her celebrity status to help others with them.

Follow her @ she writes some pretty inspiring tweets 
-Raewyn

Friday, August 5, 2011

Be a Queen

"Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness."
 -Oprah


I saw this quote on Twitter and it screamed blog post. Why shouldn't we think like we are queens? 
We are queens after all -- warrior queens. 


Warrior queens think the best of themselves: they're brave and they're not afraid to fail. If I fail, if my creation of a magazine fails -- so what. Warrior Queens have STILL made a difference on an individual level. By helping one person, we're helping the world. 


Failure is a scary concept. It seems to be the opposite of success. We all want to succeed right? So the opposite of success is the opposite of what we want. Sometimes it's easy to think this: 


If I fail at this, then I have wasted my time and have nothing to show for it.


Let's get away from this negative thought process. Especially because this is not true. AT ALL. It's not a waste of time because there's a lesson in it -- there's someone who's going to see the effort you put into it. Determination. Passion. There's so much more that can be found in failure. 


As Oprah said -- it's just a steppingstone.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

TLC for Me

I know I've posted about this before but I think we all need a little reminder about personal TLC. :)

For the past few weeks my roommates and I have been on a little bit of an emotional roller coaster (without realizing it). We're all having a little bit of drama and it's really stressing us out. Of course we're there for each other but you can't really feel better until you give yourself some TLC.

On Saturday, I was sad pretty much all day. I sat on the couch and slept, and I never do things like that. I'm usually the girl running around happy trying to cheer everyone up. But my happy meter was a little too low that day. Of course my friends ended up kidnapping me and taking me to do the smallest little things (entertaining dinner, night hike on the beach to look at the stars and have an adventure) and my night was absolutely amazing.

So on Sunday, after I had gotten a little bit out of my funk I remembered that the state of your bedroom is representative of your state of mind. OH BOY. My room was a complete disaster...and I'm basically always a hot mess. So I cleaned. It's clean now and I feel sooo much more organized and comfortable.

The next step on my TLC? Retail Therapy!!!
Now that was fun, and drained my bank account. But definitely worth it. There's nothing like making yourself feel great when you're down in the dumps!

Other proven methods that work:
Gym time (endorphins!!)
serene walks on the beach
mani/pedis
making art
church
journaling
rocking out to music...

What are your favorite ways to pamper yourself when you're feeling less than 100% you?
-Raewyn
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