This change in season always puts me in a kind of contemplative space, almost like a new year, I begin thinking about what I want to accomplish, and what I want for my family as we practice this new routine. We live across the street from a middle school, and two blocks away from an elementary school. So, each morning this time of year as I'm sipping my coffee, making lunches and stretching out from an early morning run, I watch children go by on their way to school. I watch parents holding their young child's hand, or I see a group of tweens clumped together loudly making their way along the sidewalk. Their faces each tell a story of a new school year, a fresh start, new goals, new friends, different teachers, the beginning of a comeback, or the beginning of a time to redefine themselves. I love this season, the air is brimming with potential.
But here's the thing about all these children and young adults heading off to school. They have to be so brave. All of them. Oh, just thinking about those wide-eyed kindergartners going to school for the first day, I get teary-eyed. This year when I saw a family walking by on their way to the elementary school, with both parents and big brother guiding the little brother to his first day of kindergarten, I had to strap myself to the chair lest I run out and shout some dorky, blubbering words of encouragement. "You are so brave! You can do it! You are going to rock it, little guy!" I didn't, but I wanted to. And I wanted to shout that to the middle schoolers, heading into the building that houses the most awkward phase of human life. So brave, each and every one of them.
Being brave is about keeping the forward momentum, even when you're heading into the unknown. (Which we all are doing every day, right?) To me it is also about trying something even when you think you can not do it, standing up for someone even when it is hard, going against the flow, believing in the good in the world, honoring people's differences, and, yes, being brave sometimes means taking a left hand turn in Montpelier construction traffic. We have to do it, people!
With my husband's enthusiastic approval, I will refrain from handing out "brave" stickers to all the children going by my house. But I will tell my own boys how brave they are. I will listen to their stories of making new friends, learning new things and making new mistakes, with great awe. You are so brave, I will say. And I will let that bravery settle in my mind when I am thinking about my own goals, whether it be a time I really want to get in a race, finishing that essay I've been working on for a year, or connecting with someone I've been too shy to reach out to. And I will do my best with that left hand turn. Please try not to honk at me, people. I'm trying to be brave.
My brave boys on their first day of school.
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