Moving On

I finished my last day of my Junior year of High School today. That said, the picture of the graduation hats and diplomas on the thumbnail… yeah, I still got a year left. However, a lot of my friends and brothers are graduating this year, and moving on with their lives into a completely new book. I’m just moving into the next chapter, then after next year, if all goes well, I’ll be moving onto the next ‘book’ of my life. That said, I’ll be discussing moving on and the feelings that come with it when you’re the one moving on, the feelings that come with seeing people you care about moving on, and how you and everyone should be moving on.

Fear. Jumping straight into it, fear is one of the first responses elicited by moving on in life, whether it be a new job, a new state, or the next grade of school. We, as people, have a natural tendency to fear the unknown, and though we can infer as much as we want, the future is one of the most unknown things to us. It’s never definite, it’s never concrete, and while you may have an idea of what’s most likely to happen, it’s hard to be 100% sure. Maybe, you have no idea what’s going to happen, and you’re actually just terrified then. If that’s the case, well then, stop being scared, you’re not walking into darkness, no, you have been given a blank canvas, don’t be afraid, start painting.

The next feeling that will often arise, very close if not concurrent with fear is anticipation. While there is fear of the nebulous and unguaranteed future, most people understand that’s it’s not avoidable. You’ll be afraid because who knows, but you’ll also be excited because… WHO KNOWS? What if it’s great, what if things go amazing, what if you meet the love of your life, what if you make more money, what if you find something you really enjoy doing? This is the hope part of the fear. You’re opening pandora’s box, and although there may be calamities—probably, this is life, if you don’t have calamities, you’re living it wrong—there must be hope. There must be excitement and anticipation of what’s may come. Use this anticipation, use it to find what you want from going to the next chapter or book of your life, and when you know what you want, you can start manifesting that on your canvas. And if you don’t know anything, if there’s nothing you specifically want, start just throwing random paint at that canvas and see what happens.

The most prominent feeling that comes from someone you know and care about moving on in their lives is the pang, the feeling of poignancy, and starting to miss the person before they even physically go anywhere. You may imagine the things you didn’t make the time to do, you may imagine the things that they’ll do without you, you may imagine them getting hurt and you can’t help… you may imagine them forgetting you, and if it’s someone you care about that’s a painful thought. This feeling of poignancy or pensiveness often makes your chest tight, maybe making your stomach turn. To deal with this you should take another look at the person you care about, tell them you care, understand the opportunity and/or the new beginning they’re going to, give them a hug and and forget yourself, be happy for them. I will say, however, this is much easier said than done. But if you truly care, you can do it, and assuming they care about you too, they’ll be happier and at more peace if you are.

Heraclitus, an old philosopher once said, “change is the only constant.” But who wants to listen to an old dead dude (other than anyone who studies any history)? This thought, however, has stretched throughout time, it’s been said in many different ways, and it’s been repeated by many amazing minds. Even some living ones. It’s ended in my lap as the purpose of life in the form of creation and evolution. The reason that everyone should go to that next chapter, go to that next book, the reason that everyone should move on… is because it’s human purpose. To evolve yourself, to move on, in body, in mind, in soul. We must do it to grow, the reason we must move on, is because it’s simply our purpose as humans to do so.

With that said, moving on to senior year is kinda frightening, I don’t do much, I’m a simple kid, but there’s the excitement of, what does happen next. And seeing all of my friends and people who are brothers to me graduating and moving on, and leaving me, and me knowing I may never see or speak to them again, it did kinda make me poignant, but I’m extremely excited for where they go in life, and I hope they make a difference for humanity, and I know they have the potential to do so. And I know that we all must move on, everything will move on as said on the last post, Clouds. With all of that said, I conclude, I hope you have an extraordinary week, I’ll see you the next. Peace.