There was a time 10-12 years ago where I thought my current life was impossible to achieve. Sadly, I have employed this mentality on almost every aspect of my life and man it's getting tiring trying to keep things deemed as "impossible. The truth is, [yes, cliche phrase in 3...2...1...] anything is possible. So why now do I open up and write this post?
I've spent the last 15 years of my life obsessing over art history, history, and culture. Tailored to speak and think like an academic, I tend to tone down my posts and tidbits about my travels to keep it "history serious". Oddly enough, there is no need at all the be serious and I was just making myself try to fit a mould that I felt was appropriate for the content I love. History doesn't need to be boring or serious or mundane. Though many history [older versions] books are snooze worthy and dense, that doesn't mean we have to keep up with that trend. Anyway, where am I going with this? Let's [talking to myself more here] stay on track.
I titled this post "Little life achievements" because though I constantly tell myself I can do more and what I have done so far isn't good enough, I do need to recognize that I have actually done some pretty cool things that 18 year old me would be really impressed with.
On Monday I was in Oxford, UK for the morning and was able to visit some fun sights and see others I had visited before. I needed to meet someone midday and had to find an obvious place to convene. During our rendezvous chat I said "Meet me at the Saxon Tower". [Picture below]. After I hung up, I stopped for a second and thought, "Did I really just tell someone to meet me at a Saxon tower?" HELL YEAH I DID. I even Whatsapped my history bff to tell her that those words were even uttered in the first place. [She is an Anglo-Saxon scholar so she gets this giddiness] For those of you in England, this probably isn't that exciting but for me, coming from Tucson, Arizona and dreaming of Medieval history since I was a kid, this was pretty damn awesome.
I read books, I watched Camelot, and have studied Medieval history for decades now and just the thought that I am in proximity of a Saxon tower let alone, I could go into it and touch it.... that was almost a sensory overload.
I've spent 6 years with my blog/website and only recently realized how lifeless and distant it comes off. [I am sorry for that and probably why no one ever speaks to me haha] I AM A REAL PERSON. I am a history nerd who hugs old stones and gets teary when I see crenellations. I spaz out at towers, trebuchets and paintings. A decade ago if you had told me that I would have lived in 3 countries, visited places from my history books and people would care about my nerdy ramblings, I would have said you're nuts. BUT here we are, aren't we.
Said Saxon Tower in Oxford, UK. St. Michael's at North Gate