I am blessed.

I’ve been blessed all along, of course. But only today, sitting in the yellow glow of a corner lamp, holding a catalog of action figures and statues I’d never consider buying, and looking at the numerous boxes of books, games, music, and films which I’d packed over the course of the evening, did I truly understand just how incredibly well-off I am, and how happy the last few days have made me, and how earnestly I am looking forward to the coming days, weeks, and months.

There are huge, obvious blessings. Grad school acceptance. Funding. Not having to gamble on a new roommate. Not having to worry about furnishing the apartment. Getting to study what I love and being paid to do so. Having an adviser who is already more embracing of my research interests than I’d ever hoped.

I get to be part of two weddings within less than ten days, of friends who’ve meant so much to me for years, and even more in just the last twelve months.

My auto insurance is going to be lower than I expected it to be…by almost 40%.

And those are just the big things. The tea in my mug, the comic on my bed, the gas in my car’s tank, the breakfast I can make in the morning…

I think at some point there will be an obligatory “goodbye, Pawling” blog and a “hello, Columbus” blog and a “Oh my goodness I’m not gonna be 23 anymore” blog. But right now I just feel obligated to let folks know I’m happy. After so many months of turning people off with my vitriol and and cynicism, I’m okay with taking one random blog to be cloying. One random blog to say I ran across my Hillary Duff Metamorphosis CD and laughed, and thought of how many others would have laughed too. One random blog to say I still have those gallstones in a jar beside the Anberlin music that carried me through my surgery and bonded me with someone who has since gotten married and had children, but never stopped being awesome. One random blog to say it’s been too long since I watched The Lion King or A Walk to Remember.

Today I finished a video game, wrote a rant, went for a drive with my brother, paid off a tux rental, read friends’ blogs, packed a portion of my life away, unpacked some memories, wrote a more positive rant, drank a lot of coffee and a little tea, joined a website, and read a few comics. It wasn’t necessarily an important day. But it was a good one. I could use more like it.

I think, though, that if I really stop and consider things, I’ll find that the exceptional thing about today wasn’t that I was more blessed than usual.

It’s that today, I noticed.