The First Post

Ever since I was small I have kept a diary. My first few years - aged six or seven - were a record of days and weeks and months of 'school', 'cinema' and 'good day {smiley face}'; my pre-teens passed with entries of the latest fads (anyone remember the days of Scoubi Doos?) and crushes until slowly, as the years passed, the posts faded from the daily doses of gossip to irregular instalments of extremities of emotion: sudden anger or happiness, or an update of exam results and achievements. 

Diaries are perhaps the best way to get something out in the 'open' without fear of embarrassment or misunderstanding. I certainly found a comfort in spilling out my secrets and feelings into a book that only I knew about. I felt I could write anything - anything - and not have to worry about a reaction or response.

That was until someone read my diary.

There are few times in my (admittedly short) life that I've come close to feeling that betrayed. I remember afterwards becoming so protective of my diary that if someone went upstairs I had to sit in my room in front of its hiding place to make sure that they hadn't snuck up to read it. I brought it with me everywhere to keep it within my sight. It seemed only inevitable that the relief of clarifying my feelings towards something through the medium of a diary would be outweighed by the worry of someone's coming across these thoughts once again. Sure enough, not long after my diary had been read by someone other than me, the entries began to dwindle and its cover gathered dust.
For a while now, I have wanted to reinvent that escape. I tried beginning a whole new diary, which inevitably failed, as the same problems arose. I even attempted another private blog, limited to a few followers and even fewer page hits.

Perhaps in this blog I will discover something to take my diary's place. However, I hope to treat you to more exciting posts than 'School was rubbish today :(', or, indeed, a commentary of my life. What is more, I hope to express myself through this blog in a way that I never did through my diary: by focusing on what I love, rather than what I hate.

And I hope that maybe these posts can influence and inspire those who read them, or at least introduce them to my favourite things. I would like to think that they will get more attention and enjoyment than my diary ever received, sitting in its lonely hiding place, and, perhaps, more respect.

Enjoy.