TAG: The Versatile Blogger Award

I always love being tagged in these award posts, because they’re honestly so much fun to do! My last one was the Flawesome Award, and I really enjoyed writing so openly and everyone was super supportive and it was extremely fun. I want to say thank you, thank you to Rejitha at bookbugworld for the initial tag! I am sorry it has taken me so long to do this!! But here we go:

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Like all Blogger Awards, here are the ground rules:

• Once you are nominated by a fellow blogger, you are a recipient of the award.
• Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog back in your post.
• Find up to fifteen fellow bloggers and nominate them for The Versatile Blogger Award.
• Make a post revealing seven unknown facts about you. 
• Include the above-mentioned rules in your award post.

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Seven Unknown Facts About Me

I believe in ghosts. I always have, I think. Maybe because I loved watching Supernatural, or any sort of show/movie with supernatural elements. I figure that the existence of ghosts or spiritual entities could be a possibility. I remember when my first dog, Popeye, died. I could hear the pitter-patter of his paws in the hallway when I was home and then I would smell him as if he just ran by. I think I just like to believe, I guess.

I am incredibly afraid of the notion of death. ok, so, it is the thought of death; like, sudden non-existence from this reality, which terrifies me. I believe it does have something to do with my anxiety because ultimately I don’t know what happens when death occurs – and that not knowing overwhelms me. I think this fear also ties in with my fear of growing older. Not so much old, but when I am reminded of our own mortality, I become caught up in an existential crisis where I just become terrified of what is to come in the future. Legitimately, would honestly be one of my biggest fears. And it is irrational, but I can’t help it! 

The thought of living in this world without my mum renders me speechless. This also ties in with my fear of death. When I am reminded of my own mother’s mortality, I choke up for a second and I have to forcibly not think about a future where my mum isn’t by my side, laughing with my brother and I and being one of my best friends. I can’t even write about properly, it just can be such a punch to the gut, you know?

I was born in Australia, but my ethnicity is Greek and Italian. I am totally proud of the fact that I come from immigrant families. My mum is first-generation born Australia and her parents (my grandparents) came to Australia from Rhodes, Greece in the 1960s. My mum’s first language was Greek and she learnt English at Primary School. My dad was born in Saracusa, Sicily, Italy and came to Australia when he was four or five, by boat, I’m pretty sure in the 1970s. Although I don’t speak Italian, I do understand Greek and I can speak a little bit of it – but my younger brother is much more fluent! I grew up with my grandmother always living with us (which, was both a blessing and a curse), so I grew up heavily entrenched in my cultural roots. Although Australia is quite multicultural, that does not mean it is not racist as fuck. My brother has slightly more darker skin than me, he gets that from our mum, whereas I am more pale thanks to my dad. As a result, at work my brother got told to ‘go back to his own country’. Yep. Considering Australia had literally no culture pre-immigration from Asia and Europe, it’s amazing what some people say, do and think. 

I can’t go to sleep without checking my bedroom for spiders. I HATE SPIDERS WITH A PASSION. I CAN FEEL THEIR LITTLE EYES ON ME. I NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE NO SPIDERS IN THE ROOM, IN THE BED, AND BEHIND MY BED OR ELSE I WON’T GET TO SLEEP BECAUSE MY PARANOID ASS THINKS THEY’RE PLANNING TO KILL ME WHILE I’M SLEEPING.

I’m a homebody. I intensely dislike having to go out. I think this is also a result of my anxiety, because I really hate socialising and being with people because it takes so much energy to be sociable. So, I like staying at home and doing nothing, or watching television with my mum and brother, or reading or literally doing anything else than not being at home. If you want to see me, you literally have to give me a week’s notice so I can prepare myself for the act of socialising.

I didn’t get my drivers licence until I was 23. So this was a HUGE deal with literally all of my crazy, judgemental Greek side of my family and family friends – but it literally became a running joke as to when I would get my driver’s license. Put me behind the wheel and I would start to have a panic attack. I literally could not drive – I would cry, shake, get nauseous – it just was not a great time for either me or my mum. I still think that maybe if I got behind the wheel with my Dad, it may have been slightly better because he was slightly more calm than my mum when we had to drive – but I just could not drive and I did not want to drive and I just did not get behind the wheel after I got my Learners permit when I was 16. So, what happened? Well, when I decide to do something, I commit to doing it until I succeed. Last year, I said to myself that I wanted to have my license before I go on my first teaching placement (which is where you ‘work’ at a school that the university chooses for you, for no wage, as a ‘unit’ for your degree). And that is exactly what I did. A month before my first teaching round. Hell to the yea. 

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So this was both super fun but also kind of baring-my-soul types of uncomfortable. But I really enjoyed it! I hope you liked it, friends! For the  Versatile Blogger Award, I’m going to tag:

Lili at Lili’s Blissful Pages

Vinny at Artsy Draft

Brianna at Brianna The Bookworm

Angela at Hiding Behind Books

Chloe at Simply Chloe

San at Behind the Sentence

Raya at notesfromabookworm

Elizabeth at Before We Go Blog

Herding Cats Blog

Tree at Words About Words

Jee at Hooked on Bookz

Katy at Amorette’s Reviews

If you’ve already participated in this, I’m sorry! There’s no pressure to complete this, but if you do, make sure to tag me on Twitter!

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That’s it today, my friends! Until next time, happy reading!

Allie

xx

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