Two days ago marked quite a monumental moment in my life thus far, for the first time I became conscious of aging and getting old. I have known it would come and have feared it but had no clue it would happen so early. My fear is not generated from some feeling of decay or a concern over becoming out of touch or less hip, but a nostalgic recognition of the sweeping and ever fading nature of the passage of time and the actual speed with which we travel through life. Simply, I love living and try and make the best of it and feel that I have done a pretty good job of avoiding squandering hours, days, week, or years in a sort of nostalgic reverence or depression. This becomes quite difficult as time goes by and one begins to wonder if their best years are behind them. For me, my childhood was so blissful, having had good parents and a wonderful neighborhood, that I begin to wonder if I will ever achieve that sort of contentment again. However, as time has passed I have realized that I have reached a relative pinnacle of happiness several times but was not conscious of it. Since then I have struggled to recognize the profound beauty of normalcy.

We have a tendency to ignore normalcy. This makes a lot of sense, particularly because by definition the normal would seem to be awfully boring. However, I encourage everyone to take stock of their lives as I have and try to remember the best times you’ve had or the most touching moments. For me and I imagine for many others, they are never the big planned events but the calm gaps in between which are comfortable and content because of the safety of the ordinary. No one ever likes their prom, they are far too anticipated and mechanized and the same goes for the stressful and overly plotted nature of most vacations. When I think back on my month long trip to Europe it was not the planned events or stops that seem most fond, but the relaxing periods of downtime in parks or pubs that were most enjoyable. And hell some of my best memories of high school were the summer following my graduation wherein I simply dwelled in my basement eating hot pockets and playing EverQuest constantly. Now that’s improbable.

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