All Good Things Come to an End

Endings can be a source of sadness, but I find my ending here on Pacific Program to be a new beginning. In just a few days I will be on a plane back to the United States and I feel as though I’m a very different person from when I left. I feel that I have more capability to be relaxed and try new things which is a strong departure from the routine oriented woman I left as. I worked hard to make these changes; it most assuredly wasn’t coincidental. Instead I worked towards a personal goal to try things outside my comfort zone. I’ve become, I believe, a more well rounded person because this goal and returning home will be a new beginning because the growth I have accomplished.

Even with my excitement towards a new beginning, I expected to meet the ending of this Program with sadness. I believe what changed that for me was the observance of sunsets. Sunsets are not an unusual phenomenon; in fact, they occur every day in every place across the world. However, before coming on the Pacific Program, I very rarely watched them. I would glance at the sky as I bustled from place to place on campus, but in New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, I would sit and watch the sun sink lower and lower until all that was left were stars.

 

Sunsets began to represent endings for me. I can see them coming as the sun sinks slowly lower in the Western sky and I know that nothing I do will prevent that. Covering the sun with a cloud will only prevent me from seeing it, not prevent it from happening. Endings are quite similar. I can always pretend like I don’t see an ending coming, but most often the reality is that I don’t want to see an ending coming. I’ve merely covered the impending end with a cloud.

I’ve realized how erroneous it is to try not to see an ending coming because it can truly be beautiful. Yes, I can cover the sun with a cloud

as it sets, but then I miss the beauty of a sky lit up with brilliant reds, oranges, and pinks. If I’ve learned anything at all on Pacific Program, it’s that sunsets can be truly stunning. In leaving the sun uncovered, the surrounding clouds become lit up by the sun. They change colors from bright orange to a subtle pink or even a deep red. The sun’s power and beauty controls all of this as it slowly sinks down below the horizon. I think an ending can be just as beautiful if I’m simply willing to let it. I could be sad about leaving my time here in the Pacific and I would eventually get over that sadness. Sunsets have instead taught me to reflect back. Think about the things I’ve learned. Remember the people I’ve met and love. Appreciate the beauty of the places I’ve been. I instead feel joy for all that I have been blessed with in my time here.

I feel blessed to have been able to watch so many beautiful sunsets. In fact, I look forward to watching many more because of what they now represent to me. Even more so, I feel reassured by the knowledge that the sun always rises in the morning. Every sunset I watch, the sun will once again rise high in the sky the next morning, a new beginning moving forward. And so, I leave this post, and

this blog, with one final picture. Not a sunset, but a sunrise. A sunrise that is a symbol of my recognition of the ending that sunsets bring and the optimism of the new beginning stretched before me. Oh the Places I’ve Been I said. I’ve been some to some beautiful ones for sure. What’s more important though is the places I’ll go. As Dr. Seuss so aptly put it as my blog inspiration, “Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!” Off and away I go. I’m not sure to where, but I know that it’s going to be incredible.

~S