Monday, February 27, 2006

On Your Mark...

We all started kindergarten at the same time, we were all chubby, awkward prepubescent middle schoolers just trying to fit in at the same time too.  We all were all sporting Letterman Jackets and ‘I know everything’ attitudes simultaneously.  We may have taken different roads to get to the college of our choice, but we all left at the same time.  There was so much that was the same, there were such thin lines that made us different.  

We now find ourselves in such different worlds, it’s tough to recall the backgrounds that we once shared.  We were all in the same places at the same time, never imaging that the chances for individual change were possible.  I am in a place so different from the people who started next to me.  Not better, and certainly not worse, just different.  I have recently spoken to a number for friends, people of my same age that are living in places I would find so foreign.  And I don’t mean Tibet or Fargo…

The starting point was a line we all stood behind, the finish line was too far off in the distance for anyone to clearly see.  Maybe that’s why we all ended up at so spread out, so far from each other.  The end, which is still too far to see, is different for everyone.  I am 24 years old, living in the best city in the world, with no one to worry about other then pretty little me.  That is not the case for all of those who darted in motion at the sound of the gun.  

Different mile markers now show the lives we have all decided to try.  Some friends are in law school, a mere 3 or 4 months from becoming Lawyers.  What?  Real, honest to In God-We Trust lawyers.  How can that be, we were just tailgating and sleeping until 1pm every day that ended in a “y”? And now those same people are at a huge point in their race, a point I will not see.  

Closing on a house?  That seems so futuristic and adult like, I cannot imagine such a phrase coming from these lips.  Living in a city where most places go for about $1000/sq foot has a lot to do with the strangeness of that statement.  However, this city is unlike most other places where my running mates have found themselves.  I’m closing bar tabs, and their closing on homes, new homes.  I want to understand that feeling, I do, but that is like telling finger painting toddler what it would feel like to have something hanging in the MoMa.  It’s just too far down the road.

My favorite part of the race so far are these very differences, difference is location.  I love speaking, learning, and listening to friends who have taken different routes.  Their experiences and ability to convey where they are and where they have been only make for a much smoother ride today.  Even though we left the starting blocks at the same time, we’ve found our own ways, our own ways to live our lives.  I am eternally grateful for the people who have stayed with in shouting distance of me.  Some have unfortunately veered off course, and I hope they soon find their way too.  

Thanks for listening

5 comments:

  1. Sometimes you bump into someone and your ego jumps when you see how far you've come in comparison. And then you go and bump into someone who makes you realize you haven't accomplished nearly as much as you could, you can. Seeing the past in the present is a wonderful thing. Well put, JSG.

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  2. I could not agree with you more. You sometimes forget that when people are out of sight, they're living their lives at their own pace. Thanks again for reading!

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  3. Don't worry, us soon-to-be lawyers are still making a slue of poor decisions on everyday that ends with "y." Except when the cops show up now we know to lock the door and demand a warrant. Seriously though, great work with the blog - keep it up!

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  4. That is refreshlingly good to know my friend. And trust me, I've been saving all of you soon-to-be lawyers phone numbers, I'm not stupid, I know I'll need your services one day! Thanks for reading...

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  5. just some guy ROCKS!

    btw, this post reminds me of a favorite poem from back in the middle school days, right before we entered the world of letterman jackets (who needs a heavy jacket like that in FL?!) and skip days at the beach...

    TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
    And sorry I could not travel both
    And be one traveler, long I stood
    And looked down one as far as I could
    To where it bent in the undergrowth;
    Then took the other, as just as fair,
    And having perhaps the better claim,
    Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
    Though as for that the passing there
    Had worn them really about the same,
    And both that morning equally lay
    In leaves no step had trodden black.
    Oh, I kept the first for another day!
    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
    I doubted if I should ever come back.
    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.
    --Robert Frost

    :)

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