Brand New

Well, it’s about that time again. Time to start a new chapter in my life, continue my teaching career and see more of the world.

I cannot do that without reminiscing, though. I am still taking the time to fully reflect on and digest what happened this past year. I spent a lot of time in southern Asia – left August 3rd, 2010, and came back June 13th, 2011. The person that left is not the same person that came back.

I learned a lot this past year.  A lot of it was lessons about myself: what I am capable of, what I can and cannot tolerate, what I still need to work on in my life.  I also learned lessons about the real world, about other people, about lives outside of my own.  The majority were good lessons, lessons that gave me a sense of positivity.

However, there was some negativity in there.  There were some days where I had anxiety attacks, which I had never had before in my life.  There were some days I spent on the verge of tears.  Some days I could have probably gone on a war path.  There was a lot of anger, bitterness, and disappointment.

But god, did the positive outweigh the negative.  I have so many people and so many events to thank for that.  My heart aches to relive so many days, days spent doubled over laughing because my students said something funny, days where I was so proud of what they achieved, days where I could just lounge and watch a movie with friends, days where we explored new corners of the world, days where everything just seemed so mystical and magical and novel.  Asia captured my heart in a way I never predicted it would.

I don’t quite know how to do this past year justice, but a top 10 of moments, things, and people seems appropriate for now.  Stay tuned, and please enjoy the introduction of my new blog for the next however-so-long of my life: A Walker’s Path.