So, mom is gone and I am here in a room that feels open and empty. I think about the days to come- the prep here that will launch me into the future. I am excited to leave 'this' all behind for a while- the expectation, the dress, the anxiety, the unease that is pervasive here in the U.S. Perhaps elsewhere, but here none the less. 

I am not leaving for escape. I am leaving for expansion and illumination. To learn and to grow. We all have an enormous capacity and so few of us fulfill it. You can, I can, but it will take a lifetime. 

This is a part of this life.