“Home is behind, the world ahead…”

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Amanda

Picture by DLC Photography

“Home is behind, the world ahead,
and there are many paths to tread
through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight.”
— J.R.R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings

So somehow I made it through 22 years of life without ever knowing the wonderful gift to film, known as The Lord of the Rings (don’t worry literature faithfuls, the books are now on my list.) I vaguely remember watching the first movie with my Uncle Josh when I was around 10, but my appreciation for good movies was still in its early stages of development then.

My post today is obviously not to go on and on about how I’ve been living underneath a rock. But I also very quickly realized that I was also missing out on some good quotes and words of wisdom from Mr. Tolkein, and the one above grabbed my attention in my wide-eyed post graduation state.

Speaking of graduation (notice my smooth transition there.) It all sort of came and went how I expected it to. There were tears, pictures, lots of cliche phrases and momentary bouts of anxiety. We laughed at the person next to us for obnoxiously waving into the sea of people in the crowd — of course until you found your own fans and joined in —commented a million times on how the caps and gowns really are flattering on no one and wondered how exactly that girl was successfully managing those heels.

If you were to ask me I’d tell you that I just graduated from the best college at the greatest university there is, but hey, that’s just me. K-State was the best decision that I have ever made, and everyone who knows me, knows that I could talk to the end of time telling you why. I’ve always said that I don’t believe in coincidences, and that couldn’t be more true today. I only wish I could go back and ask my 18-year-old self where exactly the courage to take that risk came from, so that I can bottle it up and save it up for days that I need a little push.

Looking forward, there’s a lot to be excited about. I am admist week four of my full time job and enjoying a beautiful summer with good people around me. I am excited to jump back into blogging, deciding not to put any expectations on what I’m going to write about, except to just to continue to practice and expand my writing, and see where that takes me.

I do though, want to reflect just a bit. The last few months have been a wild ride, busy to the point that I was just focusing on making it through each single day. But as always they were filled with good memories and great people.

Thanks to all who tagged along.