Remember the Times You'll be Fond of Now

There was this one day that I saw the afternoon light coming in through the bathroom window and it looked so beautiful and I thought, "Someday, I'm really going to appreciate these days."

I don't know why that thought came into my head at that moment, but I do remember where I was and the time in my life it happened. I had a few months prior moved into the house I'm still in now. At that time, I shared the house with the person who would become one of my closest friends though I didn't know that exactly at the time. We were still getting to know each other. But only a few months in, I adored her and thought she was the coolest. We were having so much fun being roommates and I could tell that this was going to be a time in my life that i'd come to cherish.

I think having had several roommates and living situations prior clued me into a fundamental truth: This living situation, no matter how endless it may seem, will come to an end. I hadn't yet had that with the other friends I'd lived with and could then only reflect on those memories as past times that were great, without fully realizing that in the moment.

But this time, I knew it while it was happening.

That afternoon light in the bathroom became a trigger for me to take a moment and appreciate what I had while I had it. Over time, the angle of the light changed and the scenery outside the bathroom changed as the year rolled on.

I've tried to keep this in mind with all my current life circumstances: The place I work, the living situation at home, the friends I'm spending time with, the projects I'm working on.

They all end and change and will never be the same.

So I might as well acknowledge in real time that this is a time I'll look back on.