Resistance

V = IR
So, resistance in a wire is dependent on the length of the wire and permeability of resistance. Is there any connection between resistance in a wire and resistance in a being.

Why are we driven to be a little resistant to change? Is it the length of time spent in one set type of situation, and variability experienced in one's life that gives us the adaptability to "change with the times."

Two of my dear friends from Atlanta have left to begin another set of lives.

Zainab has left in support of her husband and family, to settle in Houston to form another set of friends, and a circle to call family. Zainab, is one who is deathly scared of her memories here in Atlanta fading away, although she pretends she'll never forget anything. She has a distant relative there, but I told her, my family is her family. I will over the course of the next few days give her a list of my close family in Houston and their contact information.

Our silly times together has been transformed into a form of a bond. She is one of2 to 3 people I can talk to, in my natural state, without having to wonder if she "gets" me or not. I have a tendency to analyze, speculate, and over-analyze. I DO do that with my sister. And I do that with her, too. Zainab's son, Mohammed, is like a little experiment to us. When he was 16 months old, I told her about something I had learned in Developmental Psychology, and we tried it out on him. We put lipstick on his forehead, and about 5 minutes later took him to the bathroom and sat him in front of the mirror. We wanted to see if he had developed the concept of "self". If he knew who he was, that he was a person, that the being he saw in the mirror was himself. He didn't notice a thing. We tried it again at age 20 months, and not only did he immediately wipe off the lipstick as soon as we entered the bathroom, he even answered some questions that we asked him absolutely correctly. We asked where is Mohammed, (he pointed to the mirror) Where is Lulua Masi, (he pointed to the mirror at me), where is Mama (pointed to the mirror at Zainab.) Wow. Experiment successful! Yippee.

The car drives to and from parties that became excessively long drives because we were deep in conversation and I would end up taking 285 and completely not realizing we had already passed Atlanta. The u-turn is definitely one of our things. My getting a ride with her & Qusai to the markaz, and then my horrid display of snoring and drooling in the front seat the whole 30 minutes. And our unnecessary Thank yous, and You're Welcomes until we have to beat each other shut. Bas!

Zainab and I have had multiple fascinating experiences like these over the course of the 3 years I've been here in Atlanta. I will miss her dearly. She is my sweetheart.

My second good friend, Yoko, has departed to Pittsburgh to begin her life as a graduate student in a completely new environment, culture, people and weather wise. She knows only the few she has met through orientation, and is hopeful to begin anew, but anxious about creating the same environment: having the same enjoyable comfortable surroundings she's made for herself here at GA Tech.

Yoko is part of an Aikido community, that has engulfed her life, as does most religions. Thankfully, even before moving out to Carnegie Mellon, she's found her niche there, and has choices between three Aikido class settings. Yay, Aikido! But besides, extra curricular, the people she's considered family here, her close friends, routine restaurants, cafes, even Lab-mates, is like a little comfort zone for her. Now that she has broken that zone, she is going to have to create one somewhere else altogether. Hopefully it will take her less than the 5 years it took here. Her creative edge, and grounded sense of being will only be to her advantage in the next few months she settles in. I am confident, she will be happy.

Someone once said, The only thing constant in life is change.

I think I got it. We are made for change. The way we are built. Genetic Diversity, From the first moment our homologous chromosomes separate, they go through periods of recombination, swapping of bits and pieces of the chromosomes, one for the other. If that isn't an appetizer for change, what is? From the moment we are not even a zygote, a precursor to a zygote, as a gamete, we have already experienced change, then how can we not expect it to come as a fully developed human being, with capabilites of understanding adaptation in all necessary situations?

Whatever the case, this change is going to be difficult. I know that the effects of the change are temporary. Everyone falls back into their routine, I guess like the Social Withdrawal post I made earlier. Just give it time. Everyone falls back into routine.

Even without the scrapbook, I know the memories will last longer.