My own quotations

Recently I have wrote in my journal quotations which have inspired me, along with these I have created my own quotations, which I shall list.

“Each step is inadequate until you reach the next”

“Your mind will always be free, as you possess it. No one can affect your thoughts, they’re protected in ways which are true to yourself”

“Love is never an answer, but a beginning”

“Difficulties in the present are short-lived, the outcome is your life”

“When you say people have changed, so have your thoughts”

“Tears are an attempt to wash away your emotions, as we are often afraid to show them”

“One comment can make your day, however a memory can last a lifetime”

“Friends are not objects: they’re scattered polaroids in your mind,they’re emotions on your face, they’re footprints on your heart, and their smile radiates on your face”

“There is no shame in expressing your emotions to things which are inexistent. Whether, inanimate objects or angels which you have lost. Any expression is positive, if it brings you relief and satisfaction”

“I often stare at the clouds, and wonder what’s beyond them”

“Education is an opportunity to develop yourself into what you were made to do, your hopes and dreams depend on it. It’s potential is significant”

“If I say something, would you believe me? If I cared about you, would you believe me? If I expressed an emotion, would you believe me? Will you ever believe me?”

“What you don’t understand, I won’t amend. What you want from me, I will not pretend. You will not view me as something else, I will not be subjected to yourself”

“What we shall never know, will not be proved”

“Do our emotions alter circumstances? Only if the person has the ability to recognise genuine sorrow”

“Grieving is the belief that one day we’ll meet again, and the emotion which I shed, is simply a yearning for this day”

“We cannot comprehend pain, until someone who we love is in the position”

“Justifications for our actions are irrelevant, when the outcome we foresaw was probable”

An educated guess of deterioration

I suppose our school has ‘deteriorated’ in a sense, due to our Ofsted inspection, which reflected our school in a negative light…

Recently we have had an Ofsted inspection, the type in which teachers become stressed, frightened and not quite themselves. I have sympathy towards teachers around this time, due to the sharp eye that Ofsted have, not only do they watch and observe, they also read between the lines, and scrutinise all faults.

I respect Ofsted, as they are given an unbiased perception of what schools are like, by categorising them into level of excellence: outstanding, good, satisfactory, improvement and special measures. Ofsted are important as they give reports of aspects of the school which people may take interest in, such as intake: parents who are contemplating whether or not to send their child to a certain school, may refer to Ofsted to hope for an accurate account of the school itself.

Sadly, in assembly the Head teacher delivered news on Ofsted, which I think was due to the behaviour of some children in our school – as did the Head teacher (I suppose this is quite evident due to the behaviour I have witnessed around the school), that our Ofsted inspection resulted to being categorised in ‘special measures’, however our school is not a ‘typical’ special measures school as we are not wholly negative, however there is room for improvement with support. The ‘lower’ part of the school received a bad report, however Sixth Form (which I am in) received a good report. Most teachers teach both 9, 10 and 11 years and Sixth form: 12 and 13, so it can’t solely be the teachers? The pupils have had a significant impact on the news.

I sympathise with the teachers, as I could tell during the days in which Ofsted were inspecting, they were all under a lot of pressure to deliver the best they could; in my honest opinion, I believe the level of education in our school is good, I do not regret in the slightest going to my school, the teachers are supportive and the library is resourceful. Our GCSE results reflect my opinion, our school reached the best in the county, shown in the statistic of 85% of people receiving A*-C level. I am failing to understand, why then, have received a negative Ofsted report, to me, it’s not the teaching, it must be other aspects of the school? Perhaps, behaviour or facilities? Who knows, the Ofsted report is pending release…

Quotations which I love…

I love quotations, due to their inspiration, and they way I think and look at the world, and in most cases not the world, but life.

A description of a snow globe: “The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, “Don’t worry, Susie, he has a nice life. He’s trapped in a perfect world.” ~ The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Describing the imperfections of this world, and how if we were enclosed, we wouldn’t be vulnerable, we’d be safe ‘wrapped in cotton wool’ as they say, therefore this illusion of a world in a snow globe is perfect.

“But if it’s a story, even in my head, I must be telling it to someone. You don’t tell a story only to yourself. There’s always someone else. Even when there is no one” ~ The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. They’ll always be someone who will listen to you, even though you may feel alone… The world is endless.

“I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?” ~ John Lennon. Nothing can distort or change your beliefs, you control your own mind, and what you believe is true, it’s what’s clear and accepted in your own mind. Our minds are vacuums of endless thoughts, dreams and intellect.

“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination” ~ John Lennon. What we perceive as real, makes us wonder in our own minds what could be real, what reality could evolve into. Reality is what shapes our creativity within our mind.

