As the new school year hits, I can’t help but think of all that has changed since a year ago at this time. So many memories have been made, so many experiences have taken place, and so much has been learned. So much has changed for me. And yet, here I am going to the same school, in the same town, working the same job, looking forward to spending time with a lot of the same people. So much is still the same, and yet it is all vastly different.

I’m struggling to find balance between all that has happened, and this new blank page staring back at me. Living in