for some reason it always catches me off guard how real the water looks when i’m on the water.

today I rode in a kayak with my rabbi, which I haven’t done since like a year ago. it’s hard not to be all nostalgic and to think about where I was a year ago to where I am now. i’ve literally had a job for a year. lived in fl for a year. been a college graduate for a year.

covid has been in the us for a year too. and with it so many other crisis and tragedies. a year ago I was just coming out of my spastic graduate panicked melodramatic unemployed phase. that was such a good time looking back. I thought it was the worst and was always on the verge of panicking, but now I would give quite a lot to go back.

i remember sitting at home alone on weekdays applying for jobs like crazy. wondering what every other person i’ve ever known was up to. feeling very alone. and scared honestly. in a very clinging mood.

I remember hopping around from starbucks to starbucks and crying at parks in the middle of the day and going on runs all the time. and always thinking so incredibly deeply about things. I learned a lot during that time, really. I learned so much. and I cling-ed to all of it.

in short, I learned a lot about god. I learned that he can fix every little thing I break. I learned about redemption. and his timing. it’s typically slower than I expect or want. typically always pretty much. I learned that even when i’m not patient, I will end up having to be patient. I guess in a way I learned to trust god.

and then, the week that covid caused fl to shut down, I started my job. and my friends got kicked out of college. and other peers lost their jobs. and I was amazed and humbled and dramatically overwhelmed by all of the timing.

over the next few months I started to learn more about myself. what my habits are, what my strengths are, my weaknesses. how others perceive me. I learned I have a tendency to use people, when i’m true to myself i’m very good at making people open up to me, i’m not very good at planning things or keeping a clean room, and i’m incredibly independent. I learned what exactly about me draws others to me, that I don’t need to be deceptive about who I am or what I like, that i tend to be mysterious and hard to read which is both a flaw and one of my best qualities, and I will always be most effective in other people’s lives if i’m being my sincere and honest self. the way I live my life is what will help make others think about their own.

anyway, I thought about all of these things on my kayak journey today. and my rabbi reminded me that even though it’s been a whole year, this season will definitely actually not last forever. i’ll like go out and live my life and it won’t be so closely tied to my family’s. everything has been so easy here, getting acquainted and whatnot. what’s next I don’t know.

some day i’ll remember this time as the time I lived in this cray beach town and healed and learned so much and grew up. I feel so much older than a year ago. I mean I live with my parents again, but somehow i’m still more mature. i’m like kinder I guess. less confused. in some ways. being in college was a precious time. I see now how much I didn’t know. but it was still sweet. post grad was fun too. & the here and now, sometimes it’s wobbly, but it’s also fun. I just want to spend the next few months reaaaaaally paying attention, bonding with my mom, and learning as much as I can.

one year down and (hopefully) a long way to go. worried about the future significantly less than I usually am right now. I wrote this post two and a half years ago when I was a jr in college and thought I had ruined this boy’s first impression of me and didn’t know what job I should take or something. I was so discouraged. i’ve felt that way a lot in the 2.5 years since. but i’ve also been so incredibly amazed at how things have worked out this far. paying attn to your life makes it seem incredibly real. more real than sometimes we remember. it is always worthwhile to pay attention.