Watching It Pass

School of Seven Bells - "Connjur"

Oh, school. You've started again, and I can't help but feel glad and annoyed all at once. It's a reaction to the realization that I'm getting older and, soon enough, I'll be out in the world, on my own. I'm obviously not talking about the "oh my knees are killing me"-older or the "damn kids and their noise"-older. It's something we all deal with. As we grow, we reflect back on the past and think "That was five years ago!" even though we swear it was just yesterday.

It's a funny thing how we might think that we are all alone, dealing with the stress of becoming adults and independent people. Really, it's more of a group experience, but we never quite look at it that way. It's comforting to know that there are others out there going through the very same thing. We like to think we're unique in this respect, but actually it's one of the many commonalities among us that binds people together.

I can't say this song necessarily conjures (oh, how clever, Quinn) up imagery of school in the way I approached it above. Suffice to say, it's a track that builds on itself, much like one's experience throughout their school (high school, college) career. It starts as a tingly sensation. Maybe in your fingerstips, maybe in your toes. Slowly, but surely, it makes its way through your entire body. It’s not really something you can fend off, it just happens. It’s inevitable. Lucky for you, it’s a pleasant feeling, nothing unfavorable.

I can recall a number of moments in my life where I expected something on the horizon to be painful or troubling in some way. I dreaded it. I didn’t want what it was. But it was something I had to face…something I couldn’t avoid. In the end, the dissolution of the mounting frustration and anxiety, the welcomed relief that I had faced it, made it all the more satisfying.