thought at work

quite recently, i have received some of the most wild and crazy news and thoughts and ideas and such from friends all over. some of these were big and life-changing and have hit me like a ton of bricks, and others seem to be small, nestling, burrowing things that have settled in me like a seed where they continue to grow day by day and make me think of them more and more. it has been a season of great change, great recognition, and great hope and i have realized a few things.

this life is a remarkable one. an unexpected one. a knock-you-on-your-ass-just-so-you-can-get-over-the-bruise-and-move-on one. i think that for a long time, i didn’t know my capacity for change. my capacity for thoughts and ideas and learning from what other people are thinking about and growing in and doing. but as it turns out, my capacity for all of the above surprises me. i continue to be shocked by life. i continue to be delighted by it. i continue to stand by friends as they too are shocked, delighted, hurt, confused and thrilled by it.

i think i’ve been scared for awhile to leave the academic world for the “real world” because i geek out about learning way too much. obviously i know you can learn outside of school, and i do, by reading and researching and questioning things that interest me, but i think i’ve always felt the need to direct my learning in some way. the thing is that as of late, i think i’ve realized that the best lessons in life come from life itself. its in the living. the talking. the sharing. 

so thank you, friends and other people of the world, for teaching me daily about the complexities of living. its a charmed life indeed.