2009: A Hybrid Marathon/Mensa Exam/Psychotherapy Session

The next morning after 2009 ended, after the ball was dropped, after everyone cheered 2010!!! for about ten minutes (appropriate yes?) longer than necessary, after people kissed, after the hangovers were slept off, and after I changed out of new years clothes and into the first outfit of 2010 (sweatpants, appropriate? eh it was comfortable) I realized something: 2009 was a marathon of a year.

It suddenly felt like my mind had just taking the SAT 30 times and ran the Chicago Marathon seven times in 40 degree weather while being told I'm the most successful person in the world and the biggest failure of the world. Basically the equivalent of an Iron Man competition, the entrance exam into Mensa, and psychotherapy combined. I realized not only was this year the most eventful of my life, it was easily the most emotionally and physically draining as well.

Think about it: college acceptance/rejection letters, the end of senior year, graduation, prom, a summer of working and hanging out with friends non-stop, orientation, moving out, first semester of college, grades, back home, and before I knew it there was a fresh new year, a new decade, being handed to me on a big shiny silver platter before I even had time to digest the old one.

I sat down in front of my room heater (I hear heat facilitates the growth of mental activity plus it was -10 degrees) and let my brain finally contemplate, ruminate, mull, study, ponder, and consider the year that had just wrapped me up in its hell-bent tornado and spat me out.

It was hard to imagine how exactly it all happened. Graduating high school is a big deal right? I did it. Going to college is a big deal right? Just did that too. However I have no recollection of really processing how important these two events were within the course of my life. I remember going through with the graduation ceremony as though it was another thing on my to do list- I just wanted to get the whole high school list checked off so I could move onto college. Summer was a big ol' sepia toned lick of ice cream sprinkled in tan lines and cliche top 40 hits. Absolutely perfect, but almost too perfect- by the time it rolled around to head toward Chicago I didn't want to leave the best friends that had made those three months so memorable. I got to college and was thrown into a chaotic mix of new friends, activities, classes, and exploring my new surroundings. I dove into anything I could find just to immerse myself in the "college life" and make a new perfect life at Loyola- just like the one I had left behind. It was a lot to handle: two jobs, three activities, a social life, and schoolwork (...priorities) and I never really took a chance to breathe or sleep. I just focused on the "now", what I was feeling that second, what I could do to to get instant gratification without stepping back and seeing how this semester was just one part of my four years of the college life. This year has been so monumental, so eventful that I felt that everything I did had to be another pivotal event in order to make my life successful.

But even as I did all this, I would still feel empty, like there was more I should be doing. I realized this was because I never stopped to think about what exactly I had accomplished. I was on this achievement high- everything I did had to have some monumental importance. Where are you supposed to go from high school graduation and starting college? Nearly everything is going to seem insignificant and purposeless when you start over at the bottom, and I didn't realize this. Thinking back on this year, I have had the most productive year of my life but I wasn't aware until it was over.

And then on top of these events in my personal life, the world was working through some sizable moments of its own. Of course, Obama was sworn into office, making him the first African-American president and a beacon of hope for a more diplomatic, peaceful, and healthy future. He was handed the biggest tangled mess of predicaments probably ever handed to an incoming executive and it has been a long tough year of discussion especially regarding the economy, health care, and most recently the war in Afghanistan. However when America wanted action most, its been forced to take a slow trek down Obama Road- a lot of talk and little specific results thus far. Though this is frustrating, I have faith. Just as I have to sit back and let my life run its course, I think as a nation we have to have a little faith that the nasty mess Obama has been given may take a couple years to clean up, and we're going to have to be patient to see what can happen.

There was also the Bernie Madoff scandal, Michael Jackson's death, Tiger Wood's scandal, Kanye West's impromptu speech, the Ling sisters not being allowed to leave North Korea, swine flu paranoia and the Fort Hood massacre to name a few of the top events. These events seemed to signify a decline in a national feeling of morality, safety, and security. If the leaders in economy, sports, pop culture, and the military can't even hold it together, how are we supposed to? In addition to dealing with the pressures of everyday life, we were pummeled with new stories about scandal and failures every morning.

However, though 2009 was a strenuous year, it is now over. We all have a fresh new blooming year and can use the strength and hard work that pushed us through this last year to its growth. I plan on taking more time to reflect on what I am doing and why I am doing it and whether I am doing these things just to do something or whether I actually think this will benefit me one day (I swear my life isn't as vague as that sentence). I want to have a lot of amazing experiences, but I'd like to actually take the time to appreciate that I lived the moment instead of hopping to the next one. I believe 2010 will be a regrowth year, and we're going to start off this decade stronger than ever.

Happy New Year! Thanks for reading!

Check back frequently, I plan on stepping up my blogging game this year (it may or may not or absolutely may be a resolution of mine) as well as expanding my social media network thingy by hittin' up every social media network thingy website I can! So add me on facebook, tweet me @karis02 (I pride myself in creative usernames), digg this blog, and tell your friends using those archaic mediums such as texting, calling, e-mailing, or mailing about this blog! Also please comment, I always love feedback. Thanks!


Also check out my personal favorite 2009 end of the year diddly-doos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNzrwh2Z2hQ

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/features/specials/top89/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/22/top-trends-facebook-2009_n_399929.html