"Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow-creatures is amusing in itself."
- James Anthony Froude

SUMMER

People always say that America is the land of opportunity. 

Similarly, I feel that summer is the season of opportunity. 

I mean, you can spend your summer however you choose really, especially now that school is over (well, in my case anyway)

You can choose to catch up on all those series of Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones, or challenge yourself to a game of Chubby Bunny to break your all-time record, or you could even see how many Ribena's it takes you to drink before you need to pee!

Or..

As fun as they all sound, you could do something ambitious, something you'll be proud of! (not that fitting more than 12 marshmallows in your mouth isn't ambitious, or something to be ashamed of) 

but use your days to the best of your ability, and do something you'll be happy you did.

(I honestly can't think of one person that has said that they were happy that they played Chubby Bunny) 

All in all, be happy, be silly and make memories.

Graduation

Well, here it is. 

Where it ends, and where it begins.

Graduating.

The passing of six years of struggling to get up before the time that my body wants to (or even able to) and listening to the loudest & longest announcements over the intercom, and almost breaking my back with heavy books has finally come to an end.
But besides the downs, there has been twice as many ups. For example, the annual Christmas Quiz, (and let us not forget when a certain Career Guidance teacher posed as Mariah Carey in singing 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' with a certain Principal posed as Justin Bieber, baseball hat, hoody and all!)
Or the time Wexford's very own Wallis Bird visited our school and there was utter chaos because Rob Ross, a very attractive presenter on RTÉ was in our school.
It's all been a great, but unfortunately, everything has to come to an end.

I'm glad to say that over my 6 years of education, I have met the most amazing friends that I could have ever asked for in a lifetime. I couldn't have asked for a better, funnier, friendlier, crazier crowd of people to be associated with. You've all made me the person I am today, so thank you.

The graduation ceremony itself took place in our school's sports hall. The carpets were laid down, chairs were set up and the stage for the mass also. The choir class were singing away beautifully, tears were being shed, speeches were being said, certificates were given, pictures were taken, and all the rest,

Our graduation song was 'Unwritten' by Natasha Beddingfield.
I thought it suited perfectly because we have all finished this chapter in our lives, and are about to start a new one.

Go n-éirí an bothar libh cailíní!

I love this. 

Do you ever look at the stars and their constellations and think wow?

Or see pictures of the many nebula's in our solar system and stare at them, because they're like a work of art?

There's so many beautiful things in this universe. 

(of course there are some ugly things as well, like Crocs. I'm ashamed to say that I used to own a pair)

Apparently, according to science, all of these natural wonders are a result of the Big Bang and are just entirely coincidental,

but what a beautiful coincidence. 

Advice to my Younger Self

I was just having a conversation with my friend and the subject of our teenage years came up.

Thinking back, I realised that I wasn't a typical teenager of my time. 

I didn't do fun things with my friends every weekend. I didn't do random spontaneous things that got my adrenaline pumping, and then laugh about them later on. I didn't make new friends at parties every other weekend. Hell, I think I went to all of three disco's while the rest of the people I knew had lost count.

I didn't do these things because I wanted to be a goody two-shoes, to grow up and make everybody in my family super proud of me because I was 'perfect' in their eyes, because I wasn't part of the crowd that were actually having fun with their lives.

No, I remained in the house for most of the time. Didn't even bother to ask my parents to go to places with my friends because I assumed the answer would be 'no'. So I sat around, ate a lot, watched a lot of Disney Channel, and followed a schedule. Dancing, Hurling training, Soccer training, homework, eat, repeat. 

Looking back, I must have been bored as f***.

I regret not making more of myself when I was younger, all because I was afraid.

Afraid of what, I hear you ask? I don't know, and I still don't know!

I wasted almost 4 years of my life obeying rules, making sure not to even look at boundaries, let alone cross them! 4 years. 208 weeks. 1461 days. Time wasted.

So now that I'm a bit older, although I'm still a teenager, (but will soon be 18 (a certified adult; ugghhh) ), I can think of a billion things that I would have liked to be able to tell myself. But I'll only name a few, the ones I think are important. 

1. Don't be afraid ~ your teenage years are supposed to be crazy! You're supposed to enjoy yourself, not to care about the rules, to learn not to care about other people's judgements, and find yourself. Fear is natural, just don't let it become part of you. 

