Remember Remember, the Fifth of November

Image from here (because apparently I have no photos of fireworks or sparklers)

Fire frightens me. And I have hypersensitivity, so loud noises like fireworks and I don't mix. Fifth of November has always been either a hit or a miss for me. Usually it's a miss. When I was little, I adored sparklers. I loved the way they glittered like a magic wand, and you could write your name in the air; pen made of fire, sparks, and heat. As I got older I'd watch from inside as my dad and younger brother would light fireworks. My dad would stand away, and my brothers face would be alight with the colours splashing the night sky. 

Most years, I forget it's Bonfire Night. It's not this global holiday that trends on twitter. It's the UK only, and even then we don't make a big deal of it. It's an ironically quiet celebration, with the sounds of explosives crackling in the air. The smell of smoke perfuming wet clothes drying on the washing line. 

I forget it exists, but it's still there. 

I do the same with The Highest Cloud. So much of my attention is poured into Lost in a Library and passing my A Levels that sometimes I forget about this little blog that I worked for a solid month designing. All the posts are in the draft section, ready to be seen by the world. But I never hit the post button, forgetting this is all real.

Next Tuesday it will be 3 years since I first started blogging at Lost in a Library, and I feel like my style, and my passion towards blogging has been boosted, refreshed, improved upon. I want to be able to manage my time between these two creative outlets well, but first, I need to remember that this exists. That you exist. That maybe you are reading this. 

For now, I'm just going to remember that it's Bonfire Night, and perhaps hold a sparkler or two.

Importance of Privacy

You don't know my last name.

You may if you knew me before The Highest Cloud, and if you are one of my blogging friends. But you. The newcomer. The one how discovered this blog with no prior information. You don't know my last name. You know me as Holly Rebecca.

And that's the way it needs to remain. For now at least. 

Until recent months, I was very open about my online identity. Everything featured my name, first. last. sometimes middle. It felt great to be able to see my name somewhere online. For me seeing a name and it's combination which I've never heard of anywhere else is a very personal thing. 

Then something changed. People who had a disliking for me  invaded my online life and I was left feeling a lot less safe than ever before on the world wide web. 

We rely on the internet to be a happy and secure place, no matter how untrue it is. We hope that everything away from the real world can somewhat be perfect and pristine. A clean slate. It never is. It never will be. Until something happens, you will never realise how much you appreciate and value your own privacy. 

Think hard and carefully before you share so much of your world online. I know it seems like what you want to do at the time, but there may come at time when you regret your own actions more than other people's.

Holly x

Prologue:: Why Am I Doing This?

Why am I doing this? Why am I trying to enter this crazy world of lifestyle blogging? 

If you don't know me already, firstly, hello! I'm Holly from the book blog Lost in a Library, and this is my first step into lifestyle blogging.

I want to express myself - properly, and not just through the medium of books. Being a book blogger is restrictive, which is something I didn't learn quick enough. Turns out that one single post that is the slightest bit more personal can drive people away at rapid speed. I want to be able to talk about reality somewhere, and people to read what I write. Not just skimming over the words for the next book haul.

Books aren't my only passion - I love film, photography, and writing about what's going on in my life. Sometimes I reach a point where it feels like my entire life centres around books. I want more than that. This is that place away from the fictional escapades. 

This is a creative outlet - Being able to only talk about books on a book blog means that my creativity is limited. There is SO much more I want to share whether it be through just writing, or art, or film or poetry.  Let's call it "expanding my horizons".

I haven't a clue what I'm doing. I don't know how to attract the attention of readers, and I'm not entirely sure of what people want to read. But I hope that someone reads this blog and understands where I'm coming from in my thoughts. 

Welcome to The Highest Cloud

Holly x