J - Journeys

I don’t know any teenager who doesn’t have a list of journeys. Places they have to go before they get caught up in life and tied down to a house and a job. In that brief time between Secondary School and College, the world is their oyster, and they could go anywhere, be anyone.

If you have a serious conversation with any teenager, their journey will eventually come out. I don’t know anyone who has no interest in exploring the world beyond cold, wet Ireland. I count myself firmly within that majority, if not universal, group who need to see some of the world before it gets buried beneath boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, children, houses and jobs.

I - Inspiration

We’re all inspired by something, someone. We all have an image of the perfect life, the way things would be in a perfect world. I’ve had a lot of inspiration in my life, from those around me and characters in books and I too, have an image of the perfect life for me.

H - History

History just makes sense to me, in the same way that Irish just, doesn’t. I’m hardwired to English and other languages just go right over my head because when I hear people speaking anything that isn’t English, my brain decides to dwell on other matters. If I could make it stop, I probably wouldn’t, because that might limit my brain space for English. I remember before the Junior Cert, when I sighed and circled Ardleibheal for the box with ‘Gaelige’ in it, my brain traitorously suggested that I swap my knowledge of English for the equivalent in Irish, which was one of its weaker moments.

G - Goals in Life

Though many of my ambitions were far from realistic, amid the wistful thinking there was always one thought, standing strong despite being buffeted by every word that made me feel worthless, every teacher who looked at me like I was stupid. The word ‘author’ has been swimming around in the sea of my thoughts for years now. It’s only gotten stronger since my teachers started praising me and I met people who love the craft like I do and love what I do with words.

F - Family and Friends

I am gifted with a family that if I could, I would choose. That said, I’m only including my immediate family in that, seeing as if I could I would boot a few of my extended family members out into a different universe, and then turn them into goats or similar avatars that they couldn’t cause trouble with.

E - Emma

Whenever I grumble about my name, I’m assured by the nearest person that Emma is a perfectly nice name. Of course, they’re called something like ‘Natasha’ or something normal, but not very common. They don’t understand the annoyance of your name being called out by every stranger, making you freeze in mid pee in the toilet, or turn to look at someone, who gives you an embarrassed look and waves over your shoulder.

I may get to be named after a Jane Austen novel, but I could also have been named after a Spice Girl or any assorted person on the planet. Of course, to every teacher who reads the class roll, my name is unusual.

D - Darcy

We all have a name that could have been, a list scrawled in messy adult handwriting that could have been our label, our calling card. For me, it was Darcy. My mam is a big reader too, and had I been born a boy, Darcy (Mr Darcy) from Pride and Prejudice was number one on my parents’ list.

C - Cathal

I was an only child for almost seven years; seven quiet and comfortable years, at least for me. I was a very loud child. I seldom shut my mouth and could talk for hours about pretty much anything. I used to sing to people on the aeroplane, talk to doctors, assuring them that they couldn’t get anything past me and anyone who visited our house was in for a very long night of constant interrogation. Recently, my dad was chatting to one of his old friends and he looked at me and said, “She’s not talking”. He met me once, when I was two, and I talked non-stop for three hours.

B - Books

I could preach all day about how wonderful books are, and I think I may do just that! I started reading when I was quite young, beginning my journey with the usual suspects, the Famous Five, Secret Seven and the Five Find-Outers. I loved those books and the sense of each chapter adding new pieces to the puzzle, followed by the final revelation, sometimes accompanied by an excited ‘I knew it!’ from my end. My path followed quite naturally then to Harry Potter, which had the same sense of a ‘mystery’ that had to be solved. I followed Harry through the corridors of Hogwarts, longing for my own four poster bed, my own owl, my own spell books and the cushy armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, or perhaps the magnificent view of the grounds of Hogwarts from the airiness of Ravenclaw’s tower common room.

A - About Me

I, like every other resident of this planet, have spent my life being moulded, adjusted and reshaped by many parties, each intent on making the perfect me, the right kind of me. I’ve been influenced by every cartoon, every movie watched over the top of my DS, every word I’ve heard and every person I’ve admired.

My first solid ambition in life was to be a Pokémon Trainer and the second was to go to Hogwarts and live in the library; not exactly realistic goals. Even now, these ambitions still tug at my heartstrings, evoking the same kind of longing they did since the day they popped into my overcrowded head. I still sometimes add my longing to live in Hogwarts to the end of my diary entries, where I place all my thoughts, both magical and mundane.