Eddie Jaku - Sydney Jewish Museum

 I was recently lucky enough to visit the Jewish Museum with my senior Year 12 Advanced English class. I had the good fortune of meeting a ninety-two year old man by the name of Eddie Jaku. Eddie is the most brilliant, amazing and beautiful person I have met in my life. I walked out of the Jewish Museum with not only knowing the misfortunes of his life and his traumatic tale but also taking with me many valuable lessons I will dearly remember and hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.

They say that it takes one moment to change your life forever. This was that moment for me. Eddie shared his story with my class and a few others of how he survived the Holocaust in Auchwitz, Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power and murdered 11 million people including many, many Jewish children. Eddie shared his extremely difficult experiences of survival and near-death experiences in order to hide away from being killed with force with us, explaining how his dog died protecting him. His parents had sent him away to a boarding school where he had to conceal his Jewish identity in order to prevent the death of his own life and the lives of his family from being taken away. Unfortunately, when Eddie finally came back to visit his parents and finally see them after such a long time, they passed away in the gas chambers. "Everywhere I go, I see smoke.." he said. These words echoed through my ears and touched a place in my heart that I will never forget. In this moment, I truly realised just how lucky I am to be surrounded by my family and my friends but most importantly, how lucky I am to be alive. Despite the absolutely traumatic events that took place in Eddie's life, he is the most politest, kind-hearted soul I have ever met, bursting with life and happiness. We will never understand what he went through during these dark times of our past, but now we know that we live in a world where the Holocaust is possible and that will change the course of the future forever. For you, for me, and for every living being on this planet. 


Eddie then took everyone on a mini tour around the museum, showing us photographs of children in carriages on their way to the concentration camps. On their way to horrifying death. A photograph I saw of a little girl, about the age of twelve will forever be imprinted in my memory with her heart-warming calm and collective facial expression, here eyes glaring right at me. It her way of getting ready to say goodbye to this beautiful planet, tortured by the worst of evil deeds ever known to be performed in the history of a humanity. I still cannot help but wipe the tears filling my eyes even as I recount this moment. Eddie took us to the childrens' memorial where I was lucky enough to view the two most moving art pieces I have witnessed in my life. One was that of a large dish filled with water in the middle of the narrow maze with trickles of water falling into it every now and then from somewhere up in the ceiling. I stared at it as Eddie exclaimed that "these were the tears of all of the children who were going to die". I tried to hold in my tears, but I couldn't help but let out a few when nobody was watching. Just as I was walking by, I saw the other art piece- a large glass case filled with old, torn up shoes. These were a collection of some tiny and some small shoes all piled up to form the shape of a pyramid. I didn't need Eddie to explain what this one was- it was self-explanatory and very moving. The room was silent, but I could hear everyones heart crying as the oxygen felt thick and foggy. Eddie walked up to me and asked me to "imaging being a mother with a baby in your arms. The baby would have been snatched out of your arms and thrown into a pit of burning fire. If you did not let go, you would have been thrown in, too." 98% of children died. Very, very little survived. (Do not mark my word for it, I vaguely remember.) It is one thing to read about statistics online and another to experience viewing the portraits of all the children that didn't survive this time of turmoil in modern history. My heart went out to these children who never grew up to see the beautiful planet we live in now, who never saw the sunshine gleaming through their windows, who will never carelessly run around in the park, who will never kiss their mothers' goodnight ever again, who will never wake up to another winter morning and who will never lightly tread on this world again as their lives, their hopes and their dreams were harshly destroyed  before they had even begun.


As we continued our tour,  Eddie stopped to tell us tales of the good deeds he has performed towards others to give back to the world all his kindness and help in return for allowing and helping him to live and survive. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, this man was incredible. I have never been so inspired and filled with emotion as I was listening to him speak. He would walk up to my classmates and teacher individually and speak to them- staring at them in the eyes. He asked me to read a quote on the wall of the childrens' memorial and later on held my hands together and asked me to please, "always believe in the power of friendship. Never hate, please. Always be a good friend. Friendship is the most important thing in life." By then, my teacher and most of the students were in tears.

Thank you, Eddie. Thank you so much for being there on that day and allowing me to have met you and be in your wonderful presence. Thank you for sharing your amazing story with me. Thank you for teaching me that I should appreciate life and everything that comes along with it because life is so precious and fragile- it can be taken from us so quickly and easily. Thank you for reminding me where I stand and for being the amazing and brilliant person you are. You are forever one of my favourite people in this world and it is extremely rare to find a person so full of life, joyful and grateful as you are. Thank you most of all, for restoring my faith in humanity. I will remember that day for the rest of my life, and I will always remember you wherever I go.

 If you haven't visited the Sydney Jewish Museum, I highly recommend that you do. Eddie, I believe, is there on Wednesdays although you can contact the Museum to find out when exactly. You can visit the Jewish Museum's website here and you can watch a speech of Eddie's here- similar to the one I was fortunate to listen to.

