So this is it?

I sold my soul for this?

  

There's a halo around the moon tonight, and though it's a distant orb, it still causes the sky to seep its navy ink, faintly glowing on the grass below.

I washed my hands of that for this?

I have a rash on my back from sitting too close to the fire; the raised welts, as I examine them in the mirror, overlie my scapulae and resemble the buds of an angel's wing tattoo.

I miss my mom and dad for this?

I went outside after midnight on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.  It was a clear night, and dark, and ice crystals crunched beneath my feet as I wandered out into the middle pasture.  I could hear a faint breeze blowing, and far-off dogs barking, and the hum of the distant highway.  I shivered and returned to bed.

No.   When I see stars--

Procrastination culminates in cramming, and panicking, and pressure, and a week of sleepless nights, and stress, and then a hellish finals week at school, and then, as Eliot says, it ends with a whimper.  For three weeks, my classmates and I part ways, and I return to my home for the holidays, and the old lethargy resumes.  But I can't let it consume me.   For in the apathy there is a hidden restlessness, a yearning for something greater, some unknown spark that can illuminate my path more plainly.  I'm still stuck in limbo, but--

--when I see stars, that's all they are.

--I have to stay true to my path.  I don't know why twenty-something angst has found me now; perhaps I just don't know how to handle my sudden free time these three long and lonely weeks.  With nothing to keep my hands and mind busy, I go crazy from the boredom, and revert to old bad habits.

Well, that is it, guys, that is all.  

Five minutes in, and I'm bored again.

Ten years of this, and I'm not sure if anybody understands

This one is not for the folks at home

Sorry to leave, Mom, I had to go

Who the fuck wants to die alone, all dried up in the desert sun?

So.   It doesn't make sense right now.  I guess it's not supposed to; everyone, if they think about things long enough, goes through these spells.  So I'll cling to my anthemic lyrics, and put my nose back to the grindstone when classes resume, and face the new year before that with ever more forceful resolve.  This is hardly a philosophical conundrum as it is a stoic resignation to see things through to the end, yet I am far from a martyr.  On the contrary, I'm lucky and gifted and blessed (yesterday's Christmas has only confirmed that) and the signs I seek, perhaps, may not be in the stars at all but in something more mundane and tangible.  I just have to trust myself.

Well, some nights I wish that this all would end

'Cause I could use some friends for a change

And some nights I'm scared you'll forget me again

Some nights I always win (I always win)

But I still wake up.  I still see your ghost.

Oh Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh

What do I stand for?  What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know....

Oh, come on....

--fun.

Update: Exactly.

Recuerdo

I'm sitting at my parents' home, eyes glazed over, a pile of notes and textbooks at my side.  Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I am thankful.

I just remembered, sitting here studying the foramina of the canine skull, that this blog is still online and hasn't been updated in over a year.  I thought maybe I should check in, just to make sure things still work (I already had to reconfigure the broken background image).

Not that I have anything to say.  I'm no longer in the habit of journaling, and I've forgotten how to write creatively.  It's been a year since I've been required to write a paper for school, and I'm out of practice.

Which, I guess, is what I wanted to say.

I graduated with a BA ("Bad Ass") in Biology in December, applied to veterinary school, interviewed for veterinary school, and was accepted to veterinary school.  I started in August, moving away from the area I'd lived in my whole life and setting out on my own for the first time.  The transition to independence was, surprisingly, easier than I'd expected.

So now I'm living in an apartment all alone.  I go to class more hours than seems healthy for my sanity most days, I learn, I study, I try to remember to eat and sleep when I get a chance.  It's not exactly a fun or easy lifestyle, but I can't imagine being anywhere else.

And....that's it.  Due to concerns of privacy and professionalism, I can't share much of what goes on in the day-to-day classroom and laboratory regimen, but it's certainly given me plenty of fodder for thought.  I've been challenged.  I like to think I'm growing from the experience.

I guess most importantly to note, we vet students have cultivated a community of camaraderie and mutual support.  It's a little surprising, given the competitive nature of the profession, but while not everyone gets along perfectly, we all try to help each other out.  Four years is a long time, and I'm not sure that any of us could make it through without our new friends here for moral support.

So, full circle--despite some of the current difficulties in my life, I have a lot to be thankful for.