Inspiration for life.

Usually Mondays makes my eyes tear, my body shake and my head hurt. Today was different. Starting the first lesson with 20 minutes of Juno was wonderful. The story behind this is actually quite odd, for the class is Italian.

Last week we were supposed to watch an italian movie during the Thursday lesson, but since someone had stolen the DVD, and the movie store failed to mention this, we only had the features DVD. So, after fifteen minutes of laughing, complaining and some looks of apology from our teacher, we started watching Juno.

After these twenty minutes of well-written bliss, half the girls in the school went into the 'BC aula' to listen to a lecture. Before entering the room, all we knew was that it was supposed to be information about drugs. From all other lessons and lectures about this we have had during the years, I expected a few wasted hours. Lucky for me it wasn't.

We had two speakers, one man and one woman. The man began with telling his story, and from the first second you were caught in what he was telling us. You could tell that he had accepted his past and what he had done, and had moved on. He had such self-perception it was unbelievable. He could actually smile and tell his story with a laugh, something I think many have problems with. A past like his can not be easy to accept.

I have never experienced anything related to abuse of drugs or alcohol, but I can still say that I know it is hard to drag oneself out of that, no matter how determined one is.

This is where on would usually say that one knows all there is to know about alcohol and drugs, the effects the consequences and whatnot. The usual explanation? "I've read about it" or "I saw this documentary once"

Unless we have actually been there, down at the bottom crawling through the shit of life, we cannot say we understand what it is all about. Sure we can say it is hard, but we cannot know just HOW hard. How impossible. How much it hurts. We cannot know anything actually.

The girl, she was much younger than her friend, and I felt as if she still could bear what had happened to and with her. Maybe it's because a woman is so much more easily abused and used than a man. Also because she was still so young, and only got control of her life a few years ago. The man had had around 16 years to understand and think about what he had done, the girl had not had at all as many.

I was truly amazed that they could stand there in front of a bunch of neglecting teenagers and share that amazing and tragic story. I don't believe I could ever have that courage. Maybe not that many people have.

The kind of courage they showed today isn't something you are born with. Courage doesn't even mean that you dare to do everything. It's simply doing what you afraid of even though you are afraid.

So, with those few words to think about maybe, I will go to bed.

Tomorrow I can be found on the "Framtidens Lärande" (translation:The future's learning) conference in Nacka Strand. I'll be blogging and tweeting during the day, as our teachers has told us to.

I am looking forward to be a part of this, all in all I think we're twenty students from YBC going. It will be interesting to learn more about what is happening in the school-world, and to hear people's thoughts and beliefs.

Quote of the day:

“No one ever gets far unless he accomplishes the impossible at least once a day.”

Elbert Hubbard