Tuesday 12 October 2010

Reasons to be Cheerful

I thought I ought to write an article about this seeing as it’s what the blog’s about. So, here it is: my reasons to be cheerful right now.

1. Because I can see the sun setting through my bedroom window. It’s spectacular. The clouds are deep, dusky lavender, edged with neon pink streaks that highlight the sky like disco light illuminating a shadowy dance floor. I don’t know whether Someone made it or if it’s a phenomenon of science, but it’s there nonetheless and it’s beautiful. And I get to watch it.
2. Because I’m listening to Billy Bragg, Kobi Oz and Norah Jones. Poets, each and every one of them.
3. Because I haven’t seen anything yet. It’s all still out there, undiscovered and untouched. One day I’ll get on a plane and find something. I’ll trek in the Amazon and ski in the Andes and swim in the Aegean. There’s so much to look forward to.
4. Because if I can’t sleep tonight, I can listen to Artemis Fowl on audiotape. It’s all about the little things in life 
5. Because I am not starving and cold and ill in Africa. I’m going to have squash soup for dinner later, and bread that I baked myself yesterday. I’ll have a hot shower before I go to bed. If I sneeze I get the day off school. I’m a lucky person.
6. Because my guitar skills are improving, slowly but surely.
7. Because I’ve got an inviting-looking pile of books next to my bed, fat and battered and unread. They all have that dog-eared, parchment-paper look about them. When I open them and sniff the pages they smell like old libraries and pine forests and country lanes. And I get to read every single one of them.
8. Because it’s nearly half term and in a week I’m going to Ostia, the home of one of my fictional heroines. It’s the dream.
9. Because Gladiator is the greatest movie ever made. What we do in life echoes in eternity.
10. Because I’m me. I’m nobody else and nobody else is me. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be. Surely this is a good thing.

Why are you happy right now? Let me know. I’m thinking about publishing everyone’s ideas in one post and then we can share.