NEW POST.

I'M SORRY, OKAY. I had GCSEs and then two months in Israel and then Year 12 started and suddenly I'm a sixth former (by the way it's INCREDIBLE; for the first time ever I'm actually enjoying school) and my life became a bit chaotic. But the other day I remembered something, which is that I love writing, so I thought I'd start doing a bit more of it. Hence: NEW POST.

I was going to show you all a little of my most recent creative stuff, because that's mostly what I've been doing lately - it's the deadline for my school's creative writing competition AND the short story competition on Monday. Shit I have like two days to get all my pieces finished. But really, I just feel bad that I haven't been telling you why I'm happy at the moment. SO here are a few little things.

1. I'm happy because I'm not sad. This week has been a bit turbulent (not going to tell you why, sorry) and it's starting to look UP.
2. The background of this blog matches the ‘November’ page of my calendar. Sorry. Just thought everyone should know.
3. It's nearly my birthday. Okay, fine, it's still over a month away, but I'm allowed to get excited.
4. The book I'm reading is FANTASTIC. It's Howard’s End by EM Forster, and it’s simply beautiful. It’s just one of those books where the words are chosen flawlessly, the plot is compelling, the philosophy is challenging, and the characters are enigmatic and likeable. Honestly and truly, it is one of the most perfect books I have ever read.
5. Despite it being mid-November, the sky is cheerfully being blue and it’s crisp but not cold. My rabbit is in his hutch and he’s not looking all grumpy and miserable.

I feel that I’ve at least partially redeemed myself, so now I can go and start my History essay without that enormous guilty burden hanging over me, like the sixteen-ton weight in Monty Python (I really did have an inexplicable sense that it would fall on me if I didn’t post something right this minute). Anyway, soon I shall write you a poem. It might be better if you didn’t read it because my poetry is invariably ghastly, but there you go. There’s just no escaping some things.

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.

42.

Supposedly the meaning of life. I’m not so sure. I think humanity has let itself down a wee bit. I was thinking the other day, we have wars and stuff. No other species do that, just like no other animals murder children or pollute the environment. I mean, I know cows do, but they can’t help it. Anyways. What I’m trying to say is that humans have a responsibility, as the most intelligent creatures on this planet, to act with a little integrity and look after it. Something we are failing at dismally (cue angry discussion about the oil spill).

Anyways. But then I thought, there’s good stuff too. Have you ever watched little kids finger painting? They get quite into it. It’s sort of cute. And music. Humans make the best music, in my humble opinion. Whales and dolphins do it OK but on the whole I tend to go with Ella Fitzgerald or REM. And warm summer evenings in the park with pizza and friends. Snowball fights and home-made birthday cards and catching leaves as they fall, amber and crimson, from trees in a dense forest all make life worth living. I remember sitting on a cliff top in Portugal watching the sun go down over the Atlantic. The ocean was blue and green and red and orange and gold all at once, and it really was something to see. Sometimes it’s pretty good to be human.

So as I was thinking about all this I made a resolution. I’m going to try to see good in everything and be happy about the little things in life. I’ve always found that being cheerful is much more fun than being sad. Whenever I feel grumpy or sorry for myself I’m going to think of something that makes me happy, like star gazing or Hampstead Heath or chocolate and banana crepes. Maybe along the way I’ll figure out the meaning of life. I’ll let you know if I get anywhere.happiness