After school

Dear V

I thought we might shake it up a bit and ease into a new trajectory for our letters. So let me start again.

Hey you, it’s Michelle
I hope you’re doing well and I am very sorry I’ve been totally MIA in the last few months. I blame it on the after school blues that leaves everything you try to accomplish feel supremely unsatisfying and ultimately unfinished.
Anyway, I  though I might share what I did after my final exams where I would attempt to distract myself from the inevitable date the results are released- that of which is in a few days.
In my head I’ve kind of organised it into segments so I hope I translate my brain into coherency correctly.

1. Week One 3th-8th Nov

Moved in with my cousin for a week in Canberra. It was just me and her doing the shopping and me doing the dinners. Moving in was a very spontaneous decision which left me with a lacking supply of clean undergarments… (sorry TMI). But that is besides the point because despite that downfall, the whole experience of living (almost) by myself was inturn invaluable. My cousin was also going through her equivalent to HSC as it is a different education system in the state ACT.
   
The week passed quickly and it was when I began to flesh out a story idea for my book. I also mastered a yoga inversion (with a wall)! The good thing was she had her P’s. So we would blast Katy Perry, Iggy, and Eminem on the way back home whilst driving at 90 in a 110 speed zone.

2. Formal 10th & 13th Nov

Having a forced laugh for the sake of photos

Aftermath

Formal was essentially closure for most. It was lovely to see everyone glammed up and heaps of photos were taken and all that necessary stuff.

  

I wore my favourite dress to my formal on the 10th, which was my Mother’s originally. I like to think of the colour as a “Moonlight Blue,” and it was made of satin which just felt amazing against my skin. The back of my dress was the game-changer though- that was what got me hooked. It was such a creative design and its simplicity was something that totally won me.

I did my own makeup with my characteristic dark lippy which apparently gave me look an ‘Old Hollywood’ look. Eyes were very natural and highlight and contour was just a little more than subtle.
The second formal I went to was with a good friend of mine. I wore a classic black number with a sneaky slit at the side. Of course dark lip and good bronzing to finish it off.

3. Schoolies 27th Nov- 2nd Dec

I went to Nelsons Bay with a group of friends, which was about 2 hours from Sydney and like any other schoolies event… we had a lot of fun (I’ll leave that to your imagination).

  
 

We stayed at a resort 10mins from the bay called the Mantra Aqua. There was a gym we barely used and a shared pool we frequented often. The local shops were mostly of the surf and beach variety, the bay was calm and there was an option of parasailing and canoeing. The bay game me a bad reaction which made my skin bumpy :( Nevertheless I came back for another swim.

4. Melbourne School’s Cup Volleyball comp. 7th- 12 Dec

Melbourne's iconic graffiti lane

View from the apartment 

So much better than last year for sure! We won 2 out of about 9 games and a good number of sets.
We stayed at an apartment at Docklands and so in our spare time we could venture to the city via a free tram service that runs every 12mins to the city- It was tram number 35 if you were curious.



One morning two of my graduate friends and I left for the city which was a 10 min ride. We were in search for an alleyway- hipster-cafe which we didn’t really find at the end but we came to the conclusion that “hipster cafes are too hipster to be found.” It holds a level of legitimacy does it not?
We went to a small cafe on Flinders St call ‘Journal.’ I ordered a Chai Latte which came out to be $5.00 which was reasonable I thought. Then we got lost in H&M, jumped in a photo booth twice and bought our secret Santa presents.

Chai Latte

Basically the trip was more shopping than anything. Melbourne Architecture is so on point so Sydney better pickup their game. My wallet is more than truly maxed out unfortunately. Time for a new job!

5. Katy Perry Concert

Tonight is the concert! We bought tickets in March and so many friends have  raved about how good her show was so I am beyond excited yet I don’t know what to wear.
All in all, living away from home multiple times has in someway matured me- or that’s what keep telling myself. I have more confidence

Kaleidoscope, Sadness, Likes

Dear V

Life is real good sometimes. Its about making things significant. Lately I have been trying to appreciate things more, especially the most common things. I find that when something is seen too often, or is integrated into the ordinary, there is a lost in beauty. There is so much to do and see in the world as cliche as it sounds. But its the truth, so many experiences and prospects that make me want to fill my bucket list with.

And I guess it there is this extreme there must be a corresponding opposite. There is also much sadness in the world. It is too fast to fall from happiness to sadness. It would almost be cruel, if it weren't a natural process of things.

Sitting here talking to you reminds me to look at things differently. Like though a kaleidoscope perhaps, there is so much color which I guess can be synonymous to life and opportunity but in certain cases there is vertigo with the patterns. 

That wasn't a bad analogy. But the only fault I suppose is the tunnel vision. You know the blurring edges, when only one aspect of the pattern is clear but the mirrored images of it is blurry? Anyway what I mean is that there is a lack of openness in the world these days. People need to come to empathize if not sympathize with their fellow human. For example maybe a friend is trying to get out of the friend zone- if your perceptive enough to see this, why not ease their struggle and be upfront about it. Imagine the world if everyone was like this.
"Hey Stranger, I could not leave this cafe without saying how beautiful your eyes. Sorry if I interrupted you, have a nice day."
There is too much self appreciation and jealousy. I see it so much on social media. I see people finding approval through the number of 'likes' they receive on their profile picture. Some of the comment make me chuckle to myself sometimes but in such a case it is best to be modest but balance a sort of grace to accept compliments.

 There are so many mundane things that now make me genuinely smile. And these opportunities to write make me really appreciative as an aspiring writer. Though many of my responses may not have made sense, its all very real. Like an spontaneous flow of thought from my mind. At every thought I try to manage comprehensible language to communicate the workings of my mind. I must confess it makes me feel powerful.

P.s
I suggest smiling when you can, but the best smile is the uncontrollable ones, the ones that surface deep within, the ones that only your intimates gets to see and the one the world is seldom graced with.

Love
Michelle