I see fire...

There are not many songs that as soon as I hear them I have to stop everything I am doing and just listen. They make my stomach flip, tighten my throat and fill me with emotion. I don't just hear them, 'I feel them'.

'I see fire' by Ed Sheeran is one of these, it emanates through me, gives me what I can only describe as chills and touches my every nerve. It feels me with a sense of melancholy and... I love it.

When attending my CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) sessions I was advised to not listen to sad, melancholy music as my personality reacts very strongly to what I hear, but as the credits rolled on from The Hobbit, (part 2) I was glued to my seat. 

You may think it weird, a CBT therapist prescribing happy music, but there are actual music therapists out there who make money out of improving peoples health through them experiencing music as it is so powerful.

Not everyone will feel this type of emotion when listening to music. Apparently it is only personalities with the dimension of 'openness to experience' who feel the 'chill' factor. These people who are high in openness are creative, curious about many things, have active imaginations and like to play with ideas. 

Commonly people feel nostalgia when hearing a certain song or piece of music and it can transport you back to that moment or that person. Some will feel a strong sense of emotion; happiness, sadness, or anger. 

However, what really intrigues me is Synaesthesia!!!

I had heard of this before but when going to an Andrew McMahon gig, he sung his single, 'Synesthesia' which prompted me to think about this more. There are people out there who are able to feel music with MORE than one of the five senses! It is only something I can imagine however 4% of the population have Synaesthesia. This includes being able to see colour when you hear music or to be able to taste the music! Surely this would make the whole listening experience so much better, like watching a 3D film and feeling like you are actually there.

I don't know anyone with Synaesthesia, but as soon as I do find someone, I want them to describe everything to me...

Skinny Pigs

The new additions to our family are a couple of female Skinny Pigs! 
Mother and daughter to be precise, named Pineapple and Pippi.

I first found out about these bizarre creatures 5 years ago when I was at a friends wedding. A lady on our table was showing photographs of her new Skinny Pig babies she had been breading and I fell in love. The pictures looked like baby hippo's that were so ugly they were cute, a little like E.T!!
These adorable creatures are pretty much completely hairless except for a bit on their nose and feet after a science experiment in the 1970's in Canada went wrong!
The in's and out's of what went on in that laboratory are unknown, all I know is that I now have two very expensive naked Guinea Pigs!! Costing around £80 they are not an 'impulse buy', that doesn't include the expensive heat up mats they need everyday, or they fact that they cannot live outside so you need a special place for them inside.

Skinny Pigs are hard work!

They need cleaning out more often that your normal pet, they eat about quadruple the amount of a normal Guinea Pig and they don't much like to be stroked, (this is probably because they don't actually have any fur to stroke!!). They love fresh vegetables, and know when you are opening a pack of green beans!!

They look like baby hippos and squeak so much when you go into the room that it will make anyone smile. We get mixed reactions from friend when we show the our Skinny Pigs. No one I know had ever seen one before and when we took them to the vets they were shown around like celebrities as they didn't even know they existed!! Some don't like the feel of them whereas others can't stop looking at them!

Although they have no fur they are certainly NOT anti-allergen pets which is a common mistake! My daughters friend had to be rushed home after holding the Skinny Pigs and having an extreme allergic reaction.

I do love our Skinny Pigs, they are warm to the touch and feel like you are holding a baby and are our very own house hippo! But would only recommend to those who have lots of time and money on their hands to look after them correctly!