Self Discovery

This book is very complicated.  There are so many plot lines that its impossible to explain, but I can begin to sum up the most basic points.  As of where I am, Ivy is back home with her family, Mr. Quent is on some mission to stop these things called "risings" (trees come to life and strangling people.. yeah, weird), Ivy's dad is in a loony bin, Rafferdy is all sullen because his engagement ended and he still has feelings for Ivy, and Mr. Garrit is working as a clerk to support him and his sister.  As far as I can tell, a major theme in this section of the book is self discovery.  Ivy has discovered she has this ancient, magical ability that has something to do with trees, Rafferdy, with the help of a strange man he can't stand, is able to do simple magic tricks, despite his disgust, and Garrit has this weird ability to work with illusions, hiding himself in shadows.  There's too much to explain concerning actual plot, so instead I have decided to make connections that follow this thought of self discovery.  Yippee.  When I think of self discover a few things come to mind - band, college, and an essay I have due Monday.  Band always seems to relate to self discovery because I have seen it shape myself and the people around me.  The hours of commitment make people dedicated and disciplined.  Today, for example, we had practice for three hours in the pouring rain.  Our field is now nothing but mud, so you can imagine how fun that is.  Anyone who chooses to be involved in an activity like that must have discovered something about themselves - otherwise, why bother?  College, on the other hand, makes me think of future self discovery.  As I start writing application essays, I realize that I have a lot to learn about myself.  I think that being independent and studying things I want to learn about will help me to, in turn, learn more about myself.  I'm scared for college, but looking forward to this life shaping experience.  Finally, my essay do Monday may be a rather shallow topic to discuss.  Not exactly deep.  The topic, however, if I pull it off, could be profound.  The prompt is to write about a place that has made an impact on your life.  I've chosen a tree in my backyard that I often climb to do homework, think, and cry.  Its a pretty epic tree.  The only problem is that I have to find some way to discuss a sudden epiphany I had in said tree.  We will see how that goes.  So there are my connections for today.  Just as my book is focusing on self discovery, I am starting to learn about who I am from band, college applications, and school essays.  Who would've thought that would be the case.