The Lessons of Loss

For Me,

The hardest part of life is experiencing greatness alone.

Let me unpack that a bit-

I often feel as though whatever I am currently experiencing rules so hard and yet my only wish is for all other humans to be there with me.

Maybe this is why I'm outgoing.

Maybe this is why I'm so open.

Maybe this is why I blog.

...because when I see beauty, I want only for your eyes to be my own.

If I cannot share it, it is difficult for me to fully enjoy it.

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This past year has been full of intense friendship followed by s e p a r a t i o n.

I moved out of Manzone as February came to a close.
I parted with the Wolfpack and AASU as the school year ended.
I spent an incredible week at Sharptop,
then gone.
Savannah summer with family and old high school friends,
then gone.
Blitz, camp, IC event "meetings"
gone.
And finally I have just spent a month with some of the greatest people I have ever met on this earth and again we must divide... As our IC family embarks on separate journeys for a time, I am reminded of a thought I had earlier this summer:

From time to time, I have been asked whether I would rather have loved and lost or not loved at all. I always thought better of the former, but I never really knew why.
Now I get it.

Because it is through loss that I have come to understand love.

To my many friends,
new, old, and still to come,

Thank you for the time you have gifted me with.
Thank you for sharing your life with me and allowing me to do the same.
I love you. I miss you.

Now let us,
as I saw on Levis billboards
all over San Fran today,
Go Forth!