Sometimes it is good to look at a life event as the beginning or end of a life chapter. I thought about this recently since in many ways, the advent of a new chapter is starting. Why am I declaring this moment as a new chapter?
A lot of life has happened in a particular life sphere--lots and lots of life since that last significant event, yet there's been little attention with regard to encapsulating what has happened during all that time. The last significant event was joyful--an event with good cheer and a warm ambiance. I remember that event vividly, and then like a ball rolling down a steep staircase there was lots and lots of bouncy, busy activity for years, and now we're at another moment like that same warm and loving moment so long ago.
The bouncy, busy activity of the past many years has been filled with all kinds of events--some happy, some sad, and many in between. Yet, none were as deep and special for me as that one moment so long ago--a very special, yet seemingly insignificant moment. It was not a moment of great fanfare or celebration, but a rather simple moment and event instead.
So, why does this time mark a new chapter? In many ways, it's a time for me to redefine this sphere of life--a time to renew my experience, focus, vision, and role for this sphere with reverence, respect, and reality. In the past, I may have defined this sphere with too much idealism, rather than realism. I may have set up unrealistic, perfectionist expectations for what is an imperfectly lovely, colorful sphere of life. I may have also taken a too-serious attitude towards what is a somewhat light and airy sphere. And I may have lacked the curiosity, observation, and presence this sphere demands. In this new chapter, I'll be more of a bystander than a leader, an observer rather than a participant, and a responder rather than a questioner. I don't need to be as big anymore in this sphere, but instead I can take a back seat and enjoy the wonder, zest, spirit, and color that exists within this sphere. I can do that.
A friend discussed the idea of circles with me yesterday--circles as referenced in the book, The Bridge of San Luis Rey--a book I will soon read. Just as the book discusses one's life circle, we can also think of our experiences in life as having circles. For example, there is the circle of my teaching career, and the many teaching/learning circles that exist within that sphere. We also have circles with regard to the relationships we experience and all the endeavors we engage in. To look at life with this circle perspective helps us to bring value to how we have lived, live today and will live in the future. I will think more on this in time, but for now, I'm focused on the new chapter of the one rich sphere of life I discuss at the start of this post--a sphere I am happy to be apart of. Onward.