What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.

             – T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding

When I first read these lines from Eliot, they seemed so familiar… then I realized it’s because of the late-90’s anthem, “Closing Time,” for which I apologize, because now you will be humming it all day.

It’s the turn of the year and the turn of a professional season for me, and even my big potted fig plant is getting in on the act, sprouting a new leaf for the first time in forever. I cannot count the number of times in recent weeks that I’ve fielded the question, “So, what’s next?”

Friends, the companion to even the most welcome and well-planned ending is discomfort, which tends to pull us ever more quickly into the Next. And truth be told, some parts of life don’t wait – sometimes we need to keep moving right along.

But dear ones, if we can, where we can, 

Let’s make a proper end.

Pause. Reflect. Observe. Be. 

Gather ourselves together.

Ready for the next beginning.