Sunset

I left the ending ambiguous because that is the way life is. - Bernardo Bertolucci

Sunsets are just about the most satisfying metaphor of endings I can think of. They are quiet, beautiful, unapologetic. They signify closure to the day, welcomed as they give way to the night, to rest and to the confidence of an eternity of days to follow. I cherish sunrise for its promises and its optimism, its opportunity to make things grow. Yet the balance of the sunset on the opposite end of each day reminds me of some more difficult parts of evolving. Recognizing that endings are about growth too.

I began writing this blog just over a year ago. For lots of reasons, but mostly because I thought thoughts and felt feelings and heard words inside of me that were asking to come out. Getting outside and appreciating how that helps me sort out and appreciate the world and my place in it gives me such joy and writing about it and sharing it has provided exactly the growth that the universe had been pointing me towards. In the last year, there have been for me over 100 sunrises, dozens of bike rides, more walks and hikes than I can remember, and a handful of kayak trips. This will be my last entry for The Elysian Outdoors, but those experiences won't stop, because they still bring me joy. But those daily adventures are not asking me to write about them anymore. Other experiences and ideas are.

So it looks like Growth is asking me to do something different. I am not sure exactly what yet, but I can feel it and it excites me to dig deeply into parts of the world and the people around me. And to discover where I fit into it. I am savoring this moment of unknown and unexplored, knowing that there are opportunities to learn something new, and to share it with others. I will most certainly weave the outdoors into many of the things I do and write, because it is woven into the deepest parts of me, but there are other adventures waiting to be had. Really...this ending is just the beginning of the next part.

Stay tuned...