I was almost close when I thought about what reading a magazine means to me. How I love to be alone, comfortable and have some form of junk food/energy drink with me when I relax and escape into the magazine. Me time. Me time..didn't quite make sense. Howabout..you time? You? As in you the reader, this magazine is for you...oh darn, off course, that's already a magazine.
So I'm going to tell you the story of what just happened to me. I chose my name months ago now, off course, but what just happened to me happens every time I read a magazine.
I get in the bath and relax for a little while before picking up this months issue of Company magazine. This is what goes through my head. 'Ooh, she looks stylish on the front cover. If I saw those clothes in a shop, I wouldn't buy them or know how to put them together but that outfit is really good. I wish I could pull that off. I should try and be that stylish, and more adventurous and outgoing with my outfits. Those leather gloves are nice, and give the outfit a bit of an edge. One of my boyfriends friends wears gloves like that on a night out sometime and it looks good. I've thought about buying them before. If she can pull them off, and so can this cover star then so can I!'
I read an article called 'My one-month life gap' about a women who climbed Kilimanjaro both for charity and for a self journey. 'Wow! I wish I could do that! I want to do that! Okay, I probably couldn't but I'd love to be able to...how life changing would that be. And I could raise money for charity...'
Next up is an article about girls who have similar make-up routines as their Mums, having learnt from them. 'I miss my Mum. I can't wait to go home again. She's done so much for me and has always been there for me..so has my whole family. I miss them loads. I should get everyone flowers when I graduate, to say thank you for all they've done for me.'
Following that is an article about a girl who lost her leg in a car accident and was the first ever Miss England amputee contestant. She briefly talks about how she never sees disabled models in magazines or on billboards. 'She's so inspiring..its true, you don't see many disabled people in fashion shoots. I remember Gok Wan did a few fashion shoots similar a few years ago. Maybe I could do one in my magazine, and help raise some money for charity in the process.'
More articles gave me similar feelings. An article about a girl from the UK accepting a bar staff job in France on a whim interested me, inspired me and just fueled my eagerness to travel even more. The fashion pages left me faced with urges to buy everything, to make my style more fashionable. Every article inspired me.
That's why I came up with the name 'Inspire'. I'm not the only one who reads magazines and gets these feelings. And these feelings are good. They inspire people to do things for charity. To work harder. To have more fun. To better themselves. I want my magazine - and this blog - to be filled with these things. I want people to read the magazine and the blog and want to pursue these feelings. I want to raise awareness of issues that are kept on the down low. I want to remind girls to be safe when they are on nights out, or to be careful about what details they put online. I want to my magazine or blog to be responsible for someone taken the extra precaution to be safe. Even if someone logs onto my blog, or sees something in a magazine and tries out that makeup look which gives them even the smallest confidence boost that day, then I've done what I wanted. I want to inspire people.
