Good morning (as it is indeed still morning at the time of writing this) and happy new year! I am sitting on the train, travelling from Midway Airport to my apartment via the Roosevelt stop in the Loop (that’s one transfer and 75 minutes of travel at least. When you consider how heavy my bag is, it’s bound to be more).
Welcome to 2010. The new year is bright and shiny, and, though the “new decade” is a misnomer, I like the fact that we’re out of the Aughties and into concisely-named years like “twenty-ten” (though “twenty-eleven” could use some work).
I’d like to thank 2009. It was a good year full of many ups and downs. I keep hearing how different people interpret the journey of life–whether it’s God, karma, “things happen for a reason”, fate and destiny. I’ve thought about all those things a lot and applied them all to my life at some point or another like a printed overlay. The conclusion I’ve come to is that I don’t believe any of it. The thought that one great idea rules everything makes absolutely no sense to me. I can’t justify the occurrences of my life by attributing them to a higher being or by trusting the positive and negative energies of the universe. I don’t believe any of it, and I’ve realized I’m okay with that. I don’t know if I’m at a peak in my life or if I’m just starting the climb, but I don’t care. It doesn’t make me live my life any differently one way or the other. A life line isn’t composed of graceful curves, rises and descents; it’s more like what a three-year-old would scrawl on the wallpaper with a crayon.
As I flew into Chicago, I briefly thought something was wrong with my vision. Snow (nature’s “Wite Out”), combined with industrialization created a two-tone cityscape. A tiny percentage of snow on the ground is actually left over from the first snow in October. I’m trying to come at this season from an intelligent angle: I’ve been actively weather training, and I’ve been setting my expectations for the weather pretty low. I can’t say I’ve been disappointed yet, but the winter has only just begun. Today was the first time the cold hurt–not the wind, there was no wind–so I’m a little concerned. I’m determined to beat this.
Anyway, I’m back in Chicago and classes start the 4th. Welcome to 2010!
Morgan Bailey Keaton 