Opposites

No matter how much I claim to be able to step in the other person's shoes and view things from their perspective, it is really difficult when the current context and mindset are as far apart as they could possibly be. While I am in Europe having the time of my life in a perpetual vacationing mood for three and a half months, it is very difficult to understand the situation of someone who is busy preparing for one of the most crucial steps in their career. On contemplating, which I have a good or bad habit of doing, I realize that frequent status updates or long, vivid and elaborate descriptions about my European travel conquests can actually seem quite irritating to people who are burning the midnight oil and trying to accomplish something important. The effect is probably similar to rubbing salt on one's wounds. However, these are situations we are stuck in and can't help for some time. It would be foolish to not enjoy when in Europe and not slog when it matters most. Expecting the other to do the opposite is natural human tendency, but is best if avoided.

I now realize that there is either a lack of vocabulary or a gaping hole in my own vocabulary for describing a phase which is definitely more serious than a simple infatuation, but would probably be stretching it too far it if called love. Facebook has probably noted this and conveniently wants people to call this phase as "Its complicated". However, when the rush seems to be towards keeping things short and simple, 'complicated' doesn't really gel well with the scheme of things. Speaking of facebook, I recently happened to watch "The Social Network" – a real life story of how Facebook came into being. Thankfully, it didn't glorify the successful Zuckerberg, but kept characters realistic having varying shades of grey. A billionaire in his 20s! Sigh! One never knows what will become larger than life. A drunk geek after a break-up blogs about his ex and creates the preliminary version of facebook in one night – which was meant to rank the relative 'hotness' of girls! I probably should stack up some of the liquid one day and hit the keyboard. I wish some contemporary literary blockbuster masterpiece churns out and I don't have to worry about my wallet any more for the rest of my life.

I really think I should sum up my experiences country-by-country and start a series titled "European Diaries" with posts dedicated to awesome places like Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Switzerland & the French Riviera. I already am getting the feeling that the Euro-Trip is nearing its end and I should document this experience to read later and think about the wonderful time spent here. I should have been reading some literature for my classes tomorrow and packed my bags for the Spain trip already, but last-moment panic is an integral part of my life. There seems to be just not enough excitement without it.