I have most often heard the phrase "this too, shall pass" in relation to difficulties in life, but it applies to the good things too. The goods and bads we know in life will inevitably fall away to be replaced by new ones. There is never a time in life without some balance of bad and good. It is easy to accept the passing of the bad but the passing of good is often a catalyst for mourning.

My high school always went on a week long retreat up in the Sequoias at the beginning of the year. The place is breathtaking and much of the day could be spent following trails around the lake and through the woods. One day, I was walking one of these trails by myself when I decided to venture off of it into the forest (don’t ever hike through the woods alone). I followed a creek until the rocks on the sides got too high, then I hiked in the creek itself. Barefoot with my sneakers slung over my shoulder, I soon discovered that the reddish algae on the creek bed was very slippery but still I pressed on. My destination made itself known to me the moment I came upon it. It was a large flat rock in the middle of the broadest part of the creek, a sunny oasis surrounded by birdsong and the buzzing of bees taking a drink. I lay there for hours, drying off and cataloging my cuts and bruises. Over the course of the week, I returned there many times, sometimes with a book or snack, always ready to sink into that little island's perfect tranquility. The next year, I set off to find my private oasis as soon as I could get away, but it was gone. The drought had lowered the water levels here too, not only was my island now just another part of the exposed creek bed, but there were lots of people there. This too, shall pass. My spot was gone, it exists now as a place of beauty in my memory.

There are more serious examples I could have used, the loss of a home, of a loved one, but the story of my creek oasis will do the job just fine. It was a loss brought about by a force far out of my control and it left me with a soft, lingering sense of loss for some time. The march of time takes and changes much of the world. Few things remain exactly as they were hundreds of years ago or even fifty years ago and that is how things should go. It is better to hold what was in fond memory but embrace the present rather than languish in longing for the past.