It’s Monday night, and as I sit at my computer completing my homework, I hear the coins on the desk begin to rattle and the books on the shelves slide out of their rows. Somewhat frightened, I walk toward the bone-white doorframe and stand firmly beneath it as I beckon my brothers to stand with me. About thirty-seconds later, the rattling, sliding, and thumping stops. Nothing has fallen or broken, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness that wasn’t the big one,” I mutter under my breath as I make my way back to our office desk and continue with my homework.
As I approach the end of my first semester as a senior at Saint Ignatius, I have feelings similar to those I experienced during the minor earthquake. This year, I have been going about life doing the same things that I always have, such as hanging out with my friends, completing school tasks, and doing activities with my family. At the beginning of this school year, I had to start my college applications. This process didn’t really change anything in my life, just as the little earthquake didn’t cause anything to break or fall in my house. However, the application process has stirred up my life in a small sense, by requiring me to start thinking about what I want to do with my life and where I want to go to college. It has made me realize that the things in my life that I cherish – family, friends, and school – are impermanent. They will not always stay the same, and I have to realize that impermanence is simply a part of both my physical and spiritual life. In just over six months, I will be packing up my things, saying goodbye to my friends and family, and leaving the house that I have lived in for the past seventeen and a half years. This move will prove to be one of the biggest changes of my entire life. When the big move to college finally rears its head, every change that I was thankful had not occurred during my senior year will happen. I will no longer see my friends and family everyday, and I will live in a new and unfamiliar place. Similarly, when the big earthquake finally hits the Bay Area, the damages that were avoided during the tiny earthquake will become a reality.
As I prepare for the coming of college, I realize that I am very comfortable with my life as it is at the moment. My friends always find a way to brighten my day with a phone call or some hilarious joke. My teachers never cease to amaze me with their wit and intelligence. Not a day goes by that my family doesn’t make me feel great about myself through a compliment or a few supportive words. I often fear that without these people in my life, I will fail. However, I must come to realize that impermanence is a part of life, and no matter what happens, the changes in my life will only lead me to where I am supposed to be. I needn’t fear change, but embrace it. In a similar sense, I have become comfortable with the place that I live in and the way our city works. However, with the approaching earthquake, our city could change in the course of thirty seconds. Buildings will be destroyed, houses will collapse, and people will most likely die. What we as humans need to realize is that this change, this earthquake, is inevitable. By embracing the inevitability of the earthquake, just as I must embrace the coming of college, we will be able to prepare for the great earthquake so that when it happens, lives can be sparred and we as a community can make the smoothest transition possible. For now, all I can do is spend time with the people I love and will miss when I leave, and all our community can do is prepare for the worst, yet hope for the best.