The Calm Before The Change
The lake looks calm, but a storm’s building beneath the surface—a reminder of life’s duality. Beauty and fury coexist, showing me that change is constant and calm is sometimes an illusion.
The lake stretches endlessly toward the horizon, glittering under the hazy sun that casts a glossy glow across its surface.
Endless Horizons, Endless Change
As we approach, the wind grows stronger, whipping around us, and the frothy, white-capped waves crash onto the shore. The force of the waves is deceiving, making it feel like we’re standing at the ocean. It’s unseasonably warm, and the swirling wind hints at an approaching change. Not a cloud in the sky, the sun’s rays stretch across the blue expanse. It’s mesmerizing. I snap a photo, wanting to remember this moment.
A Deceptive Calm
The sun’s intensity creates a glassy sheen on the water’s surface—a strange irony, making it look frozen, though it’s wild and alive. Looking back at the photo, it feels deceptive. It captures a peaceful, sun-soaked day, yet there’s a fury building, ready to stir and change everything around us.
The Duality of Nature: Beauty and Fury
The contrast between beauty and anger leaves me unsettled, wondering what’s coming next.
Breathing Easier in the Crisp Air
The cool fall air brings clarity and calm, letting me breathe easier as I embrace change. I'm navigating uncertainty but learning to let go of past pressures to be fully present in each moment.
The crisp air is both inviting and refreshing—I can breathe easier, feel more, without that suffocating heaviness. I welcome these fall days, even knowing the bitter cold is on its way. There's something about the clarity in the air, a coolness that cuts right through to my core. The thick, humid air that came before clung to the skin, wrapping around it like a damp blanket, clouding the mind and dragging your focus elsewhere. But this shift, this cool change, is a relief. It lets me breathe, lets me just be here, in this moment.
The Weight of Change: A New Season, A New Chapter
Being present, though, isn’t as simple as it sounds. I feel unsteady, unmoored in this new chapter where so much depends on me—both in my career and my personal life. I’m not quite sure where I’m steering this yet. Part of me wants to look ahead, but anxiety swirls, much like the humid air did, clouding my thoughts.
Navigating Uncertainty: Career and Life at a Crossroads
I wake up at night, my head pounding, replaying moments from the past few weeks, wondering if I made the right calls. I question how others perceive me, how they'll respond. I’m stuck in this cycle of second-guessing, unable to let go of what I can't change. But I know I have to. I have to release the weight of other people's opinions and focus on my own voice. I need to speak my truth, fearlessly.
Letting Go of the Past: Finding My Voice
Change is here, deep in my bones. I feel the cool breeze wrap around me as leaves float and fall through the air. A small yellow leaf lands on my keyboard—golden and fingernail-sized, its corner missing, torn away by the wind or perhaps brittle from time. It feels like a sign. A reminder to surrender to this change, imperfections and all. To let things unfold as they will.
A Sign in the Leaves: Embracing Imperfection
The suffocating weight has lifted. I can finally breathe again, fully, with all my senses—and that's something I won't let go of.