A Little Zen

So it's fall, and I'm happy. Out above the Regents Athletic Center on the walk from my dorm to the Union the trees on the far hill are just turning color, and something about the mixture of a few orange, red and yellow trees among the green seems to me to be so much prettier than any picture or painting could encapsulate. Fall has just always been that season that represents such natural beauty and wisdom, and if summer is the joyous zest of young adulthood, then fall is the serene contemplation of old age.

I could go on about fall, but suffice it to say that when the trees are turning and the air loses its angry heat, there's nowhere inside that can make me as happy as being outside.

Its been, what, almost a month now that I've been here, and everything is getting better. People in my classes are becoming more comfortable (including me) and we are having some great discussions. Last night I went to a Philosophy Society meeting and it was so amazing to be able to sit, listen, and discuss with other people some higher-level issues for just the sake of talking and learning. I had a couple friends in high school that would have just these amazing discussions about life and philosophy and religion, anything and everything. And I think part of the problem that I had coming to Luther was leaving them, and having to find again people that could be that kind of intellectual stimulus for me. I just want to say, if you are afraid you'll miss your friends, you probably will. But at least for me here at Luther, there are some great, smart, funny, caring people, and you don't have to abandon old friendships to make some amazing new ones.

What we really miss in today's society, I think, are two things that I've found have made me happier than any consumeristic pasttime ever has: simply enjoying the exact moment we find ourselves in, and honest, genuine discussion about life. And everything about Fall centers me around those two things, for reasons I don't quite understand. Perhaps its the beauty of nature and the ability to enjoy little things like the exact color of a tree's dying leaves.

So anyways, that's the moral of the story, folks. Or at least what I'm thinking right now. Tomorrow I'm going bouldering (like rock climbing, only small-scale without harnesses) around the Ice Caves with some good friends, and just... just... I don't know. I'm just happy.

Take it easy,

Danny