A star pupil

I'm about 3/4 of the way through this placement in Benbecula and I'm just starting to get settled here. It also marks the beginning of my search for a new job - somewhere on the mainland, in a city, with shops and clubs and people and young people.

I've had some really really down moments while here. I mean, some with perfectly good reason, like breaking up with my girlfriend who was easily my best friend at the time, my father having a stroke - speaking to my mother on the phone outside the school not knowing if he would ever be "normal" again, and then my grandfather passing away struggling to get off this (at the time) "f£$%ing" island so I could see him again - for the first time in a long time.

But even after all of that I have to admit that it's been a pleasant experience. I love the school, the people here have been more than welcoming, and I've had a lot of really good times, even some experiences I could never have had anywhere else.

A similar thing happened with my blip journal. My early days on blip were while I had all the time in the world in a lovely big exciting city to get my blip and post and chat and enjoy all that comes with having a steady daily journal. Then I came out here and I was busy and tired and when I did venture out I saw nothing. I saw sheep and cows and grass and hay. I wasn't interested in it, the landscapes didn't excite me. I wanted to take photos of people and dirty concrete and slums and rubble. Eventually I couldn't come up with a blip that wasn't totally horrible and I missed my first blip. Once I ruined my streak it was easy to miss more until I pretty much stopped. Luckily for me I started shooting film, developing too (and now even printing). I decided to share these photos, ones that I found interesting. There was obviously a delay and I certainly felt like I was playing a smaller roll in this community, but I started to enjoy it again. I'm happier with my latest blips than I am about some of my earliest ones.

I would say that today's (back)blip is exactly the sort of picture I aim to take. It's the sort of picture I would take on a busy pedestrian street in a busy city, but in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic ocean. I'm happy that this could be my 100th blip and that I can now say with some confidence that no matter how hard things get - in life and in blip - I will always pick myself back up.

So, thank you all for sticking with me. Your support has always given me strength and if I could I would give each and every one of you a big hug.