Thoughts On Being Away from the Nest

I have had my mind on living independently for a while now. What I mean is living away from home during the summer where your campus does not provide your food, schedule, activities, etc. It just so happens that I am doing just that this summer. It is far from complete independence. I do not pay bills other than some fees here and there. In fact (as you will see), I still feel as though I have it easy.

Do not get me wrong, I love it back home. I am not sitting here like:

Although, right now I am sometimes like:

My parents are extremely kind and caring, the house is the same one I grew up in so I know every cobweb and corner, and the town I have always lived in is a community like no other (*cough* 2013 Coolest Small Town in America *cough*).

The reason I decided to use this summer to grab a hold of an internship and stay on campus for a couple months was to get a brief taste and glimpse into what it was like to not have certain luxuries that come with being at home. I do not want to graduate undergrad and go onto graduate school without having experienced being away from my nest back home as well as the nest on campus during the academic year.

I hope I do not come across as trying to make some deep-seated comment or article. In fact, I am not really sure why I wrote this article...

My initial idea was to write about the deep implications of taking a summer internship and living away from the nest. Then in my first draft, I realized how experiencing independent living is something pretty much everyone in this world has to go through. What makes my experience so special?

To be honest, it is not really that unique outside of the fact that this experience is new and unique to me. The main thing I guess I want to mention is that you find out what you miss when you leave the nest.

I feel it is healthy to find this out because, handled with the correct level of maturity, you discover what you may want to try and go back to or you see what you may have to let go. I missed going to my favorite seminar that I wait for every year since 2013 that I feel rejuvenates and recharges me with enthusiasm for the entire year. The reason I do not regret missing it more than I feel I should is because I went to Europe, but it made me think of how difficult it will be years down the road to make it when I am trying to start a life of my own. Is it one of the things I have to let go for a bit?

Of course, if you know me I do not intend to make anyone sad, especially with this article. That is why I mentioned the level of maturity. When you do not use as much as you should, you end up clinging, which is annoying and unhealthy. As long as you understand the happiness that something you have to let go gave you, you should not feel obligated to make it stay. Trying too hard to not let go makes the memories of that happiness dampen.

So smile, friends! No use griping on lost pasts! Onward and upward we go!