I travel to my destination, overlooking where I stand. I see it so much that it feels not important or beautiful when it is. I realize this as I trudge to the bus stop. I pause and stare down at my feet planted on the cool sidewalk. I wonder, how many times have these black sneakers stood in this exact place? I lift my head up and the breeze cools my skin and whips my hair into my face. It’s spring, and the flower petals are beginning to bloom. I bend down and touch a budding tulip, feeling it’s smoothness on my fingers. It’s as if I can smell the pollen urging to burst out. I can hear spring yelling to be let in. It’s almost May, and it’s time.
Almost every day I walk over the same paths. My feet touch the same spots on the ground millions of times throughout the different seasons. It’s such an obvious fact, but still, it astonishes me. I always feel like everything around us is changing constantly, and it is, but it isn’t. Sometimes I have to take comfort in the fact that even though my life is transforming and growing before my brain can catch up, some things remain the same. My house is still its bright and cheery yellow, welcoming me home. My dogs still jump for joy when I walk up the driveway even when I’ve been away for only two minutes. I can always rely on seeing that adorable little tree across the street, its branches holding my weight while I climbed as a young kid.
I’m okay with things changing. I have excitement for the future and what it holds, but it can also be scary and sudden. We get so used to the daily rituals that when they get mixed up, we become anxious, and that’s a normal feeling. Nonetheless, I try to remember that change is promising and that some things indeed never change.