There was just one more box to be packed as I cleaned out my office. My mind was going over the fond memories of seven years when I heard a gentle knock. Our newest intern was at the door. “You were doing so well, sir”, she said “why did you then decide to leave us?”.

I gathered my thoughts for a minute and replied softly “How else would I have realized how much I was appreciated here?”

Sitting in the auditorium. In less than half an hour, I go on stage as the commencement speaker for Fulton Science Academy High School graduation ceremony. Looking around, I am much more nervous than the students or the organizers.

I keep telling my mind to imagine the audience as naked and my mind keeps telling me back “Oh! Yeah? What if they think the same about you?”. And I get even more nervous 🙂

This year a new shoot has cropped up right next to where a dead twig fell off the tree last year.

“The old order changeth yielding place to new
And God fulfills himself in many ways
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”

(King Arthur to Sir Bedivere, “Idylls of the King”, Alfred Tennyson)