Change is the only constant in life. - Heraclitus
This quote, often distributed to a more modern author instead of an ancient philosopher, has always been one of my favorite things to reflect upon.
No quote can more accurately describe this period of life, that moment of being a college student, and the slow shift into adulthood. I've realized this quite a bit this last week. I promise there won't be nearly as many posts about change coming soon, but it's been a particularly large part of my life lately.
It's my last week here in DC. One internship turned into two, and now seven months later I'm very ready to come home. This has been one of the most amazing times of my life. I uprooted myself and left within a week of learning that I had received my internship. I was excited, giddy, a tad nervous, and now that I look back, so so young.
I constantly talk about growth, mainly because I can't believe I'm the same person that I was a year ago, heck I can't believe the person I was in January. And that is a beautiful thing. This is exactly what the period of being a young adult is. Constant change. Even when I thought I was ready for change, I now realize that before I truly wasn't ready.
I've never approached change with so much sheer excitement and acceptance. I put down roots quickly, I like having a home, I'm sure most people can understand that. However, it doesn't mean that I enjoy the change, the force of what is coming next. I would always get a little teary eyed when something was coming to an end, whether it be the end of a semester or leaving my first apartment.
Now? I'm ready to go home, I'm ready to start this next chapter of my life. I look forward to figuring out what is going to be a very tumultuous period of my life. Not only have I grown here in this city, but I came to become myself, more myself than I'd had the bravery to ever be before.
Why you may ask?
Because I was alone. In the best sense of that word. No one here knew me, and coming from Wyoming, which we joke is a city with looooong roads that stretch across the whole state. I wasn't my father's daughter, I wasn't the Judge's granddaughter. Even when I went to university, a chance to get away from my small town and be a number, someone knew my other grandfather.
I love that about home.
But.
Everyone should have the ability to at some point in their life go somewhere where no one knows them. Somewhere where they are living alone. Somewhere where they have to rely on themselves, and truly find out that they have the ability to do anything they put their mind to.
Because you can. You can tackle the world. I can tackle the world, and I learned that. And now I'm ready to take that new found knowledge and finally, finally accept the change that is coming my way. Because, change truly is the only constant thing in out lives, something mankind has known for thousands of years.
