We'd belong there.

I've returned from my D of E silver hike and I have to say it was probably one of the most gruelling things I've done in my life. Walking and camping for three days with a heavy 70 litre rucksack through the Derbyshire countryside (which is VERY hilly) in the heat of the sun, across great stretches of fields, footpaths and bridleways with multiple styles designed for stick people was not really my idea of fun. However I was with three other lovely people and together as a team we made it, despite troubles such as waiting a whole hour for water to boil for pasta, one of us being ill (yet bravely deciding to carry on) and having our tent attacked by sheep in the middle of the night. It was a great experience and something definitely worth writing about. I guess its part of seeking the great perhaps.

Today I've returned to the normal routine, and have started with the hardcore revision again, today starting with english and biology. I don't mind English Lit revision as it mainly consisted of sitting out in the sunshine in the grounds of the nearby Belton House, a big country mansion, and re-reading Of Mice and Men, writing down important quotes in preparation for practice exam essays. To be honest I quite like Of Mice and Men, even if pretty much everyone else in my class hates it. I guess I like the way George and Lennie are looking for their great perhaps too by wanting to "live off the fatta the land" and "get their piece of heaven" and how they use their dreams as an escape from reality much like one of my favourtite quotes "imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia", I think their friendship really is truly remarkable, even if their dreams are shattered by a cruel twist of fate. But that makes the point you see these characters are not in control of their lives, they are realistic and fate decides the outcome of the novel despite "best laid plans". I seriously think people would perhaps enjoy this book if it weren't so analysed already, if we weren't told what every single sentence represents, if we were allowed to explore it for ourselves and instead of answering essay questions, write down our impressions of the novel and what it means to us.

As for the rest of the holidays, I can't say they sound particularly appealing...just revision, revision, revision, although I hope I can get a get together of all my friends at some point so we can spend this last official school holiday with each other. I really can't believe how fast time is passing now, when we return there will only be a few short days until we have officially left and go on study leave. It's a horrible thought almost as it means my life will be moving forwards at a rate I can't control. The people I love will stay in my life I will make sure of it (I'm talking to you my best friends!), the ones whom I never really cared for will probably disappear until some high school reunion or a chance meeting in a supermarket, and the people I am yet to meet will appear on the horizon. In a metaphorical sense we're all migrants like the characters in Of Mice and Men, we have very little control over our fate, we move through life without much choice, and it is the best friends we have who will stick by us in all circumstances and whom we hope will share our dreams to find a place where we'd all belong.

wow. I went off on a tangent there. I'll leave you with some pictures and quotes to finish off todays blog because its been a while, and my tumblr is filling up with all these wonderful quotes and pictures!

"There is no such thing as a bad idea- only poorly executed awesome ones"- Damon, The Vampire Diaries

"Everywhere we look, complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes." - 11th Doctor


"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as understood"- George Orwell, 1984

"In dreams we enter a world which is entirely our own"- Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter

"You just use the future to escape the present"- John Green, Looking For Alaska

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well, death will tremble to take us"

"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you?"