Times Like Then

Past. Present. Future

In the past, I used to walk over a mile to my middle school at 6:30 in the morning. It was scary and potentially dangerous.

At 19, I felt too scared to even walk in my college town neighborhood alone.

At 21, I went into the middle of San Francisco alone. I was scared still.

At 22, I am most afraid of failing, falling short of the uber high expectations I have set for myself and have influenced others to hold for me. Will it pay off, this tenacity? Or do I need to fall?

All those times I walked alone, I was all alone. No one there, no one helping me. I made choices. They paid off sometimes. The time I didn't jump- I suffered.

So, all alone, in the bliss of my own frightening solitude, I will venture to complete the next greatest thing I have written for the scholarly world.

Starting tomorrow, I will be on that long walk, not knowing if I'll make it or not. But also knowing, if I don't try-then I know for certain I'll never make it there.

My motto: Try and surprise even yourself.