“I think , therefore I am” ~ René Descartes. I think, therefore I exist, our knowledge enables us to prosper.

“The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences” ~ Saint Augustine. Don’t believe what you read, you must witness these things for yourself – explore discoveries, thus experience the unknown.

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught” ~ Oscar Wilde. What you learn yourself through your life experiences, are essential, they are enriched with knowledge and intelligence. What you are taught is none other than a pass along of what another has discovered, every fact in education starts with a discovery of an individual.

I have other quotations which inspire me, however I will not continue, otherwise this blog post will be endless…

Stolen, taken, perhaps gone forever…

I, like I am sure many others wonder why, where and how children go missing, and if they’re taken, how perpetrators can cynically do so.

I find it challenging to understand, and I know I never will, how people, in most cases ‘ordinary’ people turn into monstrous, cruel individuals who’s morality has fallen into a state of decadence. I can’t begin to imagine how a family must feel when a part of themselves has disappeared, and their lives turn to uncertainty and disclosure. Seeing our family is an ordinary occurrence, therefore we often miss the chance to say goodbye if we leave the house, as we assume we’ll be back, but what if the unfortunate event of someone stealing you happens? Regret of taking the goodbye for granted now that we may have left for good, and perhaps forever, what then happens? My emotions if there would be some present, would run through me like thousands of knives slicing every part of my happiness in two. I’d no longer be me, I’d be a vacuum, empty of all love, care and loneliness. How could anyone be that cruel to snatch at another’s life, take all their freedom and deprive them from comfort in their own home? I feel nauseous loathing towards those poisonous cruel people, can I even label them ‘people’? They are inhumane monsters.

Simpler things.

I often wonder why things can’t be simple, and why we tend not to appreciate littler things in life, and instead, indulge in gargantuan falsities.

I’m guilty of this positive consensus of the larger things in life, whether presentation of yourself, or otherwise. Who wouldn’t love to indulge in all things expensive and elaborate? In some cases, loathe the lifestyle of frugality and frivolity. Why should we have this morality of developing lust for paraphernalia, beyond our needs? Could this greed satisfy our gargantuan appetites? In my own understanding, I believe people who have desires are influenced by paraphernalia being endorsed by others, the perpetual comparison of a indulgent lifestyle being compared to that of a parsimonious one.

Regardless of materialistic items, it’s circumstances, situations, why can’t dilemmas within these be simpler? In conversations some of us struggle on what to say to let time fly, when arguments occur, words are twisted, distorted to either exaggerate or raise fury between each other. Why can’t solutions in life be simpler, or is this too much of an ask of such a developing world of emotion and matter? It hurts to witness situations evolve into something which it’s not, into a twisted, more complicated illusion of what it once was.

Perhaps I haven’t quite witnessed the simplicity of this world, but I hope that one day it can be appreciated and endorsed. In reality frugality develops us, not expense and lust, the world is not the phrasing of what we could call “the life of Riley”.

A whole new level

Another week has gone by of Sixth form…

We had an assembly, and we got informed that we were already 25% into our AS level courses. When I heard this, I felt worried, shocked and surprised of how quick my life is slowly unfolding. I feel as though I have been in a bubble these last 7 weeks or so. Those 7 weeks have been an eye opener, if they have went by so fast, the remaining weeks leading up to our exams are going to speed by. Worried is an understatement. I am constantly told “Melissa, you’re always worrying”… I agree, I am always worrying, but it’s what I must do to make it clear in my own mind what I need to aim for. Perhaps worrying may not be the best way to express these feelings, however I know no other way.

My confidence definitely needs boosting…

We all live in one world

We all live in one world of six continents, inside these continents approximately 196 countries, harbouring masses of communities, all folding out into societies of people…



Anyone would expect theoretically the same world to consist of the same values, the same views, the same ideas. This however, despite geographic knowledge isn’t the case. Philosophically the world is divided by a diversity thesis within cultural relativism… Individuals' morals are inherited by history, passing down through generations, and in some cases distorting at times of progression. Each being has their own personality whether expressing a persona to impress or to satisfy their society and even families. The differences within the world are endless: appearance, belief, expression, faith and morals. No two are ever the same.

"I am a part of all that I have met."  ~Alfred Lord Tennyson. What we know is what we are comfortable with, what we choose to know is what we persevere with. We daren’t explore the unknown, otherwise our familiarities will no longer be, but interfered. We have our liberty, but daren’t advance over it. The world is one which is endless, but it has to stop at a point, we may choose to explore but limiting ourselves to where we feel safe.

