I've come to understand how unique college years are. When a hop, skip, and a jump brought you to your best friends door, and an open window served as a portal to yell through for that friend to come down. Phone numbers were mere 4 digit extensions...and in a way we were all extensions of some larger experience.
I'm realizing that aside from those who continue on to graduate school, to be surrounded by peers for another couple of years, or those who move to a new location with their whole crew in tow, many of us feel that lack of community that comes with searching for ourselves in those distant and sometimes undiscovered corners.
It's the first time I've been home with a true desire to see friends. To reconnect and catch up. And it has amazed me that all that ever lacked before was my openness to doing so. But with post-college life, for many, comes a 9-5 work week. Where weekends are the only true time to socialize. Public transportation in this country is weak at best, and weekends being limited, I've found myself with many visits unfulfilled. And so with some, I've settled for hour long phone calls to catch up on years of silence; and have found that for those who truly find a place inside of us, the door never shuts.
We all seem to be moving around more than ever, our lives changing and shifting. And I envy those who are physically close to their families and friends. Yet I don't know that I could give up the freedom of exploring and searching for myself in what at times seem to be random corners.