What I love about school is that it is like a small world, a perfect microcosm of life. We experience all the drama of the human experience: challenge, growth, joy, surprise, celebration, loss and letting go. We move through the cycle of the seasons and all the holidays and special times together. We learn every subject: math, science, history, language, art and music. In many ways, school gives us a chance to practice life.

And just like life, the school year moves too quickly. One moment it’s beginning, and the next, it’s already time to say goodbye. Yet, just as one year ends, another begins and the cycle continues: a new year, a new class, a new chance to discover who you are and who you want to be.

Our reflection this week is from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke:

Want transformation. Be inspired by the flame
In which a thing disappears and bursts into something else;
The spirit of re-creation which masters the earth
Loves most the pivoting point
Where you are no longer
Yourself.

Pour yourself out completely, like a river,
And you will find wisdom at last.
She will lead you to that enchanted place,
That finishes often with starting
and with ending, begins.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus

With love,
Mirza