Bidding Adieu and Saying Hello

It's officially my last day on earth as a teenager. Tomorrow I shall become an adult. A real life, walking, talking adult. Huh. That doesn't sound as frightening and ominous as I thought it would. So what did I do to commemorate this very sacred day? I studied. Quite mature of me, no? Perhaps premonitive of the years to come. It's been nice being a teenager.  Tantrums were considered rebellion, identity began to take shape, opinions were formed, friends were made, friends were lost, pimples were a constant enemy, so was a widening waistline. And as all good things come to an end, I bid my teenage years goodbye and say hello to my twenties. Here's to a whole new decade of establishing who I am; here's to a decade of actually acting my age; here's to a decade of falling in love (fingers crossed), here's to a decade of no childish temper tantrums (I will try my best), and finally, here's to the decade that I've been looking forward to since before I knew what it was like to grow up. Hello new friend, I hope we are good to each other. We are grown ups, are we not?

Why The World Needs Harry Potter

Harry Potter is practically the first series that I became obsessed with after I got over my love affair with Mallory Towers, Famous Five, The Faraway Tree and about a zillion other Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew) novels. I was an unfaithful girl, I know. I still continue to be. Harry Potter was one series that always stayed with me. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, The Deathy Hallows, magic, where do I even begin? The world that JK Rowling wove with her words, is a world that has stayed with me ever since I read the books. The characters felt real. Hogwarts, to me, isn't just some fictional place. It's my personal brand of heaven (note the Twilight reference-don't get me wrong, I don't like the books. It just seemed to fit!). If Heaven exists, and I've been a good person, that's where I hope to go.
I don't understand people who haven't read Harry Potter. How can you not read something that spawned the dreams and fantasies of children everywhere? The world needs Harry Potter. It isn't just a series of books. Harry Potter taught people to dream, taught people to believe that even in the darkest of times, we can find happiness if we remember to turn on the light, taught people to stand up for what they believe. Harry Potter taught people about the sanctity of friendship. Harry Potter spoke to every kid who had ever been bullied for being the fat one, the short one, the eccentric one or the studious one. Harry Potter made an entire generation realise that every 'mistake', every detour in our lives is just a straight route to what we are meant for. Harry Potter made me believe in fate, in destiny.
The world needs Harry Potter so that we can believe that in this crazy, inexplicably violent and ugly world, all will eventually be well. The world needs Harry Potter for making us believe that heroes exist, and perhaps, to believe that we have the power to make a difference, however small. Finally, the world needs Harry Potter, because it's brilliant writing. You're truly missing out on a generational phenomenon if you haven't read it. Harry Potter changed lives. At least, it changed mine