Mornings and New Beginnings

Waking up earlier than usual, I instinctively unhooked the guitar hanging above my bed and began strumming a familiar tune that's been stuck in my head all night.

The somber acoustic tune quickly fills my room, each note fading into the distant sound of birds singing and hushed blowing of the wind through the trees …

I played on until my fingers hurt.

Then it hit me. Déjà vu. A light, giddy feeling swelled within me … a familiar feeling I've had a few years back. A memory. Like it just happened yesterday. And I held on to the feeling for a moment.

Ever had those rare moments when an emotion suddenly overwhelms your senses and all you can do is surrender to its powerful grip and lay down your defenses? That feeling. All of it.

With a curious mix of awkwardness and delight at this thought, I realized what it was: the four-letter word that breaks even the most stubborn stoic. Love.

I remember the day it slipped away … And somehow I just let it. It was a choice. A painful one.

Today is different. Many years have somehow blown away the chaff. Life has been sifted through for me. And today, I am ready to begin. Again.

“Perhaps that is where our choice lies―in determining how we will meet the inevitable end of things, and how we will greet each new beginning.” ~Elana K. Arnold