You should read "A Life in Pieces" by Richard Baer

This book is by far the most shocking and astonishing I have read. A Life in Pieces is a true story of a psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Baer, documenting the treatment of a regular patient of his by the name of Karen Overhill who happens to have multiple-personality disorder.

 

I was walking around my local library, looking for something good to read during my holidays a couple of months back. I walked past the Health section and spottted a pink book with multiple faces circling around on the cover. I picked it up and threw it in my library bag along with the other piles of books I was going to borrow. I assumed it wouldn't be that interesting so I left it till last and began reading it a few days later without really bothering to read the blurb. Two pages into the story, I was hooked immediately.

Karen herself is a lost soul with seventeen personalities that constantly switch and cause simple, daily tasks such as buying groceries and driving the car to be a complete and uttter disaster of losing track of time. Along with a troubled past of sexual and mental abuse, Karen is relentlessly depressed and suicidal, causing her to desperately seek help from Dr. Baer who soon begins receiving letters from her in different handwriting styles; cursive, small, large and that of a childs.

This book is for people with a strong stomach, high tolerance and patience as detailed recounts of Karen's traumatic life are revealed and interwoven in the mystery of her condition. This book is a MUST read if you are looking for something compelling, emotional and something that will ultimately change the way you view the world and the way you live your life. Karen Overhill is a brilliant yet troubled character although evidently proves that no matter what has happened in the past, YOU are the future and with a little help along the way you can overcome any obstacle blocking you from the happiness you deserve for yourself. When you have flipped the last page of this book and when your eyes have hovered over the last words on the page, you will be hysterically weeping and wondering whatever the hell happened next. Yes, this is one of those books that you'll be throwing half way across the room when something doesn't go right, sobbing until your eyes burn red. Richard Baer, the psychiatrist, is an amazing figure in modern society and knowing that this story is true- it solely proves that every living human being is capable of igniting the fire in themselves in order to fight for what you want. After I read this book, I seeked Karen Overhill on Facebook and wrote her a whole page about how amazing I find her story and how proud of her I actually am. This book unconsciously attaches you emotionally to the persona and the main subject, Karen. Today, no words can actually describe what this woman has been through, yet she has come out of it with a beautiful smile on her face, ready to take on whatever else life has to throw at her. Thank you Karen, for being a hero for many people out there, including myself! Overall, if you haven't read this book, I highly suggest you pick up a copy NOW. You won't regret it.

8.5/10

 

“Dreams are hopeless aspirations in hopes of coming true. Believe in yourself. The rest is up to me and you.”

- Lisa (Left Eye) Lopes

She was such a beautiful person. I've been a major fan of TLC for a very long time.. I believe ever since I was six years old when their first song "No Scrubz" came out in 1999. I remember always telling my mum that Lisa was my favourite one because she was was the rapper of the group. Then one day in 2002 when I came home from school, my mum had the TV turned off and she was cleaning the house with no music on (she usually always had music on while she was cleaning). I remember turning on the TV and she advised me not to. When I asked her why, she broke the devastating news to me that Lisa had died that day. I ran into my room and probably cried for a good twelve hours. I didn't listen to her music for about a few months after that until I completely accepted the fact that she was gone. I really did look up to her quite a lot. She was the first hip hop icon I ever knew and she was different in a way that really inspired me. She taught me some very valuable things and for as long as I'm alive I will appreciate and respect her as one of the most candid rap artists that ever lived.

Metal screaming Goddess - Candace Kucsulain

 I don't think there is a better female metal goddess out there that can pull off the vocals Candace does. After a two year separation with Walls of Jericho, Candace along with her other band members came back with fresh amazing hits that blasted through my ears every morning as I travelled back and forth to school.

Candace Kucsulain is probably one of my favourite female artists. I've been listening to Walls of Jericho for quite some time now and I was first introduced to them in 2009 which wasn't that long ago. "No Saving Me" is my absolute favourite song in the genre and almost two years ago I danced a contemporary piece to it. The lyrics are brilliant and it was exactly how I was feeling at the time, so I could relate and express myself through music and dance. Each word had a significant movement to it and each movement had a somewhat candid expression to it. The emotion conveyed through Candace's voice is absolutely breathtaking and I believe Walls of Jericho represents empowerment and something very special that hits close to home. I love the fierceness in their music (and her eyes) and for anyone who hasn't heard of this band, I suggest you search them up as soon as you have some spare time and have a good listen. Whether you love it or hate it- Candace will leave you breathless and deeply intrigued. I recommend "A Trigger Full of Promises" as the strength of her vocals really come out in that song. Candace has one of the strongest and loudest voices out there and more people need to be exposed to amazing and empowering female screamers like herself!

Do you ever stop and think?

