Graduation, how was it?
Where'd I go?
Unfortunately I haven't posted for quite a while, but I would rather attribute this to the calamity that's been my last couple weeks, than my inhibition. With getting a business started, consoling friends, graduating, and arranging parties, it has been quite a sporadic and incredibly inconsistent week that hasn't left much room for writing, or even video games really (I've played a total of 32 games in the last week of Fortnite, which if I had to guesstimate would equate to less than 10 hours). Which if that's over 50% of my free time, according to my pie chart, I've been left with less than about an hour in total across a whole week to do anything productive literarily.
Beyond the quick summation of where the hell I've been for two weeks, I'd like to talk about a couple of the realizations I've had in regards to writing on this site, then I'll move onto what the title regards. First off, it's not that deep. This originally satirical remark that's coalesced with my day to day vernacular, has helped me realize a couple things in life. Mostly though, on this platform, I've learned quantity is arguably as good as quality (as long as you retain a standard).
There's not much point in spending weeks of work on something in order to meet an unsustainable standard of quality when you lose all the connections you made in the first place. This tied in with my Facebook some time ago, too. I put out a lot of good photos, and posts, and then received a notable following. Then I simply lost interest because it was more effort than I had intended to invest, and then spent months ghosting the platform, and subsequently lost much of the originally wave of success.
This comparison isn't nearly as relevant, but goes to show that effort and quality go hand in hand, and as such, I'm going to start writing a bit more about the quotidian things in my life. Therefore --
Graduation!
As someone who had monumentous success in my junior year, and subsequently rested quite heavily on my laurels and went on to what would be about a six to seven month hiatus in my senior year -- I had lost much of my already wavering care for any school happenings (this included graduation).
Thankfully, I am supported by my lovely girlfriend, and also by the lovely and somewhat uncharacteristic forethought that both blesses and curses me. This lead me across the stage that I would have otherwise hypothetically circumambulated and judged unnecessary. Although I still think that the stage walking is a needless display of accomplishment, I am glad I did it; I am glad chose to do it, if not for the present Tristan, for the future Tristan who I'm guessing will be thankful for considering him too.
How was it, actually?
Frankly, uncoordinated and hot. This isn't so much an accurate description though, as with anything simplified. It may have been a bit hot in the polyester cap and gown beneath the stage lights, and a bit uncoordinated -- starting 10 minutes late, and having a student show up mid ceremony, making everyone in my row have to scoot down a seat. It's interesting how complex a simple task can become when you put 300 people together to get it done; it was quite ridiculous, but in lieu of bah humbugging the whole proceeding, I figured it would be best to make the most of it.
Nonetheless, I am grateful that I wasn't next to the most aromatically challenging individuals since there were quite a few. I ended up having a kind girl to my right that laughed at my jokes (and a scrooge next to me who did attempt to bah humbug the whole thing, but I got him to chuckle once or twice).
Start to finish though, for some context, we had rehearsal the day of, four or so hours prior to the endeavor. This was already becoming a recipe for some disaster. We had to be there by two, and ended up staying for two hours when it was only supposed to be a bit over one, then we had to be back at 6:15 while the actual ceremony began at 7. Unsurprisingly, multiple students were late, none of them remembered any of the things they were told to remember and one of them almost got their chair pulled from the ceremony (the one that showed up half way through, I believe only five people prior to her alphabetical positioning).
We had to line up alphabetically in a cramped hallway, with poor AC, and recalcitrant children-now-adults, that barely paid attention. I was able to fix up my little corner of the world and get the three people to my left and two to my right all in order, so we could like long piece Tetris ourselves into place, which worked smoothly enough. I had done all I could, and after that it was up to the teachers to align the last 293 students; there was 298 total, and we're an alternative school, so it was pretty impressive we managed to get everyone across the stage without a memeable tragedy occurring.
The TLDR;
Graduation was a worthwhile experience, albeit an arguably unnecessary one. Vivify your corner of the world, even if it's a temporary one. Simple tasks become hard if you throw too many heads into it. Appreciate those around you, and the experiences you share, and realistically, just be grateful for the life you live -- it's yours. Also here's a picture of my incredibly supportive girlfriend, me, and my sister (she's pretty cool I guess).
