shining eyes

"...but don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small but don't ever stop singing."

-Sarah Kay


It seems fitting to write a blog on the eve of turning twenty-seven.  Twenty-six has been a good year.  It wasn't what I thought it would be, but what is?

It was a year of change.  Drove east from California, saw the Grand Canyon for the first time, stopped in beautiful Boulder, lived for a week in the Canadian woods with just a backpack, 14 ladies, and a canoe, applied to a program up in Boston, almost didn't want to get accepted so I wouldn't have to do any more moving.  But that didn't work out for me.

I live in Boston.  And I love it.

The other day I took the T to class and found myself listening to a (loud, I promise!) conversation between two students.  One studies at MIT, the other at Harvard.  At first I wanted to roll my eyes and tune them out, falling into an old judgment that all the undergraduate students at those schools are pretentious and arrogant.  But instead I found myself taken into a story one was telling the other about a friend.  This friend was a high school drop-out.  One day he discovered a lecture online about quantum physics, and it changed his life.  He started studying like crazy, and eventually this kid, who didn't even finish high school, found himself with an acceptance letter from MIT.  I found myself smiling when I heard that. There is something about passion that defies odds.  I can't help but believe that the passionate find a way even when things seem impossible...and they are usually the crazy ones who no one really thinks can pull it off.  Those will always be my favorite stories.

Sometimes I find myself looking at the stars, reminding myself that big dreams are not crazy and that God's love is strong and He is unapologetic about how excited He is for our lives.  I want to live in that reality.  In that kind of friendship.

Which brings me to the topic of friendship.  More than anything else, I feel like this last year has made me so deeply thankful for the genius of good friends.  I mean, I really lucked out when it comes to quality people in my life.  So if any of you read this, I just want to say thank you for being in my life.  I've learned so much about love, kindness, perseverance, laughter, joy....from all of you.

And here comes another year....