If I Knew What Any Of The Sigur Ros Song Titles Meant, I'd Incorporate Them Into This Headline

My winter break has been over. I've disregarded this fact for a couple weeks now, but the time has finally come for the last night of the longest college break I know of, which, sadly, is now over. I realize I've probably spent way too much money on gas and inconvenient meals driving out to a town I've never once lived in to see people I didn't even grow up with. The thing is, I don't regret any of that time spent driving 30-minute straight shots and ensuring my early-on, greasy heart attacks. According to the last conversation I had in the last car ride I had tonight, the last month has been nothing but enlightening, in so many unprecedented ways.

Sometimes, everything matters. The people you find around the abstract corners of your life can become the driving force of any hope you have in anything. When you can look past your dashboard at the sign pointing towards your exit and feel the same fuzzy feeling you get when you come home from vacation, especially in a place you've never held residence, you know you've found some kind of treasure. Who knows how long you've known these people. Regardless, you know they've changed your life.

Other times, nothing matters. When high school is over, walk around a college campus and see how many people care what happened at that dance Senior year. One day, take a break from your school day or your work day, drive a few towns over, and see how many of those people judge you by who your friends were last month. If you get in a relationship, see how much longer it lasts if it's never about who pays, where you go, or what you do. Find a few interesting people and see if you can't have one of the best nights of your life in a basement with no alcohol and no drugs. See what happens when you round up everything and everyone that makes your life miserable in any way and get rid of 'em. See if you aren't happier.

I know this isn't some kind of crazy end. In fact, some of these people are still around, not away at college. This isn't any kind of epic goodbye, because reality is there is still Spring break, there is still Summer, and there is still a thing called visiting. This is a crazy moment though, because I never once thought I could let go of years of social stigma in just one month of great people and great times. This has been transcendental. This has been love. I think I may have cried a little tonight.