RETREAT!

This past week has been a nice port of call in the maelstrom and storm of college existence. I was given one of the best birthdays of my years -not only did I spend it at home with close friends, I was treated to dinner at a wonderful Russian Restaurant (and I got a first class seat both legs of the journey.) Added to the trip home, three of my classes were cancelled, so I got to spend a little more time away from college. People more or less popped out of the woodwork to wish me a happy day. For once, I didn't feel bad about having a birthday and interacting with people on it. I received a fair share of presents too... Odd for someone over 18, but still appreciated! So, to everyone that made my day happy ~Thank You!!! :)

Friday I made it back and went to one class - the one I had ditched on Wednesday- and then packed for the C2 retreat. Though different from the Catholic School Retreats of my past experience, this one still left me with a sort of "spiritual" or "metaphysical" high. Like the rest of the C2 program, the retreat was hard to describe and the rewards of it cannot be described in words that do it justice. "It was sort of like a retreat. It was kind of like going to camp. It builds community in a way that you've never built community before. And overall, there’s this sense of having more freedom and more responsibility over your life and actions without feeling scared or that something is bound to be screwed up. No matter what you did or did not do, you should have gotten something out of this retreat." I did. I'm already missing the people, the place, the activities.

After that whole break from school, coming back is hard. When busywork and mundane distractions reenter the standard plane of existence, when interruptions, broken dreams, and distorted visions are given room to grown and play, when the plain and ordinary exhibit their drab faces once again, once misses the exotic past. Now I know why people are stoners -though I don't see the point in inhaling smoke to create emotion.

I can't say I was 100% happy on the retreat. I spent time wondering why I was there, and if my friends were really more than associates, and if I wasn't looking in the right place for diversion, amusement, and companionship -but given the chance, I would go back again. And again. And again. Until I lost all sense of what the real world did to make this so much better. Thanks world, for giving my rollercoaster a few hills to climb over.