It's happening.
The beach is becoming less crowded.
We're seeing less New York license plates on the Garden State Parkway.
School buses are causing traffic every morning.
Pinterest is exploding with recipes for pumpkin-chai everything.
The sun is going to sleep earlier and earlier.
The sweaters are making a comeback and the flippy floppies are hibernating.
And I'm calling doctors looking for a yellow fever shot.
I'm leaving for Tanzania in 2 months and 3 days.
My bank account is draining and my heart is filling up.
I am so excited, and I also may have a heart attack.
This is the strangest fall of my life. (except maybe the one fall I was living in Texas and the leaves didn't change color. That was stupid, leaves are supposed to change color.)
This is the first fall of my life that I'm not in some kind of school. I'm not getting ready for midterms or shopping for Christmas gifts. I'm buying plane tickets and travel insurance and making paintings and scarves to try to sell to raise money for my trip. And I couldn't be happier.
I can't wait to meet my new friends. I am going to be sharing a living space with strangers from across the planet. I am going to spend my mornings walking along dirt roads to go and teach kids so that they can have some kind of a future.
I am so lucky.
I am so blessed.
Those are both the right word. Not everyone gets a chance to do something like this.
I will get to be a part of something that is way bigger than myself. Way bigger than me.
AAAahhhhh!
I'm a creature of habit. I don't love change, and I don't relish the thought of being away on Christmas. I love tradition.
But this is way bigger than tradition.
This is cooler than pumpkin spice lattes and gingerbread cookies.
Although I do love me some gingerbread cookies.
Fall is the Earth's metaphor for change. Everything changes during the fall. That's what I love about fall. And as we bust out our boots and scarves, let's think of these kids who's lives have been a constant: poverty, joblessness, hopeless, and often parentless.
And let's get excited for change!
I'm not trying to bum you out, I'm saying I get to be a part of change! A part of giving them an education so they have hope for a future, regardless of their past.
I'm nervous about the change that will occur in my life.
But I know that I am
Braver than I believe.
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