so let the sun shine in

Oh my faithful readers! I have taken quite the hiatus from writing these past few months. I'm glad to say we're still alive and doing really well, and are really glad that we can end the drama once and for all that was the past few months. 

Firstly: I. Quit. My. Job. Revel in the delicious ecstasy that phrase pours into your mind. P. and I will forever be grateful for that job and the many times it saved us by the skin of our teeth, but there will never be a day that I regret leaving. Aside from a couple coworkers who became my good friends, there is not one thing I miss. Not one. I was just reminiscing aboout earlier at lunch today. Right now I get an hour and a half for lunch. That is THREE TIMES what I used to get at the accounting firm. That's enough time to eat, chat, and still get homework done for my second class if I need to. Hallelujah.

So join with me in giving thanks for necessary evils that we no longer have to endure. Thank you. 

Ok, secondly: I GRADUATED!!!! I did it! The year of  killing myself at work during the day, just to kill myself some more at school at night has ended, and while I'm glad it's over, this aspect of my life actually was one of the more fantastic things that happened to me in the last year. Not only did I learn the healing, therapeutic, relaxing, and integral art of massage, make some life long friends, get taught by phenomenal teachers who cared just as much about the students as they did their own families, but I learned so much about myself in that time. Namely: I'm a finisher. I finish what I start, and it's been very validating to be able to not only say that, but mean it. The evidence is a sweet diploma that tells you I finished. With flying colors. I adore massage. I'm obsessed with looking at peoples' bodies as a structure, a larger picture of smaller parts all working together. And I can't believe that I can do that, and see what could use some work, and know that I know how to do that work to help fix it. It's like becoming a doctor and realizing that you know how to diagnose diseases. How cool is that knowledge?? I've also learned that I'm a tolerant person. I believe in happiness. I believe we're here to help each other be happy, and I believe that entails seeing a person for who they really are. Not the vices or lifestyles they adopt, but who they are inside. A teacher recently told me that he loves the phrase from the "Avatar" movie. Instead of saying, "I love you," they say, "I see you." I see who you really are and what you have to offer and I like all of that. Because of this paradigm shift, I've been able to make friends with people who I would have normally brushed off because of a built-in tendency to pre-judge. I've learned it is so worthwhile to get rid of those preconceived notions and celebrate differences that make us human beings. I've also learned, and stay with me here, because this is confusing and sounds really hypocritical (and maybe it is), but I have absolutely no tolerance for people who have no tolerance. Does that make sense? I can't handle people who, for one reason or another have decided that it's "their way or the highway," and anyone with different beliefs or backgrounds is not only to not be trusted, but is clearly an abomination against humanity. And I'm pretty proud of the fact that I know that about myself. If that does make me hypocritical, then so be it. I have no patience for that kind of person, nor do I have the time or energy to care about them. I'm too busy being happy with my circle of happy people. 

Thirdly (you forgot I was listing things, didn't you?), I started more school! YAY! Or not so yay. I'm so torn about this one. Still. I'm halfway done with this master program, and I still don't know if I want to get up in the morning and keep going. I won't go into the gory details about why. Suffice it to say, there are some people who are meant to be teachers. There are others who don't really know how, and maybe have stopped making the effort to try. A good teacher can change the world. A mediocre teacher will pretty much make everything seem...mediocre. Kudos to you outstanding teachers that stick with it, especially when the pay is not even close to what you deserve. We need you. I can say that because I'm married to one of the best teachers on this planet, and he definitely doesn't get paid enough. I should be getting paid too, for all the grading I help with (which I might secretly enjoy...). Either way, I'm halfway done, and because I'm a finisher, I'm sticking with it. 

Lastly and most recently, I have procured employment. That's right. As a recent college grad, I got a job pretty much right off the bat, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Thanks to the rising demand of massage in a stressed out world, I have some pretty good job security too, and to top it all off, I love what I do. I couldn't be more jazzed that I get to help people feel better, and get paid to do it. That idea has been something I've wanted for myself for as long as I can remember. 

Life is pretty fantastic right now. That's not to say we don't have our down days. I was just crying the other night about something or other. But so far, things are really starting to go our way. Finally. Haha.

To send you off feeling nostalgic, remember Ferris Bueller: