Showtime.

Well today was just like any other day. Ate the same breakfast that I literally have eaten every day this summer. Washed the face, read my bible, went to the gym; everything a man needs. Tomorrow will be a different story though. I will soon be waking up to a 2:30 am alarm; getting on a plane, saying goodbye to everything I have ever known. The the start of the craziest adventure of my life will be underway. A little melodramatic? Yeah probably, but truth nonetheless.

So, here it is. The night before - after months of preparation. Mom is making my favorite dinner. I'm watching movies with my friends just like any other day. Really, no better way to spend a last day at home. The aura of imminent change hangs around. As slowly as time passed this summer, it seems now to be barreling on like a train, even if I wish I could slow it down - it won't; it's time. The last post from the comfort of my couch concludes with this. From here on out, the words you read will be formed from parts all over the world. Adieu!

jw

Funny the way it is...

...the range of emotions regarding physically being at school. Sure homework and finals can do that to your stamina, but it is still entertaining to acknowledge how badly I wanted to come home; how ready for summer I was - now here not 2 months later, screaming to get back. If there was any part of Semester at Sea I am not looking forward to, it would be having to forgo this Fall at Western. I'm gonna miss it terribly. I already do. In a weird sense, I am already looking forward to coming back; coming back with stories to share. Coming back to see everyone again. I know that moment will be an awesome time. Being comfortable again. But that is what this trip is all about, getting out of the comfort zone.

jw

A Proper "About Me"

It dawned on me that if I were to parish, and all that was in my Eulogy was information regarding my generic major choice at a slightly above average college, I'd be turning in my pretty suit six feet under. The truth is when I wrote the about me I was lazy, or maybe perhaps didn't really grasp the power words can have. I know my friends and family have their opinions of me. But they have never read my opinion of myself; what I'd be like in a story staring me, authored by me. I believe there would be a difference. Not because I have multiple identities with different groups; I actually strive to have the opposite. But because different people have different exposure. Some see the worst, others the best; Some more, others less. Some the humorous and some the serious. I believe this is true for all of us. It was at this realization that I decided to take advantage of a more in depth about me section. Maybe one I wouldn't mind hearing at my own funeral. The tricky thing about this is I don't think I've grown up enough yet. I don't know If I will ever be able to comfortably try and describe who I am through a computer screen. One thing I am sure of is the importance I put on being relational. Sort of funny considering the impersonal nature of writing itself; maybe that's why I've never done so until now (being a time when I'll be away from everything I've ever known, and leaving behind breadcrumbs of my trip seems like a way to remain close). Relational. It's how I have always been. Divulging words onto paper or in a screen seems so trivial compared to talking with people; sharing life in real time. Yet I have to admit, the allure has always been there. To write. To be able to show a side of myself to others in a way that cannot be seen in real time. Maybe even to discover a side of myself I never knew existed. I suppose the true about me section will have to be a work in progress, and one that we'll all be discovering with time. My only prayer is that people won't be as ignorant as I was. Thoughts like, blogging is for hipster, attention-seeking indie kids with leftover teenage angst needing to vent - were all too common. Honestly that description came a little too natural even still, and I probably am still captive to those judgements. But it's not about that. I don't have an agenda. I actually don't even really care if people read this. I think the beauty with words is that they can transcend all the garbage labels we associate them with. For me, a sports playing, jock, weightlifting, video-gaming musician, perhaps the most unlikely to find an inner voice; for me to feel the need to express words yet not act, would only be doing myself a disservice. So don't be foolish like I was. Don't subscribe to unfounded preconceptions of what bloggers/writers/journalists look like - or would have to look like to be any good even. Just enjoy this inconsequential blog that I'm pretty much doing for my own benefit, and for the friends and family wanting a little update here and there about my travels. If you find that are not enjoying it, there's a convenient "next blog" button up at the top that will be right up your alley.

jw