Mangs and Musings

It’s funny how each year around the holidays we all tend to reflect on the past year and how much has changed since the last time the holidays hit. Maybe it’s because they serve as the grand finale of another year or perhaps it’s due to the close proximity of family and friends and home. Either way, we all do it, even if only unintentionally. For me, upon first subconscious thought, I felt as though not much had changed since the last year. Still living in Italy, still finding my own way, still coming home every few months, still surrounded by the best people no matter the continent. Of course a ton has changed, but they aren't huge visible differences, which is cool too.

But what I find the most interesting, is how as the years go by, the way we view who we are, where we are, what we’re doing and the timeline of how we’ve gotten here or how far we have to go, adapts as something in and of itself. Now that we’re a couple years out of college, which seems like yesterday and forever ago at the same time, real life decisions are being made, paths are being chosen and we’re becoming legitimate adults, while simultaneously feeling like we’re nowhere near ready to embrace adulthood. And though this gradually happens throughout a year, it feels more noticeable when we all gather back at home for the holidays.

While moving forward is exciting and looking back incites nostalgia, it’s nice to take a moment here and there to just be where we are right now. On Friday, we’ll be back with our gaggle of mangs, our fabulous, hilarious mangs, past, present and future, some of whom I haven’t seen in this past year of big or little changes, and in those million moments between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, I am going to be in it. As one mang said, “This is going to get rowdy and I like it.”

Does being home ever effect your perspective on things?