_: June 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

Imagination Motivational Monday #5

So, this one's a little different. Not photos, no quotes, no songs, just this one, beautiful, empowering video. I encourage you to simply listen keenly to everything that is being said to you in this video and then compare it to what you are or aren't doing in your own life. I love videos like this, they always really make me think on things, provide me with revalations and "aha" moments. They make me feel as if the person speaking is speaking directly to me and knows exactly what I may be going through. I hope this prompts some of you to take leaps of faith or the steps towards things you've been pushing off or hesitant to pursue:

"VISION"

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF VIDEO

~ Nathia

Sunday, June 29, 2014

A New Season for Natvice!

photo c19b64b6-05a6-4efb-a822-3a1e288fdc3f_zpsc57bd737.png

(Photography via yours truly, me! Hehe )

Yes, it's true, I am officially back from my highly involuntary hiatus. Believe me, if it were up to myself I would have been banging out posts left and right every day but with final exams, end-of-the-year jitters, college tour scheduling and all that highly boring and equally as stressful yadda yadda, I was forced to put a few things on hold. With the majority of all that taken care of, I feel like life is now scheduled to take a long overdue deep breath, loosen up a bit, and shake it off (to be quite honest I feel like I'm going to take up yoga or something). On to my Natvice ventures however, I feel as if this is the start of a new season and great things are in store for us!

I've been brainstorming Ideas for mini docu series, projects (artsy ones of course) and I'm also partaking in a lot of really exciting, new things and can't wait to share it with all of you. With that said, Natvice is basically getting a face-mask, just to freshen everything up and I definitely want to start involving you readers much more as a whole, as I had intended to do from the beginning (If you've been here with me since December you'll know I used to do weekly topic polls in which you guys let me know what you wanted to hear, I may just be resurrecting that idea, stay tuned!)

As for posting, I am going to try my best to post at leas 3 times a week. I want to provide you with both interesting and relatable content, things YOU want to read and know more about, topics YOU want to discuss and address and questions and or advice YOU are seeking answers for. One of my main goals is to transform this blog into a community, I want this blog to be as much YOURS as it is mine, which entails me involving you a lot more. I'm also going to put a lot more of myself in my writing (not that I didn't before, my posts definitely reflect who I am as a person and I've shared a chunk of my story with you and you'll definitely learn more about me in future posts) so maybe that's not the best way to explain it. It's more the fact that when you read a Natvice post, I want you all to feel as if you are chatting with friend: comfortable and light, full of "aha" moments. In the making of Natvice, in the back of my head there was always something longing for pish-posh-pirm and perfection not wanting to be controversial, and in some ways striving for professionalism etc, etc, therefore I may have held back a micro bit on capturing all of myself in posts. I've come to the conclusion that I am a chunk of imperfections, facetiousness, sarcasm, love and occasional accidental innuendos, and that's fine, I am not a blue blazer and dress pants aficionado, I am full of quirks, and as I said, that is A-OK! (Don't get me wrong however, when In Rome can certainly do as Romans do, I can turn on professional business woman mode at the drop of a hat if the time calls for it.)

I hope you're all as pumped for this new season in which Natvice is walking into as I am. Don't be afraid to get involved, leave comments, ask questions, email me, all my contact links are on the homepage and you can check out my "How to Submit" posts in order to gain further information on how to send topic suggestions, questions, ask for advice etc, just CLICK HERE . I am ALWAYS here for you guys if you need me and am so excited to hear from you, whether it's through giving you advice, you leaving comments, sharing topic suggestions, collaboration ideas, questions, sharing your personal stories and anything in between! Both my mind and heart are open wide enough to fit all of you comfortably, I promise.

YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE AT NATVICE.

~ Nathia

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Does the bible condone slavery?

Here's a short twitter conversation I had a few months back:

So, let's start with the verse in which he (the person in the above photo) is referring to:

Colossians 3:18-4:1 (NIV):

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for The Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for The Lord, not for human masters,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from The Lord as a reward. It is in the lord you are serving.

Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs and there is no favoritism.

Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven."

When I first read this, I felt a strew of emotions, I was pretty, dare I say, pissed off, hurt and confused, it ultimately turned me off. Then I remembered my God, his promises and exactly what he stood for and knew that there was no possibility of him advocating for our definition of slavery. This is a literal interpretation of the bible therefore I looked deeper and caught up on some of my history. Once I did so,I realized, the question "Does the bible condone slavery" can be answered pretty simply.

