As William Faulkner so wisely says, it's hard to work towards the future when you are still holding onto the past.
This week, the shore will be out of sight and in front of me, the unknown. I have never worked for myself before, never had the freedom to decide when, where and with whom to work. It is a little daunting to be faced with this freedom, but also exhilarating.
No doubt I have much to learn. I will make unwise choices, work when I should rest, rest when I should work, do too much or not enough... but I also believe that I have the capacity to learn from these experiences and from those around me who have swum for their own new horizons.
The process of becoming who we are, finding our own way through life, starts the moment we are born and does not end until we die.
How happy we are at any given moment seems to depend in some part on how aligned our 'doing' self is with our 'being' self. If there is discord between what comes naturally and easily to us, our values and our temperament, and what we are expected to do in the world, there is jarring and conflict.
I suspect that many of the children who are struggling in our settings and schools are experiencing this discomfort. They are being asked to do what is not aligned to how they are, developmentally or emotionally. Often we know this, but are struggling with our own conflicting demands.
I am lucky to be able to try a different way of being in the world, but I want this opportunity for us all.
For our children, the gift of being able to shine in the brilliance of their unique existence, to experience harmony and self-fulfillment, is priceless.