Saturday, February 08, 2014

What Love?

We are being constantly fed the notion that love is only true love when it is shared with your partner. In kids films we learn that spells and curses are broken by true love, and that love is always administered with a kiss. That everything will be better as soon as we meet prince charming.. But why is love only true when it is from a partner? And a lot of the time we are shown it is a partner that the protagonist has only known for a few days.
I always found this bizarre, true love is the unconditional love I share with my family and friends, and if there were a spell to be broken by true love I believe mine would be broken by a hug from my mum.
We are taught that co-dependance is our natural state, that even though you have family and friends, your life is not complete until you have found your partner and then suddenly *ping* it all clicks and your once worthless life makes sense.

Of course the love of your partner is very important, and for many I am sure that it is unconditional love. However, it would be beneficial to see more family; brotherly, sisterly, motherly, daughterly, fatherly love. Not to mention grandmothers and grandfathers who sometimes are the ones raising the next few generations.

If we took more time to realise that we already have love, we were created in love and share in love everyday with family, friends and even pets, maybe we would feel happier and more content. If then you meet someone who can make your life fuller and share in your journeys, this is an amazing blessing. But don't for one-second think that your life was worthless before this moment and it has only become meaningful with the appearance of this person.

With this notion I would like to create a short piece documenting various people speaking about the people that mean the most to them; how do they show their love, why do you love them, what their love brings to our lives and how it enriches us, how we respond to this, and what person it has shaped us to become.

If you would like to get involved in this project and contribute in any way, please let me know and I would love to put together your thoughts and opinions. The piece will be displayed on my Vimeo account and if there are relevant film festivals, may be entered into some competitions.

You can e-mail me on: kmayif88@gmail.com or in any other way that's easiest for you.

Love,
Kxx

Thursday, February 06, 2014

Ill but productive..

So I have had the worst bout of virus/flu/death recently, I haven't been able to do much but lay in bed and maybe catch up on some 30 Rock on Netflix (Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are just so amazing!!). The worst part is I haven't been able to eat anything.. and for those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE my food.

However through the mist of death and decay I have been quite productive.

I've just opened and started promoting my store on Zazzle.
Zazzle is an online store where you can purchase and personalise pretty much any item, making gifts very unique. I've used it before to buy iPhone cases and personalised mugs but never realised I could start my own store.

This winter me and my fella had been going out taking lots of pictures of the English countryside, which is always fun, but I had been complaining about how I wish I had somewhere I could show the pictures off. I always work better when I have a purpose and sticking nature photos up on facebook didn't seem like a great plan.

I researched some ways to show off or make some money from my photography and came across Zazzle. I'm still learning when it comes to my photography, but as I said, with a goal I usually work much harder - and as we all know practice makes perfect!

So in a shameless attempt to self promote, please check out my store - some items are already featured to the right of my blog, or directly at: http://www.zazzle.co.uk/mayi_photography also if you have it, I'd appreciate it if you could also add me on Instagram: Mayi_Photography.
Like/Share/Comment and if something takes your fancy why not treat yourself or a loved one?

The items on my store stem mainly from nature, floral and wildlife photography at the moment. You can purchase prints as well as personalised items on the store, such as: iPhone & iPad covers, Coasters, Necklaces, Greeting Cards, Mouse Mats, Laptop bags and my personal favourite, Cushions.

So please check it out and share as much as you can, as this store gives me great personal fulfilment and something to work hard on!

Thank you!!

Love,
Kxx