The Good Old Days

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days, before you've actually left them."

-Andy Bernard, The Office

I'm starting to get the "summer is fleeting" feeling. Anyone else have this yet? Just like every year, I'm not too fond of it. It's like I start to miss summer before it's even over. The days are already noticeably shorter, the cicada are singing louder than ever, and the back-to-school commercials are on TV. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love fall and the changing of seasons in general. But I also can't help but feel slightly nostalgic every time another summer starts to wrap itself up. 

Even though this summer has been kind of weird as far as weather goes, I've done my very best to enjoy it. A while ago Bon wrote a post about the good old days that really resonated with me. And of course that quote above from Andy Bernard is pretty much embedded in my head forever now. So this summer I have made a conscious effort to notice the fact that I am living in the good old days right now. You know those times when you look around you at the people you're surrounded by and just can't help but smile and think, this right here is perfect. That to me is a "good old day."

I've gotten pretty good at noticing days like that, they usually stand out in the most simple places I've come to realize. Like nights when Chris and I don't go out but instead choose to stay in and drink wine on the patio and listen to music. I usually want Frank Sinatra, he usually wants something new-age no one's even heard of yet. But we somehow always manage to come to a middle ground. And even though we complain about the fact we live in a teeny tiny apartment, and we're not exactly in love with our jobs, and most of the time we just have no clue where life is going in general, I have this sneaking suspicion we'll look back on this point in our lives and think of it as the good old days, never the less. I like to think we'll laugh about this small living space we've managed to survive in together for almost three years. About the one bathroom we have in an apartment that sometimes holds up to five guests. Because while it's not even close to perfect, we've somehow managed to enjoy it anyway.

If I've come to learn anything, it's that life only seems to get more complicated with each year that's added on. It definitely gets better every year, but more complicated as well. Ten years from now I bet we'll look back on these times and wonder what on earth we had to worry about in the first place. At least that's how I look back on every other moment up until now. Time is funny like that, the past seems to taunt the present every chance it gets. 

I always feel as if I need to put a disclaimer on posts like this, you know something a little less "jokey" than I usually write. I'm not having a breakdown or anything like that, not even close. Just feeling content as I sip my glass of wine in this airport bar and doing a little self reflection is all. Airport bars tend to have that affect on me.

I guess I'm saying it's just nice every once in a while to be able to look around you and realize that the good old days can happen at any moment. So whoever you are, wherever you are in life, try to notice your good old days as they're happening. They're a lot more fun that way I think. Because as for me, I've decided I'm going to have good old days for the rest of my life, or I'm at least going to try.