About fifteen years ago... no, exactly fifteen years ago... I finished my exams. I can't remember what my last one was - Thermodynamics probably; I ached through the entire thing.
To say that that feels like a world and a half ago, is a bit of an understatement. My friend Mark and I decided that at the end of all those epic months of revision and horrible early mornings in the library, we deserved to take the whole month of June off.
And so we did. Term ended the next day (June 2nd) and Mark and I embarked on our four week tour of hanging around Bath, doing absolutely nothing until Graduation.
The funny thing is, I actually can't remember it. Oh I remember little snapshots - ciabattas at the Adventure Cafe, those frozen juice things at the Parade Bar and my one and only trip to the Roman Baths. Other than that I've got no idea at all how Mark and I filled those four weeks. And it's not what you're thinking - we were sober the entire time thank you very much.
Additionally, with my June 2015 diary bulging like a broken suitcase, I'm finding it almost impossible even to imagine taking a month off to do entirely nothing.
Impossible. Not just impossible though - it seems somehow irresponsible now. Well it would, wouldn't it? There were fewer things depending on me in the year 2000. These days, everything seems a little more cloudy. I wouldn't begrudge students doing the same thing, given the chance.
I guess Mark is in the same boat. He lives in Manchester now and works for BBC Sport, doing something much cleverer and more important than me, no doubt. Those sunny June days all those years ago must seem like another life to him, just as they do to me.
Yet one thing I do know is that all of life is connected. My present becomes my past and ripples into the future. Everything I am is because of everything I chose to be, and everything I will be is connected to everything that I am.
And that means that in a tiny microscopic way, those forgotten four weeks in June 2000... are actually having an impact on these four busy ones in 2015.
That's quite a thought. I tell you what though, I'll bet Mark's got better things to think about.
No comments:
Post a Comment