[fight for this love]

And I’ve done it again! It’s terrible – I know that I’ve not blogged for a while, but to be honest I just haven’t felt like it. With the addition of Methodism, coursework deadlines, and (most recently) supposed revision, it doesn’t really feel like I’ve had much to blog about, either. The mundanities of everyday life can only take us so far...

Onwards then. A new year, and a new decade. It’s 2010 already, which means that although I’m 19 I’ve already lived in two millennia and three decades. Perhaps as a result of still being in the education system, I don’t feel altogether “new” or “refreshed”. This is more likely to happen in September, when the New Year from both an academic and Methodist standpoint begins, but most often doesn’t happen at all. Maybe it’s the way that we spend the New Year - the same every time.

Every year, my parents, brother and I pack everything into the big car to go up to my Grandparents’, to spend the New Year with them. I’m absolutely positive that we took more stuff this year than ever before – I’m sure that the four of us took more stuff up there for the four nights we were there than I took up to uni for four months. It was slightly ridiculous, especially as my father (in his ultimate wisdom) had decided that of course the car could be packed the day before, and that nothing was going into the boot the morning of our departure (as we were leaving “between eight and half past”). While my father is very clever, common sense is not one of his strongest points, and so, at about quarter to eight on the rather chilly Wednesday morning, I found myself trying to creep out of the house to put essentials (such as a toothbrush and hairbrush) into the boot of the car, as I did not fancy holding them for the next 10 hours. (Yes, 10 hours, as our journey up to my Grandparents’ house in Lincolnshire was broken up by a visit to my aunt and uncle’s house in Derbyshire and a visit to my Nan in Sheffield). If you’re interested, I did get them into the car without being spotted, and was sat in the car, ready to go, at eight. My father was the last in the car, at about twenty past...

Anyway, enough with the whole catch-up session that wasn’t. I was amazed when I got home that
a. My brother is now taller than me and
b. He likes Cheryl Cole’s “Fight for this Love”.
(This isn’t part of the catch-up session that wasn’t as it’s actually to do with what I want to say... when I get round to it!)

This new song has grown on me, I must admit. I didn’t really like it when I first heard it (but then, that was on X Factor...) but as I’ve heard it more and more I actually like it now. It was in my head most of the day today, and I often wonder if songs come into our heads because we’re trying to tell ourselves something. This might sound really rather odd, but I think if it’s happened to you you’ll know what I mean.

The song actually says a lot. Not only is Cheryl Cole beautiful, she is also perceptive:
“Too much of anything can make you sick - Even the good can be a curse.
Makes it hard to know which road to go down; Knowing too much can get you hurt.
Is it better? Is it worse? Are we sitting in reverse? It's just like we're going backwards. I know where I want this to go. Driving fast but let's go slow - What I don't wanna do is crash, no /
Just know that you're not in this thing alone; There's always a place in me you can call home. Whenever you feel like we're growing apart, Let's just go back, back, back, back, back to the start. Anything that's worth having is sure enough worth fighting for. Quitting's out of the question - When it gets tough gotta fight some more. We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love!
We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love! We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love! If it's worth having it's worth fighting for. Now every day ain't gon' be no picnic. Love ain't a walk in the park. All you can do is make the best of it now, Can't be afraid of the dark. I don't know where we're heading, I'm willing and ready to go. We've been driving so fast we just need to slow down and just roll...”

Fighting for something isn’t exactly a new concept in any culture. But fighting for love? I suppose it makes sense if you think about it. A quote that I was quite fond of a while ago was “Find something you love, then be prepared to fight for it”. While I had this as my MSN personal message, someone asked me if I was going to fight for them. At the time, I had no idea what to say. Now, I think I would, if I had to. Casualty also had this fighting theme running through it – some of my favourite quotes:
- “That’s what I want from you...bit of fight”
- “I’m happy. I don’t need to fight”
- “ ‘You don’t need to fight’... I wouldn’t be here without fight...As long as there is breath left in my body, I will fight. You will learn that”

Those were all taken from a conversation Jess (a nurse) was having with her terminally ill mother, while in hospital. Even taken out of context, I think that there’s a lot we can learn from this. The implication that if you’re happy, you don’t need to fight is rather challenging, and one that I’m not sure I agree with. Food for thought.

The other two quotes that I also liked were:
- “Will you stop making me feel guilty about who I am?”
- “You’re not strong enough for this... sometimes you just have to accept things the way they are”
Both of which I think apply right now.

(all copyrights etc to Cheryl Cole and Casualty, btw...)