Have you ever felt completely and utterly consumed by the mundane problems you face in daily life?

I have. In fact, I think that anyone who had the glorious pleasure of spending time around me at any point during this past semester can attest to the fact that I was drowning. 

As it turns out, all I needed for a bit of a reality check in terms of the magnitude of the issues I was facing was a visit to the city which houses some of the oldest still-standing structures of all of human history. 

I recommend that if you’re feeling like the world is crashing down around you because your dryer has broken (an actual issue I faced this semester) that you sit alongside the Pantheon in Rome. As I was there, I couldn’t help but to think of all that has happened around this incredible structure in the close to 2000 years during which it has been standing. Originally constructed as a place of polytheistic worship, the Pantheon has seen, at the minimum, a major switch in religious intention as the building was eventually converted into a church. My mind raced as I did my best to take it all in with the possibilities of the kinds of events that have taken place inside the walls of this place…

And even more so in the case of the Colosseum! In what world could anyone possibly focus on how disappointing it is that you’ll need to study a little harder in a class that’s giving you problems when you’re literally standing mere feet away from the very spot where crowds of 70,000 watched gladiators fight, sometimes to the death? It would hard to imagine anyone doing so.

Maybe though, if all of this talk of insignificance hasn’t you feeling blue, you could spend some time at the Trevi Fountain, which is also located in Rome. Despite the crowds of people, this majestic Baroque fountain is nothing if not a sight to behold! To feel completely engulfed in tradition, my friends and I hurled coins from our hand over our shoulder to bring us good romantic luck… at least, so says Italian folklore. If maybe a little luck could help you out of whatever funk you might be in, this is the ancient fountain for you!

In essence, I have already been changed by the enormity and the age of things I’ve seen here. Pictures don’t do any of it justice. I hope that I’m able to carry with me the way that these historic monuments made me feel in comparison to the universe. By realizing just how small I am, my place in the world is beginning to make more sense.  I only hope that my perspective continues to develop as this trip unrolls.