2. Food is NOT comfort ~ as nice as food can be, it is not a substitute for suppressing your feelings or making yourself feel better, because trust me, every time you look in the mirror, you feel worse about yourself. Food doesn't give you hugs to comfort you when you cry. Food does not ask you how you feel in an attempt to find a way to cheer you up. Food does not help you through tough times. You cannot confide in food. You cannot ask food for advice. Food doesn't wipe away tears. Confide in people; they last longer.

3. You will be okay ~ teenage years can be tough. You'll go from extreme to extreme. Love to hate, happiness to sadness, highs to lows and everywhere in between. You'll hit rock bottom, and it will feel like you'll never get back up. But you will! Because even in the depths of despair, you secretly never gave up on yourself; never have and never will. Don't worry too much about everything, because some things won't matter that much in the long run. You'll be okay.

4. People will like you for you ~ don't be afraid to be yourself. Don't try to morph yourself to fit in with the people around you. You will get accepted into Transition Year, and you will do it, and damn it, you will meet the best friends that you could have ever asked for that like you for you and not for the person you think you should try to be. 

5. You will make mistakes ~ don't even bother trying to be perfect, because it won't work. Because perfect doesn't exist. Everyone has their flaws. You will make false judgements about people, make big mistakes and then feel a wave of regret for making those mistakes. But you know what? What's done is done. It's in the past. It can't be changed. But what you can do is learn from these mistakes so that you know it was wrong, and you will never make the same one again. 

6. Be happy ~ in the end, all you want to be is happy. Do whatever it is that makes you happy! You don't want to sit miserably on your bed 4 years from now thinking of all the things you could have done, should have done but didn't do. All the things you could have been, should have been. Smile everyday, laugh everyday, do something that makes you happy everyday. 

7. Don't forget these ~ when you reach this age, it doesn't mean you can't still learn from yourself. Don't be afraid of growing up and not seeing your friends every day; you will see them again. You will be okay, everything always turns out okay. Mistakes will be made, but learn from them. And be happy, even if that's the only thing you remember from this. 

I really wish I could go back and tell myself all of these things, but even if I did, I still wouldn't believe myself. In a way, I wish I had of done more with my life back then, but on the other hand, the person I was has made me the person I am today. And I'm glad. I kind of like me. 

Planet Earth Is You

I could say so much but this video practically says it all. 

It is exactly what I've been trying to preach all this time, but couldn't find the right words.

Just watch, listen and understand.

Wanderlust

I can honestly admit that I'm feeling very wanderlusty at the moment. 

As an Irish teenager, I have this huge exam called the Leaving Certificate to do in June. It lasts for three weeks and I, as well as many thousand Sixth Year students in Ireland, have to do this. It consists of many subjects but not everybody does all of them, only about seven subjects each approx. 

It is now edging closer and closer to the 4th of June (the day they begin or "D-Day" as I like to call it)

and I'm becoming more and more nervous and feeling very under-prepared but also excited because when that's finished, SUMMER!! Then after that, hopefully, COLLEGE!!

But, anyway, back to the topic of wanderlust! Basically, I'm fed up of being in classrooms all day everyday wearing an itchy uniform that's super hot in the summer and I just want to get out in the world! When I procrastinate, (which I told you all not to do, if you read my last blog post because it is bad and it gets nothing productive done) I find myself on YouTube the majority of the time. One of my favourite YouTubers is Louis Cole (https://www.youtube.com/user/FunForLouis) and basically, he does daily vlogs of his life whilst he travels around the world and does crazy exciting stuff and meets loads of new people and makes me very jealous of his life. He is a super nice guy, totally chilled about everything and just goes where life takes him. By the way, I suggest you check him out!

Unfortunately, in a classroom situation, I can't do that. I have to go wherever my timetable takes me. Which sucks, frankly. 

Like, there's just SO MUCH of the world and I want to see it all! I don't want to be a stereotypical teenager or young person that does their Leaving Cert, goes to college, finds a job, moves out, marries, has a family etc etc.

I want to get my exams out of the way (and hopefully do well of course), go to college (eh hello, they're supposed to be the best years ever and at least I'd have a degree to fall back on if life fails on me) and then TRAVEL! And THEN, maybe do all of the other things.

Life isn't slowing down and probably, before I know it, I'll be in my late 20's and have the "oh it's too late for me to do anything now, I'm almost 30" attitude.

