Silver linings and weddings

Over a week late - but better late than never. I have been meaning to post about last weekends happenings but it's taken me over a week to sit down and begin typing. I have been faced with the knowledge that a standard somewhat rushed post wouldn't do the weekend any justice whatsoever. But I realize that whatever I post, I will struggle to articulate just how beautiful the weekend was. Beauty can never be correctly and accurately articulated; beauty is what we see and feel and sometimes, as I remember we discussed on the night, there really are no words. Even the most wonderfully articulate beings can only illustrate it as their own eyes and mind experience it. Beauty is so perceptive and individual - so much so that to attempt to objectify through the usage of words which each posses such a solid definition is a literary admirable endevour but artistically a difficult task. I guess that's why we take photographs. That indefinable nature is what explains the unexplainable moments that happen to take your breath away.

From start to finish everything about this weekend just seemed to be right. I went to Derbyshire to the wedding of one of our friends from high school. Not only does this mean that now I have reached the grand age of 24 I seem to be approaching the new stage of life that is exciting and liberating and almost feels like being born again, but of course with great things come great responsibility. Adulthood I believe it is. Weddings seem to be a very mid-twenties thing to do, and it most certainly felt this way as we checked into the hotel and discussed weddings and marriage and life.

Other than the realization (and acceptance) that impending adulthood is no longer a distant vision in the future but a very here-and-now real reality, the wedding was simply beautiful. Not only the beautiful location of Tutbury castle, the sun, and the surroundings, but the company too. It was nice to spend a meaningful amount of time with good friends who I only ever get a very limited length of time with before the clock moves forward and life drags us away again. I guess that's the beauty of being away somewhere - there are no other commitments; only the commitment to be. To be present and to enjoy. I think this concept of 'being' can be (at least for me) the most challenging task yet the most soulful experience.

We stood outdoors at the top of the ruins of the old castle and we sat on the rocks with our glasses of wine and watched the sunset. Well, we watched people - the wedding guests and the newly weds. And we also watched the sun as it sunk further down towards the horizon until almost the entire sky had turned pink, the sun turned a warmer shade of orange, and something I had never noticed before - the few clouds that surrounded the sun were lined with a silver lining. A real silver lining.  Now the sunset is something I talk/write about a lot and admittedly it seems a ridiculously light and fluffy and pink topic to write about. I even cringe a little because that's not how it is for me. Yet I mention a sunset and that's the image most people will conjure up in their minds as they picture being mindful and meditative and praying to the gods of the earth and the sun whilst wearing daisy chains. It's not quite that bad! I just think certain moments are made to be seen. Certain moments are for the soul. And when sat with friends infront of a sky of silver lined clouds and the most incredible view, where else in the world would you rather be?