May Day

MAY—ramblings shall ensue. I was ecstatic when I remembered today was the first of May. Given, it was after I'd walked my dog and had my first cup of coffee, but at least I know now—right? I got to thinking about it pretty quickly though. For most of my life, May has been one of my favorite months. Summer dawned and schools closed, which meant no school and the living was easy—how early we could get to the country club and what week was cheerleading camp were the only two things to really consider.

In college, May was bittersweet in that it meant another year got crossed off the calendar of "the best four years of our life." But it always meant we were going somewhere exciting, and it always meant we would come back together. Back together for football games and formals and lazy lounging on the back porch of the Chi Omega house—all the things that mixed together to make my years spent at Ole Miss seem like an absolute dream.

My year in grad school was a different sort of May as I packed boxes to prepare for The Big Move. It was a May filled with unadulterated excitement—the future was here and it was limitless and I was diving into it headfirst with a "charming sort of wreck-less abandonment," as I was once told. So when I realized it was May this morning, excitement dawned rather quickly before I wondered, "What's next?" What changes? Where do I go? Subconsciously, without even realizing it, I was perched on the tips of my toes ready to take off for the next step. Because, up until now, it's always been about the next step.

But, truth be told, the next step is... here. It's all right here, for now at least. For the first time, in five years, I'm not packing boxes to prepare to move into a new house. For the first time, I'm not anticipating a huge life change. For the first time, I am settled, and instead of making plans to grow up, I am actually growing up (I think, most of the time). And that is surprisingly a much more exciting feeling than I anticipated it to be.

Who knew—the girl who's always going finally slows down.
So here's to all the excitement on the agenda that has nothing to do with packing a box or making a move.
Happy May!