Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Low Tide

I've been feeling kind of emotional the last couple of days, I'm not going to lie. I had been feeling really happy and positive for a good month there, but things are starting to feel a little more sad. I think it's because summer is coming to an end. Summer has always been my favorite season, and now comes the cold. Cold, dark days. Rainy days. Windy, cloudy days. Last winter I was in Long Beach, where the sun was always shining. It may not have always been warm, but the sun was always shining. I know how Tracy is during the fall/winter, and I'm not looking forward to it. I just can't picture myself being content with the fact that I am HIV+ and it's raining outside. Okay, that sounds a little weird. I don't mean for it to come out like that. But having HIV is such a gloomy fact of life. It's not fun, it's not a walk in the park, it's not a piece of cake. I've always struggled to stay happy during the winter, and this year I feel like I'm going to have to struggle harder.

Another thing is that I started school again. While I am ecstastic to be back getting an education, and I am SO happy with my classes, it's just not the same. Long Beach was an up and down experience for me, but the one thing I loved about it was school. I had a great routine, I loved and knew the campus, and it felt right. Taking the bus to and from, listening to my iPod to pump myself up those mornings, walking down the alleyway back to my apartment after a long day at school, climbing the steps to my apartment, and relaxing. I was independant then, I was on top of things. HIV had not yet made its way into my life. Well it had, but I just didn't know it at the time. It felt good to be free. Being back on a JC campus is a little disappointing. The campus doesn't offer nearly as many great amenities, and if it does, it doesn't make it appareant. I'm no longer surrounded by people who really seem to care about higher learning, but more of a high schoolish type crowd.

Guys have also disappointed me lately. I wish I hadn't screwed up my relationship. I had a good thing. And I know both Daniel and I did our share to destory things, I feel like there was so much more I could have done to prevent the outcome that came. It felt good to be in love. I wasn't as scared of HIV when I had him. I am scared now. Not of dying, not of the virus killing me. But just having to live with it, the burden of it. The worries and troubles of having to carry this around with me for the rest of my life gets to me sometimes. I know I will continue to grow with this, and it will get easier. It has gotten easier. But right now, I just feel emotional. I know it will pass. I will never allow myself to sink into the hole that I was in ever again. May and June were particularly bad months for me, and I never want to repeat them again. My birthday was horrible, I spent it in the ER with bronchitis. When August 31st comes around in a few weeks, do me a favor, wake me up when september ends.

2 comments:

  1. Nick,

    You know i love you to death, but I want to ask you something. Have you ever noticed how before (even with HIV) You were "normal" and now you're labeled? Why? Why are you labeling yourself. Last I checked, You were Nick. A smart young man with a lifetime of achievements to accomplish. That's what I honestly see. Right now, you're talking about winter and how it's so gloomy. Well, why dont you brighten it up a bit, hun? Do something you have never done before, heck, grab a friend and do it together. Stay in contact with people you haven't spoken to in years. Love unconditionally. Make peace with yourself and realize that you are still that amazing person you were before your status. And to be frank, it's just a status, hun. Now, are you going to make that "status" a lifestyle? I doubt it...why? Because I know you are WAY too stubborn to do something like that. (Plus I wouldn't let you.)

    Cheer up, hun! Life is beautiful...take off the shades!

    -Janine

    ReplyDelete
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ

    -Janine

    ReplyDelete