Where to Begin

She didn't know how to express all of her thoughts and feelings when it wasn't the right time to share. And so she didn't.

She didn't quite know how to properly say goodbye to to a city and to friends and to a life. And so she didn't.  

She wasn't sure how one begins to offer thanks to the people that held them along the way. And so she didn't. 

She wasn't yet confident in how to share the stories and the advice to a waiting audience. And so she didn't.  

But she did live. She did love. She did laugh and smile and hug and explore and read and play and organize and pack and pack and pack and pack. She checked off lists. She did the things that needed to be done.  

But she didn't write. She didn't create. She didn't take the time to share her experience because there wasn't time or there wasn't energy or there wasn't motivation. 

Or maybe there wasn't confidence. 

You see, a big thing happened in our family this spring and now into summer. A what if became a let's do it. A goodbye turned into a hello. A daily routine turned into a great big unknown.

And with a big thing like a move, there is less space in the day and in the mind and in the heart to do those things that give you life.

Sometimes it's a move, and sometimes it's something else. Transitions in life come in many forms. A career shift, a new baby, a dream calling, an unsettling phase. If I have learned anything with this experience (and every other time before because sometimes we just keep learning the same lesson over and over again) it is that the transition is part of the story and the story is part of me. So maybe a few things were set aside to make sense of this challenging existence.

Never fear.

Beginning again is always free. It's always available. 

Remember, dear reader, dear self...it is okay to press pause every now and again. Life is fast. Slowing it down is not only necessary but healthy.

But after you slow it down, don't be afraid to do it again. You don't have to say the words or share the stories or consider the thoughts or do any of it until it is time. But when you do, seek the confidence to know it is right.

The right time and the right space and the right words are exactly the moment when you come back to it.

And you come back to it for no one else but yourself.

That running goal, that masters degree, that painting project, that great big dream.

That story you want to tell. 

It's there. It's still a part of you. It always will be. When you are ready, just begin.   

She didn't know where to begin. And so she didn't.

Until she did.

The rest of her story begins today...