Note to self

This note I need to take notice of…

Melissa, through out your education you have found things difficult: whether general challenges, work and even growing up. You have found growing up difficult, as you’re slowly realising that the World is a lot bigger than what you initially thought, therefore you are becoming more aware, more worried, more uncertain about your future. You’re finding challenges hard, as these are ones which you have never come across before, these challenges testing your ability and also preparing you for other things.
You need to understand that as you grow up, things become harder, intense and they seem impossible at the time, but this hard work pays of as you realised in your GCSE results. You found middle school hard with SATs tests and little quizzes in class, you sat there worrying about these tests determining your tutor classes – these little tests which looking back were never as scary as what you are now facing. You found GCSEs hard, near impossible,  but you did it, so what is stopping you from overcoming Alevel? You’re worrying too much, you’re overthinking, but I know you can’t stop yourself from doing so, as it’s what you must do in order to make these challenges clear in your own mind: how you’ll achieve the grades you want at the end of the two years. I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to keep trying, don’t give up, if you gave up in previous education you wouldn’t be where you are today… And in future I know you’ll think the same “if I gave up Alevel I wouldn’t be in this University/career” you’ve got to think ahead – think positively, it’s hard to at the moment, but be patient. You’ll never give up Alevel, you know how important it is. What you chose to study at the time was what felt right, what is best for you… I know you’re finding these subjects hard, but they’ll get easier, not easier in a sense of work load, but you’ll feel more comfortable. You just need confidence, belief in yourself that you can do it, that at the end it will all be worth it, all the hard work will equate to success. I know you want to achieve greatly, who doesn’t? I know you’re stressed at the moment, as are many others, but work for yourself, for your future.
From me.

I need to follow this I know I must, it’s what is best, it’s just so difficult.

Unconfidence.

At this moment of time I was just about to redo my English Literature homework...

This English Literature homework which was to write an analysis on an opening of a novel in 500 words (due to it being such a strict word count, I am finding it near enough impossible, but it is essential I stick to this). I wrote this analysis and I got Miss to check through, as I was near 500 words and I was no where near finishing it; Miss marked my analysis, and in her own words "crossed out some waffle" which basically means sections which were irrelevant (but to me seemed good at the time), she then commented at the end saying "make sure you use concise expression and also, accurate grammar and punctuation", I actually feel quite stupid to know that to her I haven't used "accurate grammar and punctuation", surely this is basic English knowledge? Just because I didn't use a full stop before the word "this". I know that her comments are 'constructive criticism', however I thought my analysis was ok, but after recieving comments back from it I feel I can't do it - which sounds really dramatic, but it has honestly knocked my confidence. I have read my friend's analysis and it is brilliant, I just feel I will never be up to a good standard like I was in GCSE, I feel like I have literally forgotten to write properly - simply.
    I am just finding Alevel so hard and daunting... I want to do so well, it is essential I do so, it's the decider of my future - saying I am worried is an understatement, I am petrified. I am finding my Alevels so hard, all the terminology, context etc. I thought it would take only days to settle in, but I feel days will turn into months. I have no confidence whatsoever in myself, I never really have when it came to school work, I am confused on what to do to build my confidence...

Beauty

This post – the main part, isn’t going to be filled with clichés, I know you are possibly thinking so as the word ‘beauty’ has so many attached to it…

In Philosophy we were asked the question “What is beauty?”, this question needn’t to have been answered, as there is no question of what beauty is, beauty is a concept rather than an a opinion. We all know what is meant by beauty as we all have different ideas to what is perceived as beautiful, we all have knowledge to know on a scale which is higher or lower than another. However no one truly understands beauty. There is no such thing as true beauty, as this is defined as something unchanging, eternal and perfect, nothing in this world is defined in that way, therefore true beauty is outside this world – it can’t be fully understood or recognisable - it’s fantasy. "Beauty" is not defined as appearance, but in other ways such as music, films, poetry or literature... I find songs beautiful (two of these shown in Philosophy today: "Nearer my God to thee" by André Rieu and "God only knows" by The Beach Boys), I find films beautiful such as "Jane Eyre" and the wonderful classic "Titanic", I find poetry beautiful such as "Do not stand at my grave and weep" by Mary E. Fyre, "Spring in War time" by Edith Nesbit and "I Carry Your Heart" by E. E. Cummings. I find literature beautiful such as "The Lifted Veil" by George Eliot.

To me (even though these are clichés, they to me, are very true): nothing is perfect, everything is beautiful in it’s own way, beauty is indefinable, what might be less beautiful to me, may be more pleasing to the eye to you… Beauty is everywhere, in everything we do, it's easy to come across, however difficult to appreciate.