The Past

Friends and Family,

It seems as though all of the distinct strings of my life are converging on the Road to Santiago de Compostela.

As many of you know, it's often easier for me to make a metaphor of my life using a serial TV comedy-drama. If this metaphor held, I'm clearly at the completion of a "season," where old questions have been answered and new ones have been asked. In what promised to be a thrilling season finale, twists and turns left a cloud of dust that is still yet to settle. Just as in any good character-driven production, we don't know which main characters will be back next season and which ones have been killed off.

To understand the point of climax my life seems to have reached, a sketch of the plotlines will suffice:

• A close friend and fellow manager is quitting the managing squad; however, is he gone for from the show beyond the occasional cameo, or might he find a new role in the basketball program?...
• A fellow manager may want to be recruited by Chi Psi; will my role as Recruitment Chair become a conflict of interest? Will this manager have an expanded role (and more "speaking lines and storylines") next season?
• A close friend recently revealed that he is in the closet;
• A close friend is head-over-heels for a guy, and may not live on campus--much less be present--next season;
• A close friend is seriously considering taking a medical leave; will she be a source of support next season as she has been in the past, or has her contract been terminated?
• A recent romantic interest was never given the chance to become anything more than casual; will this potential be explored in the future?
• A former romantic interest disappeared halfway through last season when she found another guy; will the potential that still remains between the two of us have another chance to blossom into romance?
• A close friend graduated all too soon;
• A close friend, now changed and open and expressive, will return from a year abroad;
• A close friend will go abroad for part of the coming season;
• My dad and stepmom are moving and starting new lives in a new place;
• My sister is starting college.

At this moment in time, everything is in a state of change, transition, and movement. However, the common thread tying all of these changes together is the absence of immediacy. Sewn into the quilt of these plotlines is a disclaimer which reads, "but you'll have to wait until September to see what happens."

So the purpose in this here yarn which I've been spinning? The Road to the city of Santiago de Compostela is the thread from the Past to the Future. As I stand at the midpoint of college, two years behind and two years to go, the Road will stitch together the end of this season and the beginning of the next. And, perhaps, the Road will illuminate the importance of the Past and prepare me for the Future.

I plan to update this blog as frequently as I can with everything from experiences and anecdotes from the Road to life lessons and deep thoughts to photographs. I expect there will be some entries of fiction and some of non-fiction, some flippant and some expressive. As this will be my main form of communication with all of you, I will try to respond to any comments that you leave.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing you on the other side of the Road.

- Matt

(It seams to me that some readers may not appreciate my puns; so, although they can have me in stitches, as long as the needlepoints West on my compass I'll try to tailor my language to leave out so many bad puns.)