A Year of Learning

Well, the holidays are officially over. I spent the first day of the new year terribly out of sorts and not entirely as a product of last night's overindulgence. I simply cannot wrap my head around the fact that it is now 2008. It doesn't feel like winter even, let alone January! Where did the time go? Last year was one of the best of my life. So many amazing things happened. I turned 21, got my drivers license, graduated college, got a competitive internship at the National Zoo, moved to Washington DC, lived on my own for the first time, got evicted, moved, moved again, and moved yet again. I spent the summer chasing little orange monkeys through the zoo and meeting new and exciting people. I proved to myself again and again that I am capable, I am independent, I am resilient. It was a year of change and growth and adventure. And now it's over...

I can only hope that the coming year is half as good. I just don't know what it might hold in store. It is the first year that I have no real plans for. Everything is a might, a maybe, a wish on a star. It is the first year I am not in school. I don't even know which state I will be living in after April. That kind of openness and insecurity leave me simultaneously terrified and thrilled. Here I am, living in an exciting city that practically buzzes with energy. I have a world of options before me. I can take my time, take my GREs, take my pick of a grad school. I am traveling to Ecuador and with any luck will spend some time there exploring. Who knows where else the year might find me?

Last night, as I staggered home with a friend, the alcohol triggered emotional catharsis reminded me of a few things. I am young. I am amazing. Life is what I make of it. There are so many people out there who I have yet to meet. I am the only person that I need to impress. That last one is pretty important... Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to show everyone who I am that I start acting like someone I am not. I just need to relax, find my center, and be myself. I do not need to be the center of attention. I do not need to seek out other's approval. I do not need a relationship to be fulfilled. That last one is also pretty important.

Here's to the new year; may we all learn and love and live.

Huggles!