I love summer and all of the fun and warmth that comes with it, but I must admit that this summer was a difficult one. I have been embracing fall and all of the changes and coolness that comes with it. The crunch of leaves and the shock of color has been bringing me comfort and joy.
I am having mixed emotions about this season in my life, I am incredibly happy to finish one thing and start another, but I am so tired. In just a few short weeks I will walk across the gym and be handed a diploma. I will be wearing a cap and gown with honors cords around my neck. I will also be 1/3 of the way through grad school when this happens. It all seems surreal. I have worked so hard for this moment and want to celebrate, yet I feel an overwhelming urge to just let it pass with no fuss. It is far too late for a no fuss graduation, reservations have been made, things have been bought, and people invited. people keep telling me to let others celebrate me because this is for them as much as it is for me. I agree, I am humbled by the support my friends have given so freely over the past 4 years. I have an abundance of gratitude for the people close to me who have stuck by me and helped me through it all. This celebration is as much for them as for me…if not more.
So as we enter this time of gratitude, I am going to try to remain humble and intentional with my thoughts and in my actions. I will walk slow, soak it all in, and be grateful for the people who are here with me. This is a season of changes, of shedding the old in preparation for the new, and for starting a period of rest. And while grad school is far from restful I will continue on my path of less, my path of saying no, and my path of slow life. I have not let go of my weekend of silence that many weeks ago and the sound of quiet still rings loudly in my ears, unless that is the ringing of bells from handbell choir tonight 🙂
I feel like now is the better time to set new goals, and start fresh, probably more so that the new calendar year. I wonder if that is the change in the weather, the rain, and the ever present transition in the air? Regardless, I feel like now is the time to embrace the change, to set new goals, and to form new habits.
And so it begins…
or continues…
Mandy Sloan, MBA 