Don't waste it

I don't keep a day-to-day diary. I never have. And you might have noticed that my previous journal entries have been filled with really deep thoughts. Right. Well, this time I just decided to grab a pen (or actually just my keyboard) and write whatever was on my mind at this very moment. So here goes.

It's been a month since I graduated. Since then, I've talked to my best friend once. And that wasn't even a decent conversation. I sent her a text message asking whether she was okay and what she was up to these days. She just replied that she was doing good. I mean, I'm happy that she's okay and all, but I miss talking to her. How can she live like that? Not even caring the slightest bit about what I might be up to and picking up her phone to give me a call to ask. The sad truth is that people don't 'do that these days'. I'm not even sure what I miss most - talking to my friends (because she's not the only one who is successfully avoiding me) or the 'grass was greener, sky was clearer' days. I guess it's a bit of both, even though I technically haven't been around long enough to know what 'the good old days' really are. But I've had my fair share of that kind of times.

It's the typical 'technology development' scenario that everyone is practically programmed to believe. That's rubbish. Technology can improve, but if you wanted to stay in touch with people, you'd do it nevertheless. The so-called social networks don't really help you keep in touch - they help you stalk people and by doing that, avoid talking to them, because you already know what they're up to. Don't you remember the excitement of getting a letter? The anticipation - and the rush of emotions when you finally got the long awaited letter in your mailbox. Now it's just 'fast-forward-everything'.

And then we come back to the part where you can keep in touch with friends more easily via i.e. Facebook. I've got some great news - every online-friend I talked to is mostly offline this time of the year. Wonderful.

When I think of summer, the first word that pops into my head is 'adventure'. "Yoohoo, adventure! Are we playing hide-and-seek?" I want to get out. Break loose from home. I want to travel somewhere where people normally don't go. For instance, Albania has been one of my 'goals' ever since 2nd grade, when a local newspaper managed to print a map of Europe with no signs of that country and I was convinced there was one just at its spot. (On the printed map, it was whooshed away by the Mediterranean sea. Good job, editors!) Luckily I don't remember much of my letter of complaint to that paper.

People often say, "You're young! You have all the time in the world!" I'm not buying that hoax. Sure I might be young, but most of my youth is spent on school and studying. Of course I believe that education is important, I'm not implying that it isn't. But truthfully, I don't see myself being ready for the big world even after graduating university. I can have all the knowledge possible and yet not know what to do with it. Maybe I'll take a year off before going to uni - who knows! Maybe I'll take a year off before getting a job? I wish to see the world as it is and embrace the 'real thing', to learn for myself, not memorise facts. Though it's rather clear that all of this will just be a big 'dream'.