Autumn

I have memories of lamenting on my own personal season of change last spring. 

Everything was so uncertain. 

The growth was still shrouded in potential, yet to be seen.

Much like flowers, hiding from the frost. 

I remember looking at my friends in confusion. 

How were we all in the same place and time, yet still experiencing different seasons? 

The cycles turned in varying patterns.

Patterns I was not yet privy to. 

This past summer, I watched the patterns bloom, thrive, and finally make sense. 

Things almost clicked into place.

I almost understood why no one I knew was on the same linear timeline. 

Fears were almost settled. 

There is a certain peace that finds you when you step into the unknown. 

Leaps and bounds, out of what you know, provide an insight that was once shrouded. 

I used to spend hours and days and weeks comparing myself to everyone around me.

It was exhausting, if not all-consuming. 

My summer took its first step on the wrong foot, but quickly became sure and steady. 

Light and hope were no longer far away wishes, but promises. 

A new job, a new city, countless new chances. 

Doors yet to be opened.

The hurdles were still there but they no longer felt constructed by my own self-inflicted malice. 

Silently, autumn moved in and made itself known. 

Death and decay of the former seasons has started. 

And somehow, I do not find myself to be scared.

While everything is once again different. 

I feel the potential this time. 

I think maybe, my autumn will not be marked by decline. 

I think it has golden potential to bring about a season of plenty.

An extended preparation for long overdue growth is rapidly rounding a corner. 

Maybe by next spring, I will have circled around to where I started.

Maybe by next spring I will be growing into opportunities I never could have dreamed of. 

The seasons of life never stop changing. 

And I am so tired of trying to change them. 

All I can do is what is best for myself. 

I can be sure. 

I can be forgiving. 

And life will keep on going. 

- Sam (Coming to you live from the new city, Washington, DC)