The season of transitions has arrived. In some families, there is a child beginning kindergarten, while in others they are headed off to college. Then there are the less dramatic changes like going from middle school to high school. In any one of these households, there are feelings ricocheting off the walls. Excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and worry are all flavors in the soup of change. 

 

My own granddaughter peeked through the window of her classroom, and told us it was cozy, with beautiful lighting. I have not met her teacher, but I am sending a stream of good wishes, in anticipation of the influence she will have on this precious child. 

 

I wonder what graduations look like for those of us whose fall looks much like the spring. Are we progressing in measurable ways? Sometimes the sameness makes it cloudy. There are no particular skills I can point to that make this year memorable. Being sixty-seven is a lot like being sixty-six. 

 

Yet, I cannot quite buy the appearance that we coast for the second half of life. There is potential, even if there are no grades or mortarboards. Friends expand their awareness by reading new books, or taking an adult ed class in Spanish. (taught by my daughter) Friends are traveling to fresh places, and picking up a pickle ball racket. 

 

Even though there are no curricula to point to, all of us can be a better version of ourselves. 

 

 

"In the childlike stage of human rebirth, spiritual qualities are present in potential, since spiritual life gradually advances with each stage, as if from an egg. Childhood serves as a kind of egg for adolescence, which serves as a kind of egg for young adulthood, which serves as a kind of egg for full adulthood. It is as if we are constantly being born." Heavenly Secrets 4378, Emanuel Swedenborg