As life races by, stopping to acknowledge and celebrate milestones is a healthy practice. We are a couple short days away from the high school graduation ceremony for our eldest. It is strange that I can fairly quickly recall specific details from my own high school graduation, and truly it does not feel so long ago. . . But alas, all those “time flies” related clichés ring true!
My daughter—the aforementioned “eldest”—and I spent some time together yesterday morning at the kitchen table (I very rarely bake, but I do make some healthy scone-like blobs that she likes, so I enticed her with a fresh batch.) She made a comment about wanting the weekend to be over.
I get that.
Often the preparation, planning, and buildup of life events overwhelms us. It is easy for that “If we just get through ________, then things [won’t feel so stressful, won’t seem so rushed, will get to a place that feels “normal”] narrative to take over.
I listened while my daughter heard herself make that comment out loud, and then I listened while she worked through some of the feelings—the very valid feelings—connected to said comment. We ended up agreeing that we often live amidst so much paradox. Feelings and experiences feel simultaneously contradictory yet connected, and it sometimes feels like things get so built up that they end up feeling exhausting instead of exciting.
But we do need to celebrate!
We need moments—milestones—that bring us together. We need to hop off the treadmill and slow the pace. We need to allow time to and space to reflect, and then to laugh and cry and be embarrassed and be sad about all the experiences we have had, the people we have met, the relationships we have built.
Life will continue to try to rush us. But we can—and absolutely should—push back against the rush-i-ness. We can take a breath, and take time to enjoy the milestones!
