Blogging for Scrapbookers, Prompt 2: A Bit of Journaling

I've been thinking a lot lately about my days as a Classics student. I'm not sure how it got started, all this remembering. I think it was the change in the weather. For some reason, when the weather starts to turn nice, I start reminiscing about all the time I spent walking around the UW, and my thoughts always turn to the best time I had there, which was my two years in the Classics department. (For those who don't know, "Classics" is the study of ancient Greece and Rome. People always think it's something to do with either music or literature. =P)  Denny Hall (pictured above) and the area around it was always particularly beautiful when the weather was nice. The one time I took classes during summer quarter, I spent most of my time out on those front steps, sitting in the dappled sunlight, reading Greek tragedies and drinking coffee. During other seasons I sat outside as weather permitted. When it was cold and rainy, I sat inside the "seminar room", the window of which you can see on the right of the photo, next to the tree. I was so unbelievably happy in this building. Switching to my Classical Studies major was the first decision I made based on what I WANTED to do, rather than what I thought I SHOULD do. Almost 8 years later, I still think it's the best decision I ever made. It led to many fun adventures, AND I got to spend two years reading Greek literature, learning Greek history, and studying ancient Greek.

At times like this, when I keep being reminded of the "good old days" I spent in the Classics department, the word "nostalgia" takes on new meaning. It's made up of two Greek words: 'nostos', meaning 'journey, return home', and 'algeo', meaning 'to feel pain; be sad; to grieve'. There is definitely a painful element to having such wonderful memories. I think part of me will always wish I could return to that time, because it was so darn fun. Sometimes, I miss it so much it hurts.

I suppose it's kind of ironic that I would write a post about something that's a little emotionally charged for a prompt that talked about the pros and cons of blog privacy, or the lack thereof. But when the prompt said "think about an amazing day in your life", this is the first thing that came to mind. Since it's been popping in and out of my mind so much lately, I thought it was worth writing down. Maybe now that it's "on paper", the memories will recede into the background again for awhile, and I can stop grieving for the end of that particular journey.

Thanks for letting me do a bit of journaling. =)

*~M~*