Welcome to the sessions. This is a space where I will periodically journal and post updates on stuff that happens.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
~Changes... (Part 6) ~
I told myself after the last post that I'd let this "Changes" series die already, but somehow...the thing that still keeps my mind the most occupied is simply keeping up with all the changes that are happening around me...so here I go.
I suppose one of my weaknesses is that I am a creature of habit. I find something comfortable, and I wear it way beyond its limits. Take my shoes for example. In grade 12 I bought a pair of Air Jordans for only $80 at the Cookstown outlet. Fast-forward to 2004: I realized that somehow, I had worn the same pair of shoes for 7 years straight, and it showed too. The laces had broken and been re-tied, the holes at the top were all broken, and then there was the shoe itself. Both shoes had a split between the top half and the sole, running from the pinky toe to 2/3 the way to the heel. To put this in perspective, I wore these shoes during rugby practice in high school, to CCSA softball, to Yonge St. Mission to play basketball, to Urbana 2000 (where my feet were constantly wet), through my entire university career, and then to Urbana 2003 (where my feet were once again, constantly wet), and everything in between. But they were my shoes, and they were comfortable, so it took me 7 years to replace them. (Incidentally, this may explain the plethora of knee and ankle injuries I've accumulated in that period of time...hmmmmm...)
In any case, I am a creature of habit, and as such I think I adjust to changes slower than most people. It also means that I'm pretty sentimental, and I get attached to things of the past, to one degree or another, for better or for worse. More than any old pair of basketball shoes, I carved out an incredibly comfortable niche for myself at Waterloo in my time as a student here, and while moving on hasn't been nearly as hard as I expected, it's still been somewhat difficult.
What makes it easier, and what prompts me to blog tonight, is the fact that the Waterloo I knew does not exist anymore, and everything here seems to drive that point home. Tonight, for the first time since I moved back to Toronto, I visited UWCCF for a Friday night program. I had been warned by guys like Andrew, Dave, Mike and JT that things were different, but I was pretty astounded tonight that I couldn't recognize 2/3 of the people there. Don't get me wrong, this is entirely a good thing, and I'm glad to see the fellowship grow. However, it has only been 2 short months since I had been part of the fellowship, and now I come to visit 2 months later and there are so many new people and so much has changed... I saw the changes coming, but I guess I just didn't expect them to come quite so quickly.
The DC library where we all used to study is gone too, replaced by a still-dull, but more spacious renovation. It's still the DC library, but it's very different from the place I studied in for the past 5 years. Walking through it tonight, I still remember the food and perfume fights the senior CCFers had there when I was frosh, the countless hours at the cubicles, playing Text-Twist on Trellis terminals, pulling off Calla's shoe and stashing it above the overhead lights. The new library is an improvement; it's just a shame we wouldn't be able to come back in 20 years to reminisce.
Well, in any case, I'm just writing down thoughts in my head...but it's late, and I have to be up at 7:30am for my convocation. Speaking of which...convocation is really an event for the parents, at least in my case. I couldn't care less if they put my degree on sticky-tak and slapped it on my forehead, but I'd like to make my parents happy by walking across the stage and shaking the chancellor's hand and posing for the picture. Likewise, I understand that weddings are all for the bride, or her parents, or even the groom's parents, but definitely not for the groom. What does that leave us guys then? I suppose our funerals will be all about us...but we won't really be around to enjoy that, now will we? =)
Time for sleep...lest more inane thoughts inundate this blog unabated.
