Special to me.

A while ago I was asked to recount a special moment in my life. I pondered this question for a couple of hours and then gave up on my answer hoping to avoid it for as long as possible, three weeks in fact. Procrastination is a terrible thing. However, now that I recall the question, I find myself trying to figure out what makes a moment special to me.

I can't speak for everyone else, but when I think of what makes a special moment, I automatically think that, that moment must be a memory. One that is so special to me; I will never forget.
Perhaps it was the memory of my grandmother, and how she used to hold me close when I cried as a child, and that awful perfume she always wore would fill my nose. To this day I still cringe when I stumble across that fragrance whilst out and about, then I take a moment and it reminds of her and the woman she was.
Or perhaps it was the memory of my first kiss when I was fifteen. The way my stomach had exploded with butterflies like some terribly corny romance film, when really, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
It could even be the memory of my exchange, and the fear I felt leaving home to discover the unknown and myself. The excitement of it all was overwhelming, I could never find the words to explain that feeling.

But as I think of these memories, and they replay themselves in my mind like a silent film, I realise that these aren't the 'special moments' that I want to recall because I have so many of these memories that it would be impossible to pick just one. It was this that that made me realise that a special moment is not just a memory, it is the moment that I have accomplished something great; something I had never thought was possible.  An achievement that I can look back on and say; "hey, if I could do that, I can do anything!" 


So, the special moment I want to share is a recent one. I won't go into the boring details, but I will sum it up as easily as I can:
For a very long time, I struggled with my body image (like many other young woman I assume,) I grew up being reminded of this fact by the boys I went to school with, and was once even told that I was so fat and ugly, nobody would ever want me. Sure, I can laugh those comments off now, I can store them in the corners of my mind as 'adolescent stupidity', but that didn't mean they hurt any less at the time. Because they did hurt, a lot. I lived with this hurt for a long time before I could find the strength it would take to change my body image and prove to myself that I had worth, and that I too could be beautiful in my own unique way. Then out of the blue, one day I found that strength and began to my journey down the path of change and came out a new person.

That right there is what makes this a special moment to me. It's not that fact that what I went through was horrible, because I got through it in the end, it was the fact that I had the ability to overcome it. I was able to prove to myself that I had the strength to change my life around and pull myself out of the negative thoughts that are connected with body image in todays society. It was a long journey, but I made it through and it's that sense of accomplishment that makes it so special to me. I really am able to say to myself: "hey, if I could do that, I can do anything!" 

So now, as I draw this blog to a close, I just want to say that maybe my idea of a 'special moment' is extremely different to anyone else who reads this. But that is what makes it special: the fact that it's my own.

Communication Breakdown

Let's say you have been asked a question; 'What is the purpose of blogging?'

Now let's say you that you take a moment to think about your answer. You bite your lip, furrow your brow and stare into space; meanwhile your brain is working overtime to fashion an answer that would make you sound intelligent and really impress the person who posed the question. Once this process is completed, you take a deep breath and attempt to answer the question without making a fool of yourself.

"The purpose of blogging is..." 

Truth be told, the true purpose of blogging is a subjective one, we each have our own individual reasons or opinions that compel us to blog. The way I see it; blogging is the updated version of a diary. We write our opinions, our thoughts and our experiences down on a blank page and when we are finished, unlike the old diary where we would put the pen down and close the cover, we hit the brightly coloured 'submit' button and in an instant our voice is thrown into cyberspace for anybody and everybody to see. To some, having your voice and opinion out in the open is a way of having a voice, even if it is a small one, in this fast paced world we live. For others, it is purely a form of entertainment and has little or no significance to anyone but the author. No matter our own personal reasons, blogging can be one excellent tool that we can use to our advantage in this technology driven era we find ourselves submerged, and social media is becoming more prominent in our day-to-day lives.

Now I want to take this chance to narrow the question down to a question that I have recently been asked; 'What is the purpose of blogging in PR?'  

