The Last Page

For some reason, very coincidentally, May 31st has served on more than one occasion to be the last page of chapters of my life. I know that metaphor is just so cliche and I can't handle it but it is what it is today. Maybe May 31st, 2017 will be the end of me using cliche language.

May 31st was the day I departed France after a year abroad. It's been ten years since I studied abroad and it doesn't feel as far away as it is now. But it was hard, and a struggle, to reacclimate to life in the United States. A lot of my values and core beliefs are not in tandem with American culture, read: gross accumulation of wealth, profits before people, no work-life balance, etc. So a part of me has always felt a little less at home since studying abroad. But in a good way. I'm happy I've seen what it really means to both work hard and live well... to value people and practice business within ethical boundaries, and see the value of fresh things over shelf life, of the customer not always being right and creating the culture of gross entitlement over simple human error, etc etc. But, I digress.

May 31st was also the day that I finally got the courage to abandon a decades-long bully relationship in my life that inflicted physical, emotional and endless verbal abuse, as well as narcissistic gaslighting and manipulation (and no, it wasn't a boyfriend). My life has peace, serenity, calm and support in it now without that toxicity.

So, every May 31st is something of a reflection, something of a rebirth, something of the end of something. I'm happy.

And so I also look forward to every June 1st as the anniversary of a renewed beginning, a fresh start of new milestones and a real celebration.