Change is a bitter sweet. It is the unknown that causes anxiety, but it is monotony that leads to the longing.

The big change for me was moving from NY to MD for school. For a while, I was stuck in the NY hustle, working hard and playing late. Although I could have continued in that cycle for years with no complaints, I wondered what life could be like with more opportunity. When I made the decision to start back at school, I thought that the cycle was soon to be broken – the prospect of school brought new faces with unknown names, a weath of material yet to be unearthed in massive text books, and new challenges to overcome at the end of each semester. What I never expected was a new form of rote routine – but that is what I got:

wake up, rush to school, go to the library for some reading, go to my regular scheduled class, back to my seat (still warm) in the library, last class, homeward bound, sleep – repeat.

But looking back at the starting line at this point on my journey, it is amazing how, in the mist of routine, I have made great changes. Its like putting a dirty shirt in the washing machine only to come out refreshed and renewed. It is not the “washing cycle” that does the work. But for the added ingredient (the “cleaning agent”), it would be the same dirty shirt, just wet.

In all of our lives, we have those added ingredients in the mist of our life cycle that renews and revives our spirit. It may not be so easy to spot (no pun intended), but for some, it is a special person that we meet on our journey that imparts knowlegde – a situation that challenges our way of thinking – a tragedy that is experienced one day and having the greatest belly laugh the next.

I know I have my “cleaning agents.” One more year left of school and counting, before this life cycle is complete – I have a few stains left on this shirt but I hope that after this cycle, my bold colors don’t fade.