The weather has finally turned genuinely spring-like. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the past couple of mornings I've only needed to don a light jacket before heading out to work, and the other day I spent a lovely afternoon on our balcony eating cherries, almonds, and goat cheese with honey while listening to a new podcast that had Elizabeth Gilbert as the special guest for the week. Looking forward to the next one, with Lin Manuel Miranda as the guest! Very inspiring. My thesis is, for all intents and purposes, complete. I have finished my rewrites, my adviser has signed off on everything, and all that remains to do is to upload the document to the graduate school via electronic submission. Since I'm only auditing one course, I have no final papers or anything. The freedom is intoxicating. And overwhelming. The world is such a wide, varied place, and I don't know how to soak it in to its utmost, nor how to contribute in the most productive way. Sometimes it's paralyzing.
Yet, even as I wrestle with this, I am reminded of the fragility of life, and strive to be grateful for each day, each breath, each moment that I spend simply being. The past week has served to remind me what an amazing group of people I have in my life. My undergraduate improv troupe lost of one of our members. The news knocked the wind out of me. I.T. is like a family. When I was in college, they were the people with whom I spent at least three nights a week. We had Date Parties, Secret Santa, Improvathon, Fall Tour... and that feeling of family extends to the alumni. We still welcome the newbies with e-mails, even years out of college. We return for homecoming shows and alumni hours. If the people in I.T. with me were my siblings, those in I.T. now are like my cousins. The outburst of support and love that has issued this week from members who graduated as long ago as fifteen years, five years, and those still in undergrad has been incredible. Since Monday morning, the song "No One is Alone" from Into the Woods has been going round and round in my head. This is for anyone struggling with depression.
Ayegazoomba, Paul. Ayegazoomba, I.T.
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