The Gabtrotter

I’m stitting in the school library before my friends and I go to Brisbane for the day. I had just been looking through old pictures and have been struck with that gentle nostalgia. It’s weird to think about how different everything will be when I go home. This thought alone keeps me dreading my return. Maybe I could stay here forever?

Quote:

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes.  -Henry David Thoreau

20 months ago I had a root canal and never had it capped. Before I left, I saw my dentist and was told that I needed to have it pulled. I wanted to get it done before I left, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to do it. My tooth started to bother me while I was done here, and so I decided to drop $400 on getting it pulled. It’s funny; I thought that by pulling the tooth the pain would go away. Now, I must take painkillers every 6 hours before the space starts hurting again. Pulling one pain only to deal with another. I thought that by pulling out this other pain, my mouth would heal in a couple of days and it would be like the tooth was never day. Boy, I was wrong. Not only does it hurt, but also sometimes I find myself putting my tongue there or forgetting before I bite and then dealing with the pain of the food hitting the wound or something like that. Eventually this new wound will heal, and I will become used to not having that tooth there anymore… and then, in the fall I’ll get a new tooth and one day I won’t even remember what it felt like to have the old tooth, or to have it pulled in the first place. I don’t like ending one pain to deal with another pain; however, that’s how it ends up working at times.

My friend Sarah, whom I went to high school with and she now goes to Princeton, is in Spain right now. She is studying in Sevilla. We are meeting up May 12^th to begin a European tour. Well, we were talking last night and she was giving me good sound advice, and passed along some advice she has received:  “A friend once told me that if you really want something, you have to be willing to lose it.” I couldn’t agree more with that.

Odds are if you really want something, whatever it is… you have to realize that it probably won’t last. Technology becomes outdated, people change, you grow and your interests vary. How do you know if you want something enough to lose it? I guess most people are afraid of relationships for that very reason, they already know, going into it that odds are they are going to lose it. So why even bother getting attached in the first place? I have my own feelings regarding that, but I’m not interested in getting into that right now. I’m just sharing the random thoughts that are jogging my brain right now.  What Sarah’s friend said to her though, doesn’t necessarily have to have a pessimistic ring to it. It can also mean, if you decided to make a decision to go for something you want, you have to recognize the risks involved with doing that. Taking a chance isn’t always that bad, and it’s good to recognize the chance that you are taking. These thought processes can be very stressful. Personally, one of my favorite adages has always been, “he who hesitates, loses.” Because this has 9 times out of 10 proved to be correct.

Today, I’m trying to get my work done and I have actually been successful. I’ve mostly finished my first cinematography assignment, and I am going to work on studying for the exam I have next Tuesday. Tomorrow I am heading to Sydney with My and Steph.

Sydney is one of the main things I’ve always associated Australia with. I’m really looking forward to seeing what it’s like. It’s crazy; to finally see something you’ve spent your whole life imagining what it would be like. In first grade, my dad, my brother and I would play this game where we were given famous pieces of architecture from around the world and we would have to match up the pieces to its city. In first grade I was very impressed and interested in the Sydney Opera House and here I am, 15 years later and I’m finally going to actually see it.