new friends, old friends, and signs from above

Its been awhile since the last time i went to church. Because of a lot of changes in personnel at my home church i have been really disinterested in attending, not to mention my general skepticism about the whole thing. I guess to use a cliche I would say that I am spiritual, but not religious. For example, on the day I found out I was going to the Philippines I ran into an old co-worker who is Filipino who then introduced me to another Filipino who was passing by. I hadn't spoken with her in many months and then shaazam! I take that to be a fairly loud cosmic "YES, DO IT!"
And then there is last night. I am hanging out with my newly made MAT friends. I have technically been in class with these people for a year and am sadly just now getting to know them. Which has made me think about my old friends a lot this week. I've met a lot of really amazing people over the last five years, but I definitely have not held up my end of the bargain. So we're at a bar and I drop my ring. Of course it goes between the slats of the patio and is gone forever. But I didn't say anything about it, and didn't make a fuss.
I didn't say anything because that ring was a symbol of an experience that goes are beyond a physical reminder. My study abroad experiences are the reasons I became who I am today. Losing a physical thing that I will always have the memory of is no big deal. And that's the cosmic message I think I was supposed to get. I need to be okay with letting go of the things that physically tie me to Chapel Hill and focus on creating a strong set of memories to carry with me always.

To balance out the sap of this post here's something a little lighter.