Joining Facebook: The only choice you made that really matters

Do you ever stop just being shocked at how crazy, surprising and mysterious the world is?! It never ceases to amaze me. The second I think I have every thing figured out, something so coincidental happens that I can’t help but take a step back. So here is my crazy ‘what are the odds’ type story…a lot of you might know that I have met a good amount of people in London from the States. It always seems like awesome people that I know really well, and some I don’t know that well, are traveling through this big city, and since we always like to find familiar faces in unfamiliar places, I have spent time with quite a few of them.
The most recent one is a little more out of sorts though. I hate mentioning names, so I won’t, but the basis of the story is that a few years ago, I met someone who seemed really cool and we never really got to hang out because we were both busy. I know that happens a lot in this world, you meet people, you become facebook friends, and that is the end of the relationship really. Maybe you wish them happy birthday or tag them in a photo from the night you met but that is about it. In my case, we had planned on hanging out and watching Something Corporate because we both loved the band (doesn’t everyone!?) but it never really happened and time just passed us by. So that was over a year and a half ago and we haven’t really talked since, not that we couldn’t be friends, but we didn’t live in the same town and didn’t have much of a background to base a friendship on. So anyway, now I live in London, which might be terribly obvious to some and not to others, but facebook randomly told me that there were new pictures of this guy in an album that had something to do with London or traveling. Anyway, being the stalker of facebook adventures that I am, I took a look and his status said he was in London. Crazy…because that’s where I am! Anyway, facebook communication aside, we ended up getting together and having coffee, and the craziest part of the whole thing is that the ONLY dvd I brought with me to London was the Something Corporate one we had talked about watching so many months before!
Maybe it really is just a random fluky thing, it doesn’t bother me much either way, I’m not looking to explain to you why the world works the way it does. All I am pointing out is that what seem like the most random choices may not be so random after all. I brought one DVD to London and it turns out it might actually come in handy for plans from the past! Not only do random events shock me…but the significance of singular choices. Deciding to go to Loras…deciding to go to London…being in the ‘right place’ and the ‘right time’. Its all a crazy web of one small choice after another but all the choices that we make put us where we are. If this guy and I had never talked, or something corporate was never mentioned, if we never became facebook friends, or heck, if facebook didn’t start the newsfeed that we all used to hate, I may not have been able to spend time with another awesome American in this great city!

After re-reading what I wrote… I don’t think you should read too much into this blog, I was going to make it really meaningful and reflective, but, I’ve decided after some reflection that it isn’t about chances or choices or coincidence at all!...its really just all about Facebook!

So stop reading this and just add me as your ‘friend’…because you don’t need to get to know someone in the real world in order for it to change your world! Take it with a grain of salt…I’m half serious, and half crazy…but all my real life friends know that anyway!

Travelin' Through

There is so much that I could tell you about the past month of my life! I have been to Ireland for Christmas and it was probably one of the best experiences I could have had outside of spending it with my own family. My sister came to London right after Christmas and we celebrated the New Year in my favorite city and then traveled to Paris to spend time with a great city and an old friend. Over all the last month has been pretty fantastic and has taught me a ton about myself and others. I probably won't go into day to day details but if you want to know, how I've been feeling and what I've been thinking over the past month please read on...
So I went to Kilworth, Ireland with my roommate Thomas and spent the holiday with his family. Outside of the general day to day details (Christmas, Irish pubs, pictures of Spencer), spending the holiday away from home really was a learning experience. I have found that Christmas and family seem to be the same all around the world. I am sure I am over generalizing and I know that there are aspects that are different, but it is really hard not to notice how similar the world and all the traditions are even when you are thousands of miles away from your own traditions. Spending the holidays away from home also made me realize things about myself. Most would probably think I would have been a mess, being away from family at a time when for the last 23 years I have been in the same place celebrating with all the same loving people. So then you transport me away and I spend the holidays in a new and strange place. I obviously managed to survive it, but it is amazing how great I have become at turning off certain emotions. I knew for months that I wasn't going to be home for Christmas so then when it comes time for Christmas away I have already put up the walls I needed to not be sad about it. I don't know if this is a survival mechanism or just a way to make myself strong when I need to be strong, but somehow, over the years, it has become surprisingly more and more easy to just not feel. Does that sound too dramatic? I'm sure it does...gosh, I'm always such a drama queen! :) All I am saying, is that I think the more prepared you are for sadness the easier it is to deal with and to just sweep away. And as long as you don't think about being away and don't think about being in a different place with different people, then you pretty much don't have to deal with it at all. Maybe thats just me and my new found ability to compartmentalize my life into home and away, but I'm looking at it as a positive, although i'm sure you all might be able to argue differently...
After Christmas, I traveled back to LONDON and waited for my sister to arrive. We then spent the next week or so traveling around London and enjoying all that it had to offer. We were able to hit up a lot of the tourist stuff that I haven't gotten around to doing before...some of it good (Windsor Castle) and some of it not so impressive (Tower of London) but over all I think we had some pretty successful journeys. We also spent New Years Eve (the eve of our birthday!!!) at the theater and then went to Parliament Square and watched Big Ben strike twelve and saw the fireworks. It was really pretty amazing and it is an awesome feeling to know that at the one moment in your life you are in the only place you really want to be. The only thing that would have really made it better would have been a mile run to a train station and Kyle! Its funny how I was so happy to be where I was, but the moment still didn't add up to being in Times Square on New Years Eve! Maybe we just have one experience that kinda taints all the rest. One awesome New Years Eve makes all the others fall short, one amazing kiss makes all the other guys just not measure up, and a favorite song makes you not ever want to listen to anything else. It happens I guess, that new moments in life will always remind you of old ones not matter how hard you try. There isn't anything wrong with that and there may not be anything we can ever do about it anyway. We can never seem to shake the memories of the past no matter how hard we try...
I could probably write so much more. I love that I got to travel a little and see more of the world and I love that I got to connect with some American friends and make some new non-American friends along the way. I am planning new adventures though, and considering planning a trip back to the states...flights are cheap, what can I say...but until next time, do your best to shake off the past and live today like there was no other day...