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Self discovery, and no it's not 'an empty nest thing' per se

The quintessential crisis surrounding my daughter's departure for college has begun to calm down.

My life has undergone serious scrutiny, as happens in these cases, and for the most part I find myself happy and fulfilled.

To be quite honest, I've been so incredibly blessed I feel guilty. Which means that when I began to listen to a quiet, yet insistent, voice which urged me to explore my next big personal growth direction, I felt like I was playing with fire.

I mean, how happy can one person be in a lifetime?

And then I snapped out of it, and decided to heed the voice..that was encouraging me to view myself ten years down the road and decide if what I saw pleased me, or if making adjustments and maybe adding to my life in one way or another made sense.

Turns out, I want to do more. And I want to do it by studying Oriental Medicine. The whole banana- acupuncture and herbs, to eventually become a practitioner.

I say eventually because I've decided to tackle this on top of what I'm doing now. I love my work, and have a big commitment to uphold here, a commitment I fully intend to fulfill. So the Oriental medicine is in addition.

Gulp.

Cut to me gathering transcripts, letters of recommendation, writing my own essay, filling out reams of paperwork (online and for real), etc. Then cut to an interview, the 'official' interview, that honestly...left me feeling unsure of my viability as a candidate.

So when we took off on our grand adventure I had done everything I could possibly have done, and now had to wait for word. Which I wouldn't get until I returned because they would send me a letter, acceptance or rejection, in the mail. A letter which would sit for days and days while I flew all over the world.

It turns out they decided to use more modern methods of communication in my case, so when I landed in the U.S., and fired up my BlackBerry, it blew up. Full of voicemails from the school, congratulating me on my acceptance into the program, and laying out next steps. Which were all urgent, of course.

Holy crap. They let me in! (Seriously, I wasn't sure, I just wasn't.)

I'm now a student again. And am registered for my first semester. And have ordered books. And supplies. And such.

Honestly, at this juncture, considering all that has gone into this decision and series of events that have led to this moment? I'm going to focus on finding the perfect book bag and do some light reading this weekend because from here on out, shit is going to get serious.

For about 5 years, at least.

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