Carpe diem

Somewhere in the sky between Perth and London, sometime between the 17th and 18th of June

I’ve been meaning to blog for a while. A lot has happened for me to write about. But here I am, with 6 hours, 40 minutes left of a 17 hour flight from Perth to London. Yesterday, I was still on a weekend Scripture Union camp, and the week before I was roughing it in Lake Argyle for my Duke of Ed camp. In amongst all of that was lots of packing and schoolwork.

There’s a lot I could write about all of these experiences I’ve had in the last couple of weeks; and maybe I will get to writing it all.
But right now, what I’ve been thinking about is how quickly it has all gone.

Each day in the great outdoors on my Duke’s camp felt blissfully long and relaxed. We were out ‘in the wild’ for only three nights (the caravan park for two), but it felt like we had been there for a month. The whole time, while I was really keen to get home, I wanted the trip to never end.

But it did, and it seems like a long time ago now.

The SU camp wasn’t quite the same, but it was over in the blink of an eye, and there was so much I didn’t get to do: conversations I didn’t have time for, activities I wanted to participate more in, and people I didn’t get to know properly.

This 17 hour plane ride on the other hand… Surely it’s gone on long enough already!! ?

But this, too, shall pass.

I’ve been thinking about that a bit lately. Nothing lasts for very long. Everything quickly becomes a fading memory.
So we should enjoy everything while it’s happening. I can sometimes feel melancholy when I think about the approaching end of experiences and moments. To think that times I’ve really enjoyed will be over before I know it can cause me to feel sad and wistful.

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In a cafe in London, on the 23rd of June.

We leave on a bus from London to Oxford in a few hours. We’ll be in Oxford for around two weeks- which sounds blissfully long.

Our time in London has been pretty cool- though it feels like it’s gone by very quickly. I’ve been trying to ‘live in the moment’, and enjoy things while they are still happening. This has become my friend Molly’s philosophy and mantra since our Duke’s trip.

There are some experiences we’ve had where I haven’t paid as much attention as I should have to fully enjoy them. Although, there isn’t anything I can do about it now, except to strive towards fully appreciating everything in moments to come. I want to learn to love and embrace life wholeheartedly.

I am grateful for memories. While they fade, they help me learn, and run towards the future with hope, excitement and dreams.

I am planning to really enjoy the moment while I’m in Oxford. I hope I leave with some amazing memories.