Changing perspectives

Recently, a very close friend of mine from college got married. To my surprise, I actually felt like I was missing out on a major milestone in her life and the reunion of my classmates at her wedding. I also just got the news that yet another classmate will be getting hitched this weekend, but I'm too far removed geographically to share in their happiness. The weird thing is, I find myself actually wanting to share in the happiness even though I can't.

I'm surprised that I feel this way now, given that I'm hardly the most sentimental person you'll know. I didn't mind my close friends not attending my own wedding. I didn't know what the big deal was about having close friends to celebrate with me because I just wanted to get the whole wedding thing over and done with. I didn't feel much loss when I was still in college and skipped the weddings of some coursemates - granted, I wasn't very close to them anyway.

Maybe the degree of intimacy you have with the people involved is what makes a difference, and I was definitely closer to some of my classmates. Or maybe I'm just missing my friends back home since I haven't seen them in forever. Maybe weddings have more of a significance now that everyone's in different places and don't get together otherwise. I don't know. All I know is that I see photos on Instagram of my friends having fun during/after the wedding and reception, and I wish I could be there to laugh and mingle with them.

Which is a far cry from my college days - given the chance to travel, I'd rather stay home. Travelling was (and still is) exhausting to me, and travelling with friends meant I had to give up some degree of comfort and control. Truth to be told, if I had been in the same country and given that chance, I might still be a bit of a control freak and pay for my own hotel and transport so that I could decide whether I wanted to go crazy with the touring or just pick and choose wherever I wanted to go. It would also be infinitely easier to travel with Jia Wern, since it's always more convenient to travel in pairs. But the point is that I would actually seriously consider attending the wedding. =P

Anyway, the point of this post was to highlight the fact that my perspective is changing as I grow older and go through different stages in life. It is exciting to be in my mid-twenties and graduate together with my friends, see them get married, start having children, get jobs...so many changes within the span of just a year, really.

Isn't life interesting?

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