MOG #59: Brighter Days

You've met my friend Matt before.

He was one of the first people who jumped on board with MOGs. In all sincerity, I knew this was going to be a real thing when this guy told me that I was on the verge of something good. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I did just scroll through my phone to see if I could retrace that conversation from December but in an attempt to clear my mind sometimes I delete all the conversations from it.  I haven't done that since January 8th apparently, and between then and now we've had a few messages back and forth; about school, about friends, about the blog, about relationships, about how one time I was accidentally stranded in Niagara Falls (I may or may not have missed my stop between heavily staring at my hone and nodding off) and he was the only person I knew who would be around and then this guy drives half an hour of his way to save this damsel in sleep deprived stress. He also shared the blog with another individual, who has now become one of my most anchoring friends. In short, I think the world of this guy. Even when he says sarcastic comments in seminar that intentionally disrupt the flow; even when he tells me my optimism is smothering (but it's okay because sometimes it really is and then we talked about the movie SuperBad so that got much better) and even when we don't talk at all, I think the world of him. Especially today, when I was in the middle of writing an essay that just wasn't coming together and should have been given a break anyways instead of trying to make it work- he messages me this MOG. Sometimes life hands you exactly what (or who) you need, and sometimes you get a Moment of Gratitude when you figure why it (or they) happened (to you).

“Happiness hit [me] like a train on a track”

This morning, as is the trend this semester, I found myself pulling yet another all-nighter to finish an assignment that could have easily been done earlier in the week, or even earlier in the day for that matter. Anyway, so after finishing this presentation.. script.. thing.. without reading it over, I had a coffee and ate a McDonalds’ breakfast at 6:30am, the latter of which I never do. Why McDonalds today? I don’t even know. I guess lately I’ve just hit a point where I’m really “whatever” about everything. I’m just sick of winter, I had one of those ridiculous, heavy relationship talks at like 4am which is always bogus, I’m over school, and as if I haven’t garnered enough pathos from your little hearts, I was in a car accident last week and totaled the front of my car, so I’ve been kind of trapped at home for the last few days. The point is, today I was feeling very “bleh.”

            So, like I’ve been doing for the past week, I left 15 minutes earlier than usual to take my dad to work (as if leaving at 7:20am wasn’t early enough already, gross.), and took our SUV to school for yet another 8am class. Like I said, I’m done with winter, and I’m done with school. I’m all about my iPod, it’s basically been an extension of my body since I was about 12 years old. So when I realized I’d forgotten it at home, I was kinda irked. Chalk up another one against this day. But today was nice. It’s warm out. Spring is coming. I took a detour to avoid the highway and rolled comfortably down backstreets for as long as possible, and put on the radio. The Edge is great, but I barely ever listen anymore. I don’t know why, there’s upbeat songs all the way to school, just to keep me in a pleasant mood. The sunrise looked beautiful, everything seemed fresh and calm. Just really peaceful. Spring is coming.

                        Then, as I make the last turn to Brock, I see a rainbow (too effeminate? Whatever) faintly standing out against the clouded grey sky, and “Dog Days Are Over” comes on through the car speakers. Go listen to it, it just amps you up. If you know me (which I’m sure none of you do, so I’ll just tell you), you’ll know that I’m a big fan of when a song hits you just right. That’s what this was. Yes, I know that “dog days” refers to the end of summer, but cut me some slack on what type of days are over, alright? Winter is coming to a close and I just got so amped and happy about being able to feel it this morning that I started beating the centre console of the car along with the song with this irrepressible sense of happiness.

That’s what life’s about. It’s about those moments where you’re able to cast your negativity aside because it just doesn’t matter. It’s about those moments where you know that you’re alive because you feel it so deep down inside of you that you couldn’t possibly deny it. The feeling of rejuvenation, that sense of newness that comes with spring is one of the best feelings in the world. It’s like the shackles of a cold, bitter season have been cast off, or some other kind of clichéd metaphor that speaks to you. As sleep deprived and stressed as ever, I felt alive today because this morning was just a beautiful thing to witness, and that was enough. This morning just felt like the world was telling me “everything’s gonna be okay.” How could I not believe it?

                                           Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to take a nap.