When the Cheshire emerges...

I've been a fan of The Diary of Anne Frank since I was young. There's something about Anne's innocence that I connected with, but her curiosity to write and to learn made her so much more mature. I idolised her and her strong beliefs.

Excuse the laundry/bedroom mix...

This poster of Anne, bought during my visit to Amsterdam's Anne Frank House, hangs in my bedroom and reminds me of her empowered soul every day.

So it was with a cringe, facepalm and slight disbelief that I greeted this week's news of Justin Bieber putting his foot in it when writing in Anne Frank House's guestbook.



I get how a 19-year-old at the top of his game would write something along the lines of what he did. He's clearly in tune with the persona of his 'beliebers' and tried to 'get' her - because hey, she was a teenager too, right?

It probably was a bit crass for him to write that in the guestbook. It's still a bit OTT even if it were to have only gone on social media - but looking at the other side, the furore over it really does have a positive.

Outlined by the Guardian among others, there is hope a whole generation will be opened to her story and what it represents within the darkest part of modern history. It saddens me that many don't know who she is at all, but I hope that drastically changes. Even if it's a performer pointing them in the right direction.

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Every obstacle that comes along on this planet is either an opportunity to grow and think differently... or to use as an excuse to believe that we're stuck.