The Fate of Excitement

I am so looking forward to the Oregon State visit in a week.  On the second day of the visit, turns out we will be doing a field trip to the coast!!!  The Pacific coast!!!  Wow.

I got so excited about OSU, despite having to give a practice talk this Friday and a real one there next Monday, that I started looking up everything about all of Oregon.  After feasting my eyes on descriptions and photos of its rocky coastlines, alpine hikes, mountain biking, public transportation(!), and whatnot, I thought to myself, "Wow, I don't know if I've ever looked forward to anything this much."  But then, I realized that just a couple of months ago I was just as excitedly making plans for my summer in Colorado.  In the middle of new excitement for a prospective graduate school, I had completely forgotten about the excitement for something more immediate and certain in my future.  That made me feel both incredulous about what a good place in life I am in and a bit afraid that I would start taking any of these immense blessings for granted.  If enough of these exciting things happen in my life, will I stop finding them exciting?  How sad will that be?  Is this why elderly people are more chill about everything?

I don't ever want to forget about my first excitements.  In my childhood, it was my first plane ride. I remember not being able to stop grinning ear to ear on the long ride to the airport.  I was thinking about my dad telling me about his business trips abroad, and how you could see the clouds next to you and below you on an airplane.  Some people are deathly afraid of plane rides, and some just don't like them.  But I somehow guessed right that I would love them.  Twelve years and many more flights later, I still find flying exhilarating.  I brace myself for every takeoff, watch the other landing strips whoosh by, and joyfully scream inside as I feel the wheels leave the ground.  And as long as I can see something outside, I cannot sleep on a plane because I will be taking photos of clouds, mountaintops, and rivers constantly.

I hope that is the fate for all my other excitements.  I hope that is not too much for me to ask.