a plan.
With all this talk about university ending and embarking on the beginning of something new – a graduated experience – I’ve obviously been doing a lot of talking with some of my closest friends on the topic of our impending changes and it has amazed me just how different all of our lives are going to be taking. Seriously, all of us have such a different outlook of what we’ll be doing after this year – scratch that – after next month. It still boggles my mind. Even though I’m still going to be in some distance education classes over the summer, I’m a part of this – done. What’s amazing to me is just how different my friends and I are in terms of our futures – yet somehow, that’s what brings us closer together.
I’m living with a future lawyer, good friends with a potential partner of a business, a bank teller, future public relations advertisers, an artist, a general slacker and giving advice to those who don’t want to continue with school at all – and then there’s me. We’re a great group of friends, and I think our differences have been what’s been kept us so close all these years, or brought us together. And now, unfortunately, we’re all leaving each other. As one of the major differences between us all are hometowns and distance. Once the end of April comes, all we’ll have is memories of times never forgotten and distant conversations on MSN and catch up emails.
That’s okay, I mean, it’s contact at least – but then what happens? I’m wondering about all these new people I’m going to meet once I go home, start at a new school, start at a new job – all that. I’m excited, really. It’s just crazy, that’s all. I felt like just yesterday I was graduating high school, working at Coles, preparing for my trip to Italy in March. Now I’m preparing for my trip to England (oh, right – I’m going to England in May to visit the sister) and graduating from university. I’m going to have a degree. It baffles my mind among scaring me.
The thing is, on Tuesday night I had a conversation with someone who told me he was taking a break from school – going to come work in Toronto for a year to save money, then travel to Europe for a year and then finish school – because he doesn’t want the normal life. When I asked him to elaborate he explained he didn’t want to go to school to find a job right after and have a family and all that because he didn’t want to live like that. I told him I felt like I was having a conversation with my sister circa two years ago. He explained how he didn’t want to get married and have relationships or kids or anything. I laughed and told him about my sister again. I also told him not to plan that out because he never knew who he’d meet in his future – who he’d want to spend his future with – because he couldn’t guarantee that wasn’t going to happen – and gave him the example of the sister and her fiancé, again. He accepted that he couldn’t predict the future but he definitely wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it to happen, or encourage it in anyway and that point, I completely agreed with. It then got me to thinking about my life and what I’m choosing to do after school.
Am I planning for this normal life?
I’ve often said how I hate the idea of me moving around so much because I’ve been doing it for the last four years and I’m sick and tired of it – completely happy to be going back to live with my parents, get a graduate degree and save money. Is this the normal life? I’m not looking for a relationship, but I’m open for one. I always said I wanted to travel but somehow I haven’t made any plans for it, saved any money or made any time. Is this the time that I’m supposed to do this stuff? Travel, live life, be irresponsible, right? The whole conversation got me to thinking about plans and even though we don’t have definite, written out to-do lists – are the plans still somewhat there?
I decided earlier on this week that with the impending graduation, move, changes in life – I was going to live this last month of school based on action instead of planning. Live with fun instead of caution. Be prepared instead of procrastinate with school work. The most important one mantra I decided to follow: follow my heart instead of my head – even if for only thirty days.
So I did. I have been. And so far I’ve been given more surprises than I’d ever expected but I’ve been smiling for most of it too – which has also been the best part – and maybe, it’s the way we’re supposed to be living our lives all the time – not with a thirty day time limit.