Last year, I had the "I hate everybody" attitude. This year, I have the "I want to do everything right now!!" attitude. Very optimistic; some that know me may disagree because of my day-to-day attitude in school, but in all seriousness, sometimes the weather outside is beautiful and I'm stuck in Maths trying to make sense of Integration or in French class not speaking French and I just want to go outside because sunlight makes me very happy!

Another person who is a huge inspiration in my life that has given me the urge to travel the world is none other than the one, the only, the fabulous, Sir David Attenborough! I don't think there's a place on Earth he hasn't been! He's been all over Africa, in the Galapagos, in the Arctic, the Coral Reef, lounging with Mountain Gorillas, heck, he's even been in Ireland! (and that's saying something) Judging from his docummentaries that I've watched growing up as a child, and still watch to this day, the natural world is an astonishing place and it should be explored, not destroyed by towns and cities. I want to go on a Safari or go trekking up Mount Kilimanjaro (well as far as I can anyway) and just do stuff that other people were too afraid to do or doubted themselves too much to do.

Don't doubt, just do.

Hahahah here's David being cute. Oh David..

So yeah, this wanderlusty thirst will not be quenched for another while, a small while yet anyway. But it's still there, driving me forward and keeping me motivated for what's to come. Obviously I don't have much planned yet, but I have a vague idea of places that I want to go to but how I'm going to get there and with what financing is going to be a problem, but time will tell.

Procrastinating

Okay, I think we can all agree that procrastinating is bad. I have an english essay to write, but instead, I'm blogging about procrastinating. That's procrastination right there!! 

I find that procrastination and motivation are in constant battle with each other. When one wins, the other one loses and visa versa. Oftentimes, you find motivation and then as soon as you begin to use this motivation, you stop whatever you're doing, even if it's only halfway finished, and then procrastinate finishing the rest. It's a vicious cycle, really. 

"Procrastination is the thief of time"

If you find something you love doing, then you won't have to procrastinate about reaching a goal, and you'll be motivated instead. 

Trust me, I've basically let procrastination take over my life. It soon turns into general laziness. (I've spent the majority of the weekend in my pyjama's, I should know) In my defence though, english essays are horrible things that should not be done during the week of official Leaving Cert Oral Exams, in my opinion. Plus, they're not even fun so it definitely wouldn't be one of the first things I'd do on a rainy day. 

And as a result of procrastinating doing this essay, I've started a chain reaction of procrastinating studying French for my French Oral Exam this week that I feel super under-prepared for. Super. 

When you procrastinate, all the things you have put off doing soon build up until you have this big mountain of things to do and have no idea where to start! Kind of like me and cleaning my room. It's a lost cause at this point because I've put off cleaning it for so long. And then you get stressed and worked up and then you feel awful and under pressure and that is certainly not fun. There is more enjoyment found in an english essay than there is with having stress breakdown's. And that's saying a lot.

So just some advice:

1~ Don't procrastinate

Yeah, that's about it. 

Happiness

What is your definition of happiness?

How do you even define an emotion? 

I'm not able to define happiness, I only know what it feels like. 

It's like trying to describe a colour to a blind person, or describe a sound to a deaf person.

Or even lick your elbow.

Extremely difficult.

I think happiness is just when you feel like you're floating and there's something in your brain that's pulling the sides of your mouth into a smile and there's nothing on your shoulders and everything feels right, everything feels good and infinite.  

(By the way, 'The Pursuit of Happiness' is such a nice film, I totally recommend it)

There's no pride in prejudice

I was recently told my one of my family members that I should care about what other people think of me.

No seriously, I was told that. For real. 

Hysterical, isn't it?

Why should I care what other people think of me? There's a huge difference between what people think about me and what people know about me. If they think I'm weird, they should get to know me to find out. And if they know I'm weird, well then fair enough!

Obviously though, if I was going to an interview for a really important job or surrounded by new people, I would want them to think that I'm a pleasant person. Because to me, those kind of things are important. I don't want to be poor AND friendless at the same time. (At the moment, I'm just poor. I do have friends, really.) I want them to judge me on who I am, not on who they think I am. But obviously, I'll probably get to know these people if I get the job or succeed in "breaking the ice" so they'll eventually get to know me. I won't need to pretend about who I am or give a false impression.

However, I am not going to let what other people, such as people I don't even talk to, people who pass me by on the street, the people at the tills when I'm buying two croissants from LIDL, or when I'm looking horrendous on the treadmill at the gym, dictate me in how I act, just incase they might form a judgement on me. 

