endings are always the pathway to new beginnings...

After I took my last final for this semester I stepped outside and took in deep breath of bitter cold air. It was a moment of stillness after a frenzied couple of weeks and too much caffeine. A moment where I searched for invigoration..but instead felt an odd sense of numbness. Another page slipped by, and I'm onto the next chapter. The thing about chapters is you can't stop them from coming. They are before us whether we accept them or not. But the great difference between life and a book is that we can savor chapters in books, even go back and re-read them. In life we do not get this same luxury. The chapter of Jenn's College Experience Fall Semester 2010 is forever over. I have memories, but I cannot experience the same things again. I grew so much this semester that a part of me is scared to leave it behind. Will I leave the growth behind? Of course I won't. But I still feel like sucking my thumb and curling up under my blanket to hide from the inevitable--time passing.

Unforgettable experiences this semester?

Finding a voice...a true, tangible, arresting voice that drove a novel from me I didn't know I had inside.

Living life in a 'two' (thank you to Mister Dave Tinney's amazing class)

Opening my heart so there is room to let someone, something, some experiences...in.

Learning to stand quickly in others shoes and gain a deeper understanding of them.

So much, so deeply, so greatly have I absorbed new ideas and ways of life into my being this semester. I cannot let the chapter pass without at least a word, a gesture of thanks for the time I was able to spend writing it.

Here's to letting the page turn...because there IS another chapter waiting...