I never thought one, single year could feel like a decade all rolled into twelve months. The memories from last winter are as dusty in my mind as the memory of my fifth grade talent show, or the memory of my first sunset on the beach.
But I do remember the vague feeling of uncertainty that plagued my second –– and final –– semester of high school. Where would I go to college? What would I start doing for the rest of my life? Would I get to go to college at all?
Doubt clogged my vision, and it was difficult to see just beyond the horizon. I knew what I wanted, but the certainty of it all was clear as mud. I guess that’s the thing about the future –– it never really can be certain.
Now that I’m sitting comfortably on the other side of 2014, on a couch nestled in between my three favorite kids, I share my absolute gratitude for the people who have helped me through this year of change, this year of hope, and this year of discovery.
2014 –– a number, a year I will always remember.
The year of my high school graduation, and the last year my email address reflects a year in the future, a year I never thought would be over this soon.
The year I travelled to the farthest state in the Union, to a land of breathtaking beauty –– the Hawaiian islands.
The year I packed up all the meager belongings scattered around my room and made a new home, away from all I’d ever known. The year that I became myself in another city, took risks, and was, perhaps, a little too gung ho for my own good.
The year I scored my first resumé-worthy J-O-B (and learned how to write a resumé, too), while also emailing, tweeting, and messaging far too many journalists in the field than societally-acceptable.
For this next year, I can’t even begin to imagine, let alone plan for, all of the opportunities, the experiences, and, inevitably, the disappointments, I will encounter.
Here’s to another year, on the road to becoming who I was meant to be, and taking care to enjoy the ride along the way,
BNB, xo
This post also appears on labellamemoir.tumblr.com
Bethany N. Bella 