In biblical days, a "slave" was someone who provides a "Master" with their loyalty/allegiance, working for them in exchange for food, clothes, proper housing etc. the basic necessities. In Medieval times, this was referred to as a "vassal". In today's 21st century society, this is called a Job. The Bible's definition of slave is not the modern-day, westernized rendition of the word, similar to the fact that in the bible, an "ass" is referring to a donkey, however, In modern western society, it surely does not translate into that anymore.
This clarification was genuinely a breath of fresh air for myself because it had initially raised a lot of questions.

As for the comment "this is what western slave masters utilized in order to oppress a race" that simply goes right back to what I said before in the photo about having a false interpretation. Take God's word for what he intended it to be not for it's man-made interpretations. In order to be able to decipher between What The Lord said/intended and what man has manipulated the word into for their own benefit, entails spending time with The Lord, meditating on the word and praying for clarity, wisdom and understanding. In this case it also entailed having a bit of historic knowledge which you'd be sure to find when reading on in the bible.

This Natvice post was pretty short and sweet, Hope that clears the air!
If you have any questions at all you can always reach me at my email,or the other links provided on the homepage!

~Nathia

A Sprinkle of Inspiration

(Photos via sprinkleofglitter.blogspot.com)

When asked "who inspires you?" The first person who pops in my head is Louise, also know as Sprinkle of Glitter. Louise is a woman of many roles, including a full-time British YouTuber, blogger, wife and mother to the worlds cutest curly cube of sugar, her daughter, Darcy. Louise's spirit lights up a room, even if it's only through a computer screen; her smile is contagious and her bubbly personality never seizes to brighten up my mood.

If you know me, then you know, i'm not exactly a size zero, I'm a curvy gal and I absolutely love it, however, it wasn't always that way. There was a point in time in which I had convinced my self that as long as my thighs rubbed together (which is crazy because I naturally have more "meat" on my thighs/hips than my torso, therefore, no matter how much weight I lose, unless it were an unhealthy amount, my thighs will continue cuddle each other when I walk), I'd never look good in any sort of clothing. The absolutely ridiculous saying "Skinny looks good in clothes and fit looks good naked" is a pretty adequate way to describe my mindset at the time.

About a year ago, I was looking through LookBooks on YouTube and all of the ones I saw consisted of cropped-tops and stores who sell Extra-Smalls disguised as a Medium/Large. Finally, I stumbled upon Louise' "Curvy Autumn LookBook" and she demolished every stereotype I had of myself and or women of a particular size. Louise is absolutely bright and beautiful and proved to me that us curvy gals can pull off just about anything in a tasteful way; that I could follow the latest trends and look just as good as the model it was originally displayed on. But this is only a highlight.

Louise's personality is ultimately what drew me in (Kinda sound's like I'm speaking about a 20 year soul mate, haha), as I watched more of her videos and daily vlogs (on sprinkleofchatter), I was introduced to a hilarious, strong, caring, bubbly, emotional, quirky and sometimes clumsy (in the most gracious and lovable way possible) individual with a child-like glow, or should I say, sparkle. The fact that she shares both her good and bad days with her viewers is admirable, and quite brave, (considering how cruel the blank faces of the internet can be). Louise seems to be as genuine as it gets and unknowingly inspires others to do the same. I grew to admire Louise for how much of her self she gave to people (which is ultimately 100%). She also has provided viewers with many advice videos from relationships to body image, to "how to say no", to shopping for clothes as a curvy woman and everything in between.

Aloha, I'm proud to be a Sprinklerino

~ Nathia

Here's a few of Louise's videos to watch if you'd wish to love her has much as I do, or you can simply explore her YouTube for some of her other ones which suit your interest I will also leave some of her other social networking links to her twitter, blog and all that jazz below!:

The first video, which is a Lookbook, is very recent, as in, posted about a week ago. The other two videos are some of her much older videos however, they are very inspiring and allow you to get to know miss Louise better as a person, I highly recommend you check them out.

Sprinkleofglitter "Mini Boho Lookbook": CLICK HERE FOR MOBILE VERSION OF VIDEO