Spicing Up The Summer

So far, so busy - exactly the way that I like my life to be... at times when it is specially suited to my needs, of course! Well, it mostly depends on what you would consider to define as 'busy'; for some, watching TV is the height of excitement (same applies to me if something other than Simpsons re-runs are shown for a change), while others need to be outdoors in order to keep themselves occupied for longer than five minutes (or seconds, if you share my easily bored-to-death traits).

Still, I'm starting to feel as though there is more purpose in the summer holidays than there previously was a mere week ago, which presented its problems of boredom on a daily basis. As a young, near-adult, satisfying my attention span with games no longer does the job to the typical standard that would have certainly worked a treat if I was five years or so younger - such a tragedy when six whole weeks of free time are suddenly mine for the taking, yet I begin to view this once-a-year opportunity as a dreadful nightmare when I realise that I have nothing to do! Alas, I revert to my child-like self upon being overcome by the initial stages of boredom; I whine, moan and become everybody's worst dream come true to hang around. Yeah, I'm really the type of person whose blog you fancy reading...

Anyway, boredom has finally decided to leave me alone for a while (at last!), instead providing me with things to not only do, but think about. For starters, I travelled into one of the nearby towns (whose title I could possibly state, but would much rather not for the sake of preserving my oh-so-precious privacy) yesterday to get my right cartilage - a.k.a. the bony-ish curve on your ear which can have an awful habit of sticking out - pierced: such an exhilarating moment!!!

For ages, I'd dreamt of being able to wear ear cuffs which, if you browse through the internet and shopping sites such as Forever 21, are all the rage everywhere; as a lover of earrings, it seemed stupid to deny myself the opportunity of trying out the latest trends. Even though I could have easily walked into the likes of Claire's and asked for the piercing months ago (as I wouldn't require the presence of my parents to get it done because I'm sixteen - one of the few privileges of my age), I was reluctant at the time because my school is apparently 'strict' on piercings; like most educational establishments, girls can only wear one pair of studs in their ear lobes, while any other piercings are banned. Well, I say 'banned' yet this doesn't necessarily mean that other students stick to the rules - off the top of the head, I know that there are several girls with belly-button, nose and tragus piercings, while some boys also wear studs on one of their lobes, which goes completely against the rules.

Usually, when such supposedly 'strict' rules are imposed, you would expect schools to ensure that nobody is going against them - if they fail to take any action, what is the point of enforcing them in the first place? As for my school, let's put it this way: nothing is putting pupils off from wearing the piercings that they are apparently not allowed to have. And, if many of the said pupils are in positions such as mine - Prefects - and haven't lost their roles due to wearing tiny, hardly noticeable studs on their ears or wherever, why should I deprive myself of getting a piercing that I would not only take good care of, but would contribute to my ever-blossoming personality?

Like tattoos, piercings demonstrate who we are as people, providing slight yet noticeable glimpses into our characters, whilst telling the world that we are independent in making our own choices - is that not a skill which schools should value far above often exaggerated exam results? If people learn how to be true to themselves, I doubt that worrying issues such as poor self-esteem would run rife like bullying and behavioural problems in schools.

Besides, I don't see how wearing a stud is going to interfere with my learning. At the end of the day, I will still hopefully achieve the brilliant grades to which I've devoted many happy dreams, regardless of the fact that I've got several ear piercings. At around my age, young people should have the right to decide whether to get piercings or not, which is a much safer decision than choosing to smoke a joint or swig several gulps of vodka - both of which can mark dangerous descents into addiction that one may never recover from. Meanwhile, if a piercing is playing up or you no longer like it, you simply take the stud out and wait for the hole to close up!

Before I lose myself in yet another heated rant, I didn't allow my school's rules to stop me from getting my cartilage pierced which, a day on, I happily regard as a great decision; despite being worried about the piercing itself hurting, it hardly felt like anything more than a sharp pinch. And, of course, seeing it in the mirror for the very first time left me with a brilliant smile on my lips, which further justified my desire to get it!

If there were any negatives that I had to give about it, I can't ignore the difficulty in sleeping on the side on which I got my cartilage pierced; even when I lightly tossed my right ear onto my pillow, the piercing automatically felt sore, producing an ache which I wouldn't want to feel in any stronger way! As I've got a tendency to press my head down really tightly onto my pillow, I don't think that sleeping on my right side would be a wise idea while my cartilage, which is expected to take about a year to heal, has only been pierced for a short period of time. While I am able to sleep on my left side, I do love rotating from side to side when I sleep; needless to say, breaking this habit was awfully hard last night as I constantly fought the urge to move over, but I simply had to make do with staying in literally the same position overnight. Even resting lightly on my back would apply some pressure onto my right cartilage, so I really was condemned to sleeping on my left side - such an inconvenience! Still, I'm hoping that it will be only the matter of weeks before I can sleep once again on my right side because, so far, my piercing has been healing well, so I'm optimistic that this will continue as long as I care for it well. My sleep might not be great right now, but I've got a fantastic new piercing out of it - that's vanity for you!

On another topic, I went to the cinema earlier today to see Disney's latest film, Inside Out, which I absolutely loved watching; as my film and TV choices tend to be on the dark side, seeing something so bright, cheerful and endearing was a welcome relief! I'm sure that many of you are interested in seeing it because, let's face it, we look like big, tough teenagers on the outside, seemingly too grown up to watch something as child-like as a Disney film, but we are secretly taller versions of our childhood selves on the inside - therefore I won't reveal much of the plot as films are always that bit more enjoyable when you don't check out the ending on Wikipedia beforehand! Anyway, I couldn't believe how similar I was to Disgust, whose sarcasm could really teach mine a thing or two, but Anger - the red furry thing who kept erupting in flames (rather like me when I can't figure out how to use a TV remote!) - always made me laugh because my temper is just as fierce as his!

But you know what I loved most about the film? It completely related to me: feeling sad, upset or plain sarcastic is entirely normal, regardless of how old or young you are. In fact, I really understood the sense of loneliness that featured in one particular scene in the film as I had once been in such a position, yet I appreciated how Disney presented the message that such a thing wasn't to be ashamed of - they form moments over our lifetime that contribute to growing up which, despite often being recognised as an exciting time, is nevertheless scary and worrying. It was also nice to watch a Disney film - exactly the one I would have watched when I was much younger - but exactly understand the inside jokes the first time round; with plenty to amuse both younger and older viewers, I've realised that Disney films will always have a special place in my heart.

And the rest of my week? Tomorrow looks set to be busy when I help out as Front of House for a theatre production being helped out at my school, which should be fun because several of my friends should be either participating, helping out or seeing the performance. However, part of me will be somewhat freaking out because the performance doesn't end until 10pm - undoubtedly, I shall be having a bit of a late night! Luckily though, the next performance for which I'm helping out is in the afternoon, so thankfully my bed and meal times will not be disrupted. Always a relief for me, as you can see!

Now it isn't looking like such a dull summer...