Begin Again

The start of September has always felt like a time of new beginnings for me. My mom taught elementary school, and each year the last few weeks of summer were spent helping her prepare for “the new year.” Orange, yellow and brown construction paper would eventually turn into autumn leaves as my sister and I spent hours cutting them out and thinking about the “new year” ahead. The really fun days were the ones when we accompanied my mom to school and helped her make her classroom warm and welcoming for her new class.

When I was finally old enough to go to school, I reveled in the anticipation of my “new school year,” full of wonder about who would I meet, and would I like my teacher? Would I be smart enough? New shoes, and clothes and best of all, new notebooks tempered my anxiety and made it an enjoyable time. I grew to see the start of each school year as an opportunity to start again. I also saw it as a time rich with opportunities for widening my world.

Decades later, I still feel that sense of new beginnings every September, as the leaves start to fall, and students go back to school. No matter how old we are, or where we are in our lives, we can reset. We can’t change all of our circumstances, but we certainly can reset certain parts of our life. We can approach life with wonder, seeking beauty, experiencing joy, and choosing to learn new things. Is there a book you have always wanted to read, a language you have always wanted to learn, a skill or hobby you have wanted to perfect? Every day brings with it the chance to grow and change.

So, as the leaves continue to fall and brilliant autumn days approach, let us all choose to find ways not only to grow and learn, but to embrace the opportunity offered to us each day, to be kind, and to do our best to make the world a better place.