Saturday was my birthday. It marks, however, a more
significant milestone than simply my birth back in the musical dark ages of 1983—rather, it signifies a year of my existence in the Washington, DC metro area, when I made that fateful journey by myself to begin a new life in a new civilization...to boldly go were no man in a '92 Dodge Dakota with 156,000 miles on it and a crammed U-Haul trailer had gone before. As I sit here with the fresh 67-degree air from outside breezing in, and the bright, cloudless sky waking the East Coast, I am assured that the future is bright.After all, this past year has been monumental. I have new priorities in life, largely at the expense of other priorities, but overall the new ones are what I believe to be the correct ones. I have learned a great deal about myself and who I want to become (as well as who I have become since college). And finally, I am at a point where I can truly decide where I want my working life, personal life and academic life to take me. Naturally, all these components will blur into one, but if the cake is the outcome of ingredients, I am the chef, and how it will turn out (smelling?) depends upon the ingredients and how they are combined. Yes, an odd metaphor, but an odd metaphor from an odd man!
The new priorities stem largely from the eventual replacement of time spent with friends with time spent with girlfriends. This is my case. But as far as I know, a career (and for that matter, a life) is nothing without relationships, especially one with a girl =]. And playing Halo! At any rate, if I was ever eager for time to speed up so I could get out of college and high school, and basically not be broke all the time, I am now ready for life to slow down—nowadays, I have become tied to the clock more than ever. Some of this time-obsessiveness is a part of me that I was born with (something having to do with being American I suppose), but the pace of the city and Northern Virginia in general is very swift, and attempting to find peace amongst the interstates, highways, trains, buses, airplanes (and cyclists who appear to believe that civil society's laws do not apply to them) is daunting. Indeed, only on Wednesday did I notice a place where I could truly enjoy near absolute silence, and that was in my law firm's fire-proof file storage room, where we keep crucial estate planning documents from catching fire, in the event someone pulls an Office Space. I enjoyed the silence for a moment, and moved on. Not much oxygen in their anyway. But truly, it is near impossible not to let the ebb and flow of the daily life-exercise sweep one away to retirement. I do not plan to let that happen; indeed, I am convinced that my true calling remains in the written word, however profitable—but fulfilling—that may be.But the faster pace of time isn't altogether negative. At this point, I have one full year of work experience, albeit in the dubious capacity as a legal assistant, and this provides firm footing to make a jump into something else. Hopefully this jump will be sooner rather than later, but I must wait to report on that positive scenario. Nevertheless, I can continually count my blessings that I do not remain stuck working in retail—namely, Starbucks. Although, my affinity for the company has not completely dissolved over the years. Some of the most fun I've had at work was while working at Starbucks in Austin. The ones here in DC don't quite have the same "flavor" of staff, sadly. Nevertheless, the Washington area's obsession with productivity teaches some good lessons on time management, and has broadened my perspective considerably—here, like in many big cities, you can really become who you want. The education and jobs are here, if you have the patience and resolve to obtain them.
So what are my plans after a year in the DC metro area? To get another job, that's for sure! But this time, in a position in which I will be interested and excel, and, most importantly, be treated more as a person who is taken seriously. There are many, many possibilities in this area of the country, as I previously noted, but my principle interests generally remain from when I graduated in May of 2006: 1) government (intelligence) 2) becoming a professor with a specialty in Asian Affairs 3) general writing, and screenwriting. The third item has always been more of a hobby than anything else (probably because it doesn't cost much money!), but I intend to expand it in the coming months. Even now, Travis and I have ramped up "production" of our screenplay. Jessica has apologized for keeping me from it by spending so much time with her, but even if I have reallocate time for her, there is always time to write—I just have to make myself get to it. I also vow to eat more chocolate. Anyhow, this brings me to Jessica.
Jessica and I have dated for 8 months now. Wow. The longest I have dated anyone is 3 months (twice), and this is quite the record. At this point I can only anticipate things getting even better. How many guys have had a girlfriend throw them a big party? I don't know many--but my girlfriend is! Indeed, I am excited about where we are and where we are going. I am also grateful for the friends I have made up here, in general, and all the ones from Texas and/or Baylor who have kept in contact with me over the past year—it's been indispensable as I've started a new life in this part of the country.
Well, these are some thoughts after a year in DC. I am 24 years old, and ready to launch another year of success, struggles and learning. I am ready. Now, if I could get some friends from Baylor and Texas to come visit....
-Jonathan
P.S. Halo 3 comes out in 3 weeks. In the wise words of Howard Dean: YEAARGGGHH!
