Each Fourth of July, I review the past year, write about it, and try to discover what I learned. I look at what happened, how I felt about it, and how I feel about the big picture of the year. I choose Fourth of July because my life is run by the school year, so a summer date makes more sense for me than New Years Day. Also, it's my favorite holiday, and it's Independence Day, so I cheesily like to think I'm gaining "independence" from the crap that has held me back for the past year.

I was late this year (I just finished it tonight--ha!). Maybe I was avoiding it, because it was a rough year--a year of a lot of loss and loneliness and confusion. But here's my final paragraph. It kind of sums up where I'm at and what I'm thinking now.

"What have I learned? That I can make it. That life does go on. That time really does heal things, and reveal things. I learned that I really love people. That I want to hold onto my innocence and exuberance for life with everything I have. That positivity feeds me and that personal responsibility matters to me. I learned that I can choose how I feel and what I do and how I respond, and that, in choosing, I largely make my own life. I learned that I love to have fun, to enjoy all that the world has to offer. And I learned that I might not be all grown up yet, and that's just gonna have to be okay."