Burgoing-going-gone
Endings are affective
Alex Burgoyne
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Opinion
Endings are the worst. They're the worst in a different way for everybody too. Some people get really sappy and some people get sad and some people push things away and some people hold on as tightly as they can to whatever they can and it just never works out well for everyone at the same time.
There's something about endings that turn us into something else. They affect our ability to rationally make sound decisions, and to think through the consequences of our actions. They move us to be even more dramatic than normal, to be unkind when we should be kind, or to be passive when we should be active. Endings are the worst because sometimes irrational is rational.
I think that the reason we are most likely so bent out of shape is, especially as we get older, the awareness of what's coming gets more short-sighted and smaller and dimmer. As a musician, my future is about as wide open as it could be and although I have an idea of where I'll be a year from now, I fully expect to have all of my plans thwarted three or four times over.
But maybe the best way to deal with endings is not necessarily to be overwhelmed with change, but to make the most of the people and places and things you will surely miss.
I, for one, do not want my last conversation with you, to be a sappy, sob-fest about how we'll miss each other. I understand the merit in telling people how you feel, but those conversations give me the willies and I'd rather play Halo or get a coffee with you than talk about the inevitable demise of our relationship. No fun.
So maybe ends can be ok, and if you're going to be sappy about it, maybe do it in your room before you go hang out with your friends so you don't end up being a big lame downer. Try not to let change ruin your last week at Capital, as a citizen of Columbus, as a college student. Make your last memories just like all of the other ones, and allow yourself to be affected -but not too much.
aburgoyn@capital.edu
There's something about endings that turn us into something else. They affect our ability to rationally make sound decisions, and to think through the consequences of our actions. They move us to be even more dramatic than normal, to be unkind when we should be kind, or to be passive when we should be active. Endings are the worst because sometimes irrational is rational.
I think that the reason we are most likely so bent out of shape is, especially as we get older, the awareness of what's coming gets more short-sighted and smaller and dimmer. As a musician, my future is about as wide open as it could be and although I have an idea of where I'll be a year from now, I fully expect to have all of my plans thwarted three or four times over.
But maybe the best way to deal with endings is not necessarily to be overwhelmed with change, but to make the most of the people and places and things you will surely miss.
I, for one, do not want my last conversation with you, to be a sappy, sob-fest about how we'll miss each other. I understand the merit in telling people how you feel, but those conversations give me the willies and I'd rather play Halo or get a coffee with you than talk about the inevitable demise of our relationship. No fun.
So maybe ends can be ok, and if you're going to be sappy about it, maybe do it in your room before you go hang out with your friends so you don't end up being a big lame downer. Try not to let change ruin your last week at Capital, as a citizen of Columbus, as a college student. Make your last memories just like all of the other ones, and allow yourself to be affected -but not too much.
aburgoyn@capital.edu
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