Life's too short to try to pretend to be somebody you're not just because you care about what other people think. Let's face it; most people are idiots. That's a theory that I have formed over the passed year or so. Idiots, the lot of them. Even me! People are so idiotic to form judgements on people they've barely met or even half-met, or people they're half-friends with. IT'S EVEN SUCH A WASTE OF TIME!! You could do so many more productive thing instead of judging people. 

You like listening to various Dutch one-man bands loudly? GOOD FOR YOU!

You like wearing hats similar to Indiana Jones? GOOD FOR YOU!

You like to read books upside down to give yourself a challenge? GOOD FOR YOU! 

You like to wear socks with sandals? GOOD FO- wait no, that's not okay. That's never okay.

But you get my drift anyway. 

Just be who you want to be and don't be what everyone else wants you to be and don't care about what other people want you to be because in the end, you're stuck with yourself for the rest of your life so you might as well like who you are and feel confident in who you are because there's only one of you. 

And if you do judge people on your two seconds of contact or interaction with them, well shame on you. Stop it, right now. 

Animal Abuse

-Paul McCartney 

I'm currently researching french phrases about animal abuse for my french exam tomorrow (which is torture by the way), but in doing that, I got inspired to write about it.

The maltreatment of animals in today's world is definitely another major upsetting thing. I get physically upset seeing dogs on the streets that I know have no home to go back to; no nice fire to lie in front of, no food, no comfort or anything of that sorts. Why people abandon their animals on the side of the roads, and often tie them to gates to let them die is just beyond me. It gets under my skin! Fair enough, the economy is terrible and you may not be able to provide for it anymore, but for heaven's sake, give it to an animal shelter or someone who would like a pet and would be able to give it a good home, anything else but abandoning it and allowing it to slowly die!

Many other people just beat their pets. Like, why? WHY?! What benefit do you get from beating an innocent animal who respects you and looks up to you?! Those kind of people are one of the worst kinds of people in this world. 

I often watch the animal rescue programes, and I don't know why because I often get so distraught from them, but what some of those animals go through is horrible. No human should go through it, so why would an animal have to either? We're all living things after all.

Circus's are another thing that turn my stomach. Not just because they're horrible places, but many circuses are beyond cruel to animals. They take animals such as elephants, tigers and monkeys from their natural habitat, thousands of miles from their homes and beat them brutally in order to make them do a handstand or balance on a football or jump through hoops or something else that's totally stupid. ANIMALS WERE NOT BORN TO JUMP THROUGH HOOPS OR DO HANDSTANDS. When dogs do it, it's cute because they get a nice treat after it like a dog biscuit or something. But when animals native to other continents do it, it's just not right. 

"Animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to perform silly, confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment; are carted across the country in cramped and stuffy boxcars or semi-truck trailers; are kept chained or caged in barren, boring, and filthy enclosures; and are separated from their families and friends—all for the sake of human “entertainment.” Many of these animals even pay with their lives."

-PETA

This innocent innocent BABY elephant is being beaten and tied down and pushed and shoved in such ways in order to make him to tricks that he is naturally unable to do. WHY are people such hideous creatures? 

And the million dollar question: why do we test chemicals on innocent animals when there a paedophiles and rapists and murderers in prison? You could argue that it's against human rights, but didn't they violate somebody's human rights? Their right to feel safe? Isn't that the reason why their in jail? 

Animal-testing is against animal rights as well and it should be stopped. Like right now.

If you see any animals being beaten, or any animal in bad conditions or is starving or it is need of urgent attention, do something and don't just stand there! You'd be saving a life.

(WARNING: tears will be shed)

This next video is the exact reason I became a vegetarian over a year ago. It is sick, disgusting, and terribly upsetting. I genuinely cried while I watched it. 
Watch it completely at your own risk, and if you feel like it's too much, don't feel as if you have to watch it all. It gets worse and worse, so don't feel obliged to watch it. It's entirely at your own risk.

(WARNING: contains gruesome imagery that viewers may find upsetting. Watch entirely at your own will.)

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. 
Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love"
- Pythagoras

What are we doing?