Think of how lucky you really are to have a roof over your head, water and food, warm clothes and a comfortable bed to sleep in. Are you appreciative of your good health, if you are in good health? I take these things for granted way too often so as a result I make myself sit and write about the most simplest of things that we so often forget to appreciate. Without these we wouldn't really be able to survive.

We sit here and complain about how whatsherface broke up with whatshisface and what dress we're going to wear to the next party and who's gossiping about who and we just ultimately forget that we're lucky. We're so lucky. There are people out there that have little to nothing. Not even a quarter of what we have. There are children who are born into families who cannot support them; not even for one decent meal a day. There are children out there suffering from cancerous diseases and all I can think about is why we're feeling a tad sad today or complaining about how our Iphone just froze for a milisecond during an important text. Appalling on our behalf. I wish I could do so much more than just sit here and think about these people and contemplate and feel bad. I promised myself not long ago that when I earn enough money, I will donate as much money as I can to help those less fortunate than myself.
So fuck spending that extra five dollars on something absolutely irrelevant and give it to someone who really needs it to survive.

If you have a spare $5 and want to make this world a better place you can donate using one of these links:
Hollows  UNICEF  Action Aid

Gothic culture fascination!

I have always been so fascinated with Goth culture. Black lipstick, seven inch heel boots with silver chains, long black fingernails, tight corsets and endless flowing medieval dresses- just so beautiful.
When I was much younger, I was surrounded by people who were usually always very narrow minded when it came to people who appeared 'different' aesthetically. This  caused them to assume that Gothic culture and every individual associated with it was relentlessly "evil" and "demonic". Being a gullible child myself (well, most children naturally are, obviously) made me instantly believe these assumptions were true as they were practically planted in my brain over and over again from so many people. I speak for my generation though- a LOT of people continue to think that gothic culture is demonic. So when I was younger, my mind was the only safe place I could be and it eventually became a place where I could think whatever I want without anybody else's contributions, judgments or opinions. Every time I watched a Disney fairytale or a film or even every time I read a book that consisted of a villain and a heroine- I would superficially admire the classy heroines with blonde hair and perfect complexions but when I was alone I would in fact admire the villain- dark, intimidating and eerie. I guess because as children, anything that seems 'forbidden' is even more tempting and intriguing. 
I wanted to share a little story about this time of my life- I was eleven years old. At the Primary School I attended the teachers would often give us magazines to give to our parents where we would be able to order certain books and book packs as well as writing supplies and stationary. I really wanted a book in one of the magazines that was titled "How to Write Scary Stories". I obviously knew I wanted to be a successful author at eleven... despite the title, a picture of a skeleton and gothic inspired sketches surrounded the centre of the cover. I decided I had to have it though I refrained from asking my parents to purchase it for me because I was ashamed of what they'd thought of me and what my friends would think. I saved up all my lunch money every day and finally had enough to buy it so I went ahead and purchased it. When it arrived at school I snatched it and buried it beneath all of my books in my bag. That same night when it was late I pulled out a mini torch and began to read the book. From what I remember, there were a lot of useful tips (I would write my own short stories every now and then because I genuinely enjoyed to write in my spare time) and quite the contrary, it wasn't as scary as I was expecting it to be. So using the tips I learned from this book I wrote a gruesome short story- well it wasn't that short about 9 pages in my excersise book- for a school project. The teacher assumed I had plagorised this story and contacted my parents. Nobody believed that I had actually wrote it. The next day I threw away the book in the rubbish bin after tearing pages out- I was furious. What I would give to have that book now! I've ravaged the internet and I still can't find it anywhere. And this began as a post exclaiming my interest in goth culture...
Back to that, gothic culture mostly reminds me of my childhood and my fascinations associating anything gothic and different to the norm and I'm still just as fascinated by it today. It really does hold a special spot for me.

How would you sum up your life in a paragraph?

 How I'd like to sum up my life in a paragraph- if it's possible.

Long hair, blue lips. Clean, black fingernails and loose shirts. Buttoned up collars and tucked in shirts. 60's brown hair and huge nose stretchers. Septum rings and green mohawks. Black lipstick and bloody necks, pink contact lenses and split tongues.
Glitter journals and leopard pillows. Perfect books and imperfect ears. A thousand scars and the scent of roses and honey. Sharp, piercing nails and the mixture of wine and blood. Sweat and bare skin, hairless cats and colourless rainbows. Candid personalities and bizarre outfits. Nine inch hooker heels and pure white snow with blood stains.
A bath filled with dead petals and hysterical laughter. Walks in massive, tropical gardens with a million different flowers and a dodgy five-minute sketch. The scent of antique books and sinking in a pile of sand. Throwing yourself in water and feeling alive.
Runny mascara and tangled earphones, sweet little hugs and sloppy kisses. Good with evil and evil with good. Dancing with angels and poker with the devil. Falling down hard and staring at broken pavements. Last minute proposals and two minute noodles. 

A life of disaster with a stain of glory.