Solstice 2018: A Start

It was last Solstice I had intended to return.  But here I am, at last.  It feels good to be back.

Honestly, starting again is something I am familiar with.  As a kid I started again every time my parents moved.  In fifth grade it was to Indiana.  In sixth grade, Pennsylvania.  In ninth grade to Oregon.  In 10th grade to boarding school.  The starting again got easier.  I learned how to write letters (yes, before email).  I learned how to make new friends and replace old connections with new ones.

Then there were the inevitable major-changes in college.  New classmates.  New professors.  New subject matter.  Internships exchanged for jobs, which were exchanged for new jobs.

Then in year 15, I made a total career change. At 34, I started over yet again -- I went to law school to pursue something I had always wanted to do.  Not long after that, I moved into the new universe of parenthood. That was eight years ago now.  I’ve found that parenting provides myriad opportunities to start again — sometimes on a daily basis.

I can't say it's gotten easier.  But I have become more accustomed to the feelings associated with starting again -- starting something new.  It can be scary.  It can be demoralizing.  It can be no fun at all to constantly feel like a novice. It can be joy-filled, invigorating and captivating, too.

Regardless of how you feel about starting again -- the truth is we all have to do it sometimes.  We all get to do it sometimes.  Sometimes it’s what we live for.

Seven days from now, the sun will halt its retreat.  It will start again to return to us.  Its reapproach will seem imperceptible at first, but that doesn't matter, it will have started again -- it will have shifted its course.

I firmly believe it is the act of starting that matters most. The rest will follow.

Photo: First snow on trees along a U.S.Forest Service road near Greenwater, Washington, November 2018.