Fresh Starts

My paternal grandmother was an early riser.  Granny always said that she just loved the early morning hours because it was such a “fresh start.”  Listening to the world come alive in the hour just before and just after dawn is something akin to being present at a celebration.  I have the same fondness for those early morning hours that my Granny did.

Fresh starts, in general, make me feel better about the world and more hopeful about the future.  With regard to mornings, it seems like all of nature recognizes the power of those new beginnings.  The creatures seem compelled to sing. Plant life seems to perk up and stand taller. The air feels fresh, even electric.

It feels spiritual (so it probably is).

My calling, that of being an educator, provides similar new beginnings.  The school where I work launched a new year yesterday.  You could just feel the excitement in the air (even among us old geezers).  New shoes, new clothes, new haircuts, new students, new schedules, new lesson plans, new dreams, new possibilities, new chances to get it right.  It is an event very similar to those morning celebrations of nature when the sun begins to announce its return.

The start of a new school year compels me to sing, to perk up and stand taller. It feels like electricity in the air.  It feels like I’ve been given a brand new chance to get it right (or, at least, righter than I did last year).

Forgiveness seems a lot like a fresh start, too.  A chance to start over, get it righter.

I love those fresh starts –

those early mornings,

those launchings of a new school year,

those blessed moments of forgiveness. 

They feel spiritual (so they probably are).