Sunday, June 25th, 2006

I decided not to let another month go by sans updates...so here we are :)

It is now nearly the end of June and I have been home from school for about two months. Officially, I am doing nothing -- unofficially, however, I have enough things to do to keep me busy well into mid-August (at the very least). I am catching up to the pile of books and TIME magazines that has been growing since last summer (I am in the middle of "Anna Karenina" and the October 31st, 2005 issue); I am learning how to really cook (thanks, in large part, to my able and willing guinea pigs - my parents and Shaz); I am up to my ears in crafts, such as making my own earrings and finally knitting that scarf I promised Neelam back in first year; I am becoming a tennis pro ("pro" being code for "I'm pretty bad but loving it no less"); I am in the very serious planning stages of getting a motorcycle (and the accompanying driver's license) before the end of August; and lots of other little things in between as well.

There are also lots of things for me to look forward to right now: Husain's coming to Toronto tomorrow, we're going to spend the day downtown; Footprints, in a week (which will also be the first time I'll be seeing Farah in almost a year!! She's coming home for the rest of the summer, which is also very exciting...); Shaz's return from her trip, as I'm sure she'll have lots of stories to share; Amaan's going to be in Toronto for a week in July, and we've already made a date for waffles at Marche's; a trip to Algonquin park with my family for a few days; Ray and Zee coming to Toronto in August; trip to Boston in August as well (though that hasn't been confirmed at all yet); and a few other things that are definitely just speculation at this point and so I won't start any rumours - but here's to hoping :)

Most importantly, in the past two months I have come to realize a couple of very important things - things that I think I've always known, one way or another, but that I had never fully understood until now. The first of those things is that family is the most important thing in the world to me. Come hell or high water I will always be bound to these very special people and sometimes it makes me cry just thinking about how intense it is to really feel that.

The second thing that I have learned is that life is far too short to waste it on falseness or anger or sadness. This is something that is by no means easy to understand and I am constantly reminding myself to - as cliched as it sounds - live each moment as though it were my last. It is no small feat to feel that you have risen above many of the worries that hinder us all from being truly happy - and I am by no means claiming that I have done so, either. But I do think that I am slowly moving in that direction, and I have never felt so alive.

I am sure that come late-September, when I am mired in school work and once more starting to lose sight of the ultimate goal of my studies, I will be forced to put some of these feelings away. But I know that I have tasted something far too sweet to ever forget it.

I have fallen in love with life itself and it is too beautiful a feeling for words.