By this point many of you are probably starting to wonder whatever happened to Jonathan Sprowl. For many of you this blog is your only point of contact with me; a veritable telescope in which you catch a glimpse of a comet as it flashes across the sky. Perhaps it's presumptuous of me to compare myself to a heavenly body, but I'm sure you've caught my intent. Flowery metaphors aside, I have been silent for a long time.
I could give many excuses: a fried laptop, busyness, a lack of worthwhile news, but honestly, life after college has been like learning to walk on a treadmill on the highest setting. I've got the skid marks on my face to prove it...well...not literally. I've started a new job with a prominent Christian publishing company and settled into the 9-5 life. My friends have lost that crazy "Let's do something. Who cares if it's 2am." college streak and replaced it with a prudent deference to sleep in preparation for another workday. Other friends are now engaged, married, or card-carrying parents. In essence, I have entered a new demographic: that of the young, single working male.
My adventures learning to drive stick shift have given me an apt metaphor for life's many transitions. Shifting gears, quite frankly, takes a great deal of practice. Each new gear gives you more power and increases your speed. Each new gear also requires a gentle negotiation between clutch and gas pedal. Too much gas you get a jolt, too much clutch and you get an unpleasant gear grinding. Each gear prepares your engine for the next one, and if you try to skip too many the engine can't handle it and protests loudly.
I'm in the process of shifting gears. The comfort of being a college senior has been replaced by a displaced feeling. Degree in hand, I am back at square one, trying to find myself on the radar of human history once again. The future is bright; blindingly so. It'll be exciting to see what the next five years will hold...
But, enough musing. Most of you are thirsty for news, not existential meanderings. As I've said, I'm settling in to life after college. Currently, I'm living with 3 other guys in a suburban apartment overlooking a lake. It's not bad for what we are paying for it, though the kitchen is criminally small. I take my little green Mazda out for a spin every once in a while when it gets antsy sitting in the parking lot, or tires of the daily commute to and from work. My work consists mostly of implementing paid ad placements in e-mail newsletters. It works fine as a first job, but I hope I'm not still doing it in two years. It's far too mindless and can feel a little mercenary at times. I do, however really like my co-workers: a couple other recent grads and two older married women.
I'm joining my church's college staff. I figure I should give back a little of the rich blessing I received in my four years on the other side of the table. Hopefully, I'll be able to share some of my experiences with the young up-and-comers, and bring a voice to the group that's not coming from an older, married person. It'll also be nice to get more involved in my church as my college friends begin to go their separate ways. Whatever the coming year holds, it should be filled with adventure and growth. Thanks for stopping by...