As I mentioned before, we live in a technology driven world where social media is becoming a much more prominent and important part of our lives. We find ourselves relying on this form of technology as a communication device and a way to keep in contact or keep up to date with the lives of our friends and the happenings of the world. In fact, for some our dependance on these social networking websites have become so high that we would be lost without them. 

Think about this; Can you remember the last time you checked your facebook page? 

Let me take a guess; five minutes ago? An hour? Two hours? It couldn't be too much more than twenty four hours, because if it were you would probably be feeling out of touch or disconnected with the rest of your friends and family. This is because humans thrive on communication! Without it, we are lost.

Which brings me back to the question at hand, the purpose of blogging in PR. Just like humans, Public Relations is an industry that thrives around communication, and just like you and I, it must keep up with the times in order to be at the top of its game. The creation of social media has opened up a window of opportunity for PR professionals to get out there and interact with the rest of the world. Blogging is a key factor in this communication because it is an ideal way to get an idea or opinion across to the masses. However, unlike a standard PR press release, blogging allows feedback that opens the door to two-way communication between big business/clients and the general public. This is a huge advantage to the industry because it allows feedback, networking and a way to get yourself (or a client) known faster and a lot more affordable (even free) than traditional PR methods. 

As more and more people are going online to communicate with family and friends, or even use it just to catch up with the day-to-day news, social media will continue to become a much more prominent component of the PR industry. Blogging is merely a small factor in this very big form of communication, but it doesn't mean that it is not an important one!

One small step.

This whole 'blogging' concept is very new to me, but I am here to learn and there is no better time than the present. Even if I make a fool of myself.

So, where do I start?

I guess the first thing to do is introduce myself and tell you a little bit about who I am. My name is Chelsea, I recently turned twenty-one in January and I have lived in Perth for about four years now, and still manage to get lost any chance I get. Word to the wise, don't ask me directions. :) I am quite an ambitious person and always up for a challenge.

I have spent most of my life on the move, the main reason being that I grew up in a Navy family, so I have seen a lot of Australia and met many interesting and unique people. Not only have I had the chance to see a lot of our own backyard, but I have also done a lot of traveling overseas. I have seen most of Europe, experienced the fast paced lifestyles of the Americans along with a small portion of Asia. I guess you could say that traveling is a passion of mine, I was bitten by the travel bug and have never looked back since. There is something amazing and fulfilling about experiencing another culture, or standing in the pebbled streets of a city older than our own country and imagining what it had of looked like back in the day! It is an experience that you could never sum up in words. I guess you could also say that I am a bit of a history geek- I mean, enthusiast... To me, travel and history walk hand in hand. You can't truly experience and respect another country's culture without taking the time to understand how it came to be.

My other passion is music. Unfortunately, I was never been graced with the talent to play music (my parents once payed for flute lessons when I was in primary school, but my teacher phoned my Mum and told her I didn't have the talent. I was shattered.) I may not be able to make music, but I like to think that I have a good ear for it. Music is very calming to me, and I know a lot about it; I just can't play a note of it. My ultimate goal would be to someday, work in the Music industry because it is something that I am very passionate about. It is also many other peoples dreams, but I am never one to be put off by a little hard work.

You've probably heard enough of what I like, so I guess to wrap things up I will tell you how I ended up here in front of this computer screen. I used to work full time, up until last Monday in fact, as a Store Manager in retail for a well known jewelry accessory brand. Retail was fun, it is an industry that is constantly changing and moving forward. Unfortunately, as interesting as retail was to work in or as fine tuned my selling skills may be from that experience, retail is just not for me. Imagine having to spend your entire day asking your customers, "would you like to buy a lip balm pack today for only $7.99! They come in three fantastic flavours!" It becomes a little tiring after a the first ten times, which is why I decided that I needed to learn something new.

For now I plan to work through the next twenty weeks so that I can achieve my Certificate IV in Public Relations. Where to from there? I guess I will just have to see where life takes me!