I've had a really wonderful break, plenty of time to rest and relax but all sorts of productive activity and lovely times spent with family and friends. Particularly with my family. Now that all four of us kids are in college, it's hard to get all of us in one place at the same time. We all have our own friends, our separate identities, and as Mom put it so eloquently, it's like we've finally each become individuals, and she says it's like meeting us all for the first time all over again. I've really enjoyed the chance to be with my family for an extended period of time, and al the love, jokes, the bickering, and the family dinners have certainly helped prepared me for the exciting that I have in the semester to come.
I went down to Washington, D.C. this past weekend to spend a few days with Sara, Colette, and Steph, three of my best friends, all of whom are from Wellesley. We had planned to go out but ended up lolling around the house in pajamas and sweatpants both nights...it was WONDERFUL :) We did end up spending Saturday in the city museum-hopping and saw some great things at the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, and the National Portrait Gallery. We ate tons of incredibly delicious food prepared by Sara's mom and spent hours talking, gossiping, and catching up!
Then, another good friend, Sam, came to visit and spent the night. I showed her around Princeton and we watched "The Hangover" with Jin and then went on a fabulous nature walk the next day. I have to say that I still don't understand how that film won "Best Musical or Comedy", but I found it incredibly entertaining and not quite as crass as I thought it would be. I bought a nature walk guide book a long time ago that outlines trails around the Princeton area, so I decided to open it for once and found a nice description of a trail in the Institute Woods. IT WAS GORGEOUS. While earlier rains left the trail quite muddy, it was still a wonderful time. We came across a swinging bridge and some really interesting fallen trees. I haven't had that much fun just frolicking around in nature for quite some time.
It's kind of depressing that I've only come to this epiphany. After having lived my whole life with an incredibly loving and supportive family, and with all the wonderful friends that I've made and people I've met, I should've known by now that love isn't always found in a designated significant other and that there are relationships more important than the ones that you find at the end of a romantic fairy-tale.
I guess what I'm trying to say is explained in the following citation from my journal. Call it cliché, call it silly, but it's the truth. It goes a little like this: "Love those who would love you unconditionally, not for the curve of your waist or the twinkle in your eye, not those who judge you, but those who criticize you out of love for who you are. Love those who would not put their pride over harmony between you, and love those who love you and not the mere idea of you." Doesn't cover it all, but I think it's a nice statement.
In the end, I've learned that love, family, friends, relationships...they're all so simple, yet complicated, only because we seek to reason everything out and explain it all. When in the end, all that really matters is that it's making you happy and that you do your best not to hurt anyone else along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment