I recently spent the 4th of July week down in OBX, North Carolina with a group of old friends. We had all pitched in to rent a simple, cozy beach house at the southern tip of the strip (Avon, NC to be more specific). I have to say that the trip was a much needed escape from the suburban/metropolitan rush of daily life and was just enough to wind me down to discover a new way of fulfilling my current mantra, “Live Simply”. We spent each day waking up early for a delicious family breakfast made by the amazing Johnny Chen and Sarah Nguyen. In all honesty, without them we would never have experienced such a well-coordinated, well thought out trip. We would have also starved. The two are the nerdiest, cutest, smartest couple I know and I am damned happy for them both. After breakfast we would all lather on the SPF and make our 5 minute pilgrimage to the Atlantic coast where we would swim, lay out, frisbee, volleyball and talk our day away. The smell of the ocean and the warmth of the sun would follow us home to our little beach house where we would wash up and dry our things as Johnny and Sarah would cook up yet another amazing meal from scratch. I recall it was spaghetti the first night, lasagna the second night and hotdogs and burgers the third. The fourth we ended up eating a thanksgiving amount of frozen foods thanks to every restaurant inexplicably closing at 9pm on the OBX. I learned to wake up early with the sun, I learned to sleep late with good conversation, I learned that I was not above showering outside with a hose, and that it’s never too late at night to practice yoga or to have a zumba dance party. I learned to love the people I was with like my own family. In only 4 short days I learned to appreciate the people in my life and the simple pleasures of holding onto them.

     I have a Nepalese friend named Manisha that I’ve known for 5 years but until this week, have never actually sat down with her and talked heart to heart. Through our conversations she opened my eyes to the value of the people we befriend and the importance of being honest with ourselves. Her experiences in her own life allowed her to shed a different light on my present outlook on life. To my isolation and tendency to disconnect with people in the pursuit of my own adventures and growth she simply stated, “we get what we want”. When prompted to explain my goals/ reasoning for how I felt I was drifting away from everyone I found that I couldn’t give a solid explanation. I realized that I was simply pushing everyone away as if purging my life of my past self to create a new, successful Chris. Sitting on the beach as we watched our friends fish and the sun begin to set, she gazed across the ocean and told me this, “Wherever you go, go. If you want it you will get it. If you don’t want everyone and are tired of the people you’re with then you will find new ones. But as for me I treasure my friends and work hard to keep people in my life”. I realized how selfish and closed minded and short sighted and stupid I had become. Life keeps on rolling and we all need to keep adapting, this I know. We are all constantly trying to improve and change for the better but we are all in this together and that is something that I really lost sight of. I realized how busy everyone has been and how they have all still managed to make time for each other - I was no more busy or better than anyone. In bits and pieces an incredibly humbling picture was taking form in my mind and I have to admit I felt ashamed and frustrated with myself. Man oh man have I really digressed…

     Since returning home I have found myself to be quite restless. My mind has been a mixture of memories of the trip and this rapidly growing idea in my head that I need to turn my life around. Her words were so simple, so true, and yet they have clasped onto my deepest core. Ever the melodramatist and the overthinker, I know I just need to cultivate this freshly planted seed. The trip was an amazing experience and great reminder of how much I love the sea and the heat. As much as I love the northern winters I am still a summer baby at heart. There is a lot of work to be done in these coming months: GREs, SMSC and work to name a few but I’m just glad to know that I have these amazing goofballs in my life just a phone call away. Hopefully we can all start sharing more adventures together soon. 

Here’s to old friends, new friends and never saying no to adventure. 

Trek On,

Chris

P.S. Thank you for being an amazing friend, Manisha.