Secondly, the name can only be explained if you have ever played write. draw. repeat. which can be explained by my blogger friend Erika by clicking on her name! We played last night and what started out as Ike became Pilgrim in a Time Warp. It is a blast and even my granny played it so it's fun for all ages!!!
As funny as that statement is, it sort of describes how I feel today. I don't actually feel like a pilgrim but it is almost Thanksgiving so I suppose I could try to muster some pilgrimatic feelings. But I am in a bit of a time warp today.
As I type this I am sitting in the library at the Community College I attended 5 years ago and that my sister now attends. It seems like so long ago that I was here taking classes because my dad forced me to and if I'm being honest, not doing that great in them. I distinctly remember being asked in one of my history classes what I wanted to do and I responded "be a housewife." Oh to go back and punch that 18 year old girl in the face and say WAKE UP! There is nothing wrong with housewives, in fact I was one not too long ago and may be again some day but what I lacked at 18 was foresight.
My sister and I are travelling with our favorite history professor here at MECC from Prague to Paris in May and we are very excited. While I was here they went on trips every year. But I never did. Not because I couldn't afford it, they give scholarships and I was working and my parents would have been happy to help if they could but I was consumed with wanting to be married.
Why didn't I have the foresight to take advantage of those opportunities? Traveling to Italy, taking classes seriously, being more outgoing. My one-track 18 year old mind thought it wanted to be married but why? Why was I in such a hurry to start the rest of my life? I missed so much. I didn't get to have a college experience. (Don't get me wrong I love marriage and I love Drew but Drew wasn't going anywhere.)
Culture. That's the answer. For the culture in which I was raised I am about 2 kids behind everyone else my age. I commend mothers who are my age, working, and taking care of homes. They have 10 times more going on then I do and always seem to manage their time better.
But as Carrie Bradshaw would say "I couldn't help but wonder...." what was the rush? I have the rest of my life to have babies. Just as Drew wasn't going anywhere, neither is my uterus and neither are adoption agencies.
I sit here 5 years later a different woman. More confident. More focused. More centered. And more self-aware. Those all may sound conceited but sometimes we have to be. We can't help others if we're unhappy. We have to be happy with who we are before we can be happy with someone else.
A friend of mine and I were talking the other night about not being where we thought we would be at our ages. But it is so important to live each day rather than constantly waiting for what's to come. It's exciting to plan a future but live your life today as well. Otherwise you'll wake up years from now still waiting. I will stop short of using YOLO because that's obnoxious but I'm not afraid to say carpe diem. Seize this day and every day.
My sister traveled to Europe for three months before she settled down and got a job. I will forever be jealous of that. We travel a lot now though, more than most, I feel, and I think it's the one thing that is worth the money ten times over. Travel is the only thing that makes you richer than when you left.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad yall enjoyed the game!! I can foresee hours of playing that in the near future as the family gathers...always good for a laugh! I'm so jealous you get to go to Prague and Paris-- what an opportunity!!
ReplyDeleteMeghan, I'm so glad I clicked back to a few older posts to read this one. Matthew and I, more myself than he, have been struggling with the decision to have kids and "settle down" or continue my education. When thinking about it, I often feel selfish when I start to think about waiting on kids and a home to pursue my career. I do believe it is "culture", as you say, that sits on my other shoulder and continuously whispers in my ear to remind me how behind I am compared to my peers. However, it helps me sleep just a little better knowing I'm no the only one.
ReplyDeleteTrista