Today I begin to bring an end to a chapter of enlightenment and discovery. My time teaching in Greece is coming to an end. Two long years of unbridled beauty will soon become but a memory.
At times, I believe myself to be somewhat of a person. As somewhat of a person, I like to think deeply about each experience; the ups, the downs and the magic roundabouts. In most cases, I envisage my life as a story, choosing to see each it as chapters in a book - admittedly, not exactly a page-turner. Who would want to read about the highlights of my general day-to-day life? For instance, yesterday my greatest victory was skimming 50 cents of a cold chocolate because I swore blind that it was 1,50€ and not 2€. As a read, such a hard-fought battle would bore folk to tears. Besides this is not the general purport of my remarks. I don't evaluate my life in the minutest detail, if I did I would most likely not feel the need to express myself through blogging.
We tend to evaluate our performance as humans when faced with a major change in our lives, be the change in question our choice or not. This is when my self-taught book analogy seeps into prevalence. When something life-altering happens - mostly when you hit a low point - its the end of a chapter. A gutting low tends to follow a high period in your life making the sting worse. You sit and mope, comparing the past glory with the current situation and you get nowhere. Fair enough, we are all entitled to our emotions. Misery is something to be embraced. Our emotions, our sentiments are said to be highly developed and attuned responses of human nature and, for this reason, in no way should they be ignored. Some of the greatest pieces of art have come from the lowest points in the lives of some of the most fortunate human beings alive. How can you truly feel pain if you haven't experience true pleasure? And through my book analogy, if you have experience true pleasure, surely it can be realised again? It is only a state of mind.
When I am faced with a big change in life I look back on my life since the last big change. I look back at the chapter. All the highs. All the lows. It bring me happiness and closure. All of the things that I experienced over this period, all of the people I met, all of the things that I had learned, how much I had grown, how much I had receded, all contributing to the man who is closing the chapter. Leaving always brings a sense of sorrow. Even just saying goodbye to a friend is a shade glum. It means that your socialising with them on that occasion has come to an end, never to be re-lived. Your thoughts and feelings from those moments, pictures etched in memory.
Then I look forward to the next chapter. I imagine what changes they will bring. What adventures will the next chapter bring? What challenges? What hardships? The idea excites me no end. I turn my sorrow into excitement and euphoria. The faces of the past, bolstering my future.
Misery into marvel.
Song of the moment:
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| Dougal. If you don't get the reference, it's OK. You won't be judged |
We tend to evaluate our performance as humans when faced with a major change in our lives, be the change in question our choice or not. This is when my self-taught book analogy seeps into prevalence. When something life-altering happens - mostly when you hit a low point - its the end of a chapter. A gutting low tends to follow a high period in your life making the sting worse. You sit and mope, comparing the past glory with the current situation and you get nowhere. Fair enough, we are all entitled to our emotions. Misery is something to be embraced. Our emotions, our sentiments are said to be highly developed and attuned responses of human nature and, for this reason, in no way should they be ignored. Some of the greatest pieces of art have come from the lowest points in the lives of some of the most fortunate human beings alive. How can you truly feel pain if you haven't experience true pleasure? And through my book analogy, if you have experience true pleasure, surely it can be realised again? It is only a state of mind.
When I am faced with a big change in life I look back on my life since the last big change. I look back at the chapter. All the highs. All the lows. It bring me happiness and closure. All of the things that I experienced over this period, all of the people I met, all of the things that I had learned, how much I had grown, how much I had receded, all contributing to the man who is closing the chapter. Leaving always brings a sense of sorrow. Even just saying goodbye to a friend is a shade glum. It means that your socialising with them on that occasion has come to an end, never to be re-lived. Your thoughts and feelings from those moments, pictures etched in memory.
Then I look forward to the next chapter. I imagine what changes they will bring. What adventures will the next chapter bring? What challenges? What hardships? The idea excites me no end. I turn my sorrow into excitement and euphoria. The faces of the past, bolstering my future.
Misery into marvel.
Song of the moment:
