[Z]

I never really thought I had any heroes until I properly thought about it. Growing up, I never wanted to be like anybody famous and I didn't aspire to have any particular job; I didn't want to be an astronaut or a fireman or any of those other clichés... it wasn't a conscious decision, I just didn't really think of my life in those sorts of terms...

But more recently I've realised that I do have heroes. It's probably a cliché and a bit cringe worthy in some respects, but my mum and dad are my main heroes firstly and foremostly...

I've always looked up to my mum for being incredibly resourceful and wonderfully talented. There's never been a moment where I've thought "my mum can't do ___" because she does genuinely seem to be able to do everything under the sun. I think it's because she had to fend for herself and contribute towards her family's income from the moment she turned 16, but whether it be sewing, cooking, cleaning or saving money to sketching, painting, photography or designing; she just has this incredible flair for life and I've always admired that... I don't know if I can claim that I've learned a lot from her, because in a lot of ways I still completely rely on her to help me out, probably because she can do everything and I've never been forced to do anything I didn't want to do in life, not really anyway... but my mum's brilliant.

Similarly, my dad's always been the strong father figure that I think a lot of people wish they had... he's not always been the most approachable person because I think our relationship falls somewhere between distant respect and close friendship, which is kinda weird, but it works really well. I'd always go to him if I had some kind of problem with my friends because I take after my dad in a lot of ways and I find that he always has incredibly useful advice or perspectives that I'd never even thought of; I think he's the most thoughtful person I know. He always remembers the little things; and he has a level head and I've never once seen him fail at anything.

I didn't really think I looked up to anyone famous because I always thought that was a bit weird, until I turned 18 and went through a bout of depression and found myself really respecting Siobhan Donaghy and Ray LaMontagne for not being afraid to talk about depression in their music and have this masterful control over it. Their music has really helped me in different ways and although I still think it's a bit embarrassing to talk about with other people, they're definitely positive role models to look up to. They're both intelligent and they talk about negative emotions in a mature way with their music and I really admire musicians who can do that. Life isn't all parties and saccharine love songs.

How about you guys? Is there anyone you look up to in particular and why?