One of the things that upsets me most about this world is our treatment of it. One thing about our generation is that we don't care. Very little care is given to the environment around us; the earth we live on and the people on it. We are the one's to blame for the worlds current situation, as are the generations before, but we aren't even trying to help the matter. But we, as people, don't want the blame to be on us. We like to blame others. Maybe the world we live in now isn't even our fault, but barely anybody is doing anything to try change it. We like to sit back and say 'change will come' but why not start now?? Our world is deteriorating and it will more than likely turn into the vision of Earth that was on Wall-E but there'll be no turning back from it. Once it is gone, it's gone. You can't un-destroy something. You can only stop yourself from destroying it.

As a major tree-hugger and lover of the environment and the natural world, I get genuinely upset that animals and people in other countries in regions such as Africa or the Antarctic are suffering from problems that we, us snotty-nosed, first world, materialistic monsters have caused. WE are the ones that drive cars that omit harmful gases, WE are the ones that burn fossil fuels that burn holes in the ozone layer, WE are the ones that cut down acres of trees that destroy many animals homes, WE are the blame for all of this! We have become so concerned with our own wealth, our own wants that we don't even think about anybody elses needs! WE pollute, WE litter, WE are to blame.

I just watched a short video set in the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent. On that island live thousands of birds. One man photographed and recorded the dying and dead birds on that island. The dead birds bodies were decayed. And do you know what was in their stomachs!? Bottle caps, lighters, plastic netting, the list goes on! The birds died from these as they were stuck in their stomachs. And don't even dare to say something stupid and ignorant like "stupid birds, they should know that it's not food" or "obviously you can't eat plastic." The birds aren't the stupid ones, we are. How dare we allow our rubbish to flow into the oceans, polluting them and the life in it? How dare we kill innocent life more than 2000 miles away? This just goes to show that what we do affects everything around us.

DISGUSTING, isn't it?? All thanks to our actions, of course.

Africa is experiencing drought upon drought throughout the Savannah. The worlds rainforest's are being cut down and destroyed. Floods are more common, hurricanes are almost regular occurrences, massive glaciers of ice are collapsing day after day. Lives of animals are being jeopardised and it hurts me and disgusts me. We don't see most of the effects that we are causing, but they are still there nonetheless.

Just why. Why why why?? Why can't we walk the extra mile? Literally! Just walk or cycle the extra mile to the shop isn't of driving? Why can't we put our rubbish in the bin? Why do people find it such a daunting task to recycle? Or spend five minutes less in the shower? Buy Eco-friendly produce, grow your own vegetables, plant a tree here and there, do something and don't just sit there! The Earth is so beautiful and full of so many beautiful things, why would you want to destroy it?

Species of animals are becoming extinct, wiped clean off of the earth. The Bali Tiger of Asia was extinct as a result of poaching (don't even get me started on that, that's another thing that turns my stomach in anger). The Javan Tiger, more or less extinct for the same reason. Species of mammals upon birds upon marine life, wiped from the Earth.

All in all, the human race, no matter how significant and astounding we think we are, we are vermin and we are the cause of the world's mess. And you know it.

"Only when the last tree has been cut down,
only when the last fish has been caught,
only when the last stream has been poisoned,
only then will you find you cannot eat money."

~ Cree Indian Prophecy 

You

Just be you. Nobody else knows how to be you better than you. Prove them all wrong. Exceed their expectations. Be the best version of yourself. 

Things You Need To Know About Life

1. You're not always going to be happy and satisfied with life. 

2. Life is going to throw things at you that play with your emotions. 

3. When you're sad, get up and do something to make you happy.

4. Do whatever it is that makes you happy! (As long as you're not hurting anyone)

5. The book is always better than the film. ALWAYS.

Look In From The Outside

My religion teacher said something really interesting thing today, and it really hit me and stuck with me, because I think it's very true!

He said:

"Sometimes you can become too much part of the world and need to take a step back." 

It's true when you think about it, don't you think? You get so caught up in the rush of everyday activity and the constant flow of responsibilities and standards that you feel you must reach and accomplish. 

The amount of people in this world that suffer from stress is astronomical, and of course, stress is a common thing, but a reason why we're stressed is because we are "too much part of the world". We don't allow ourselves time so sit back, take a breath, and try to look at the world from a birds point of view. They're able to look in on us from up in air, outside of all the hustle and bustle of everyday life (apart from city pigeons of course, they just think they're humans with wings). Birds can see all the commotion that's going on, but chances are that we don't because we are part of it all. We end up basing and forming our opinions and beliefs on other people's opinions and beliefs. I wonder, if we had a birds-eye view, would we have different opinions about the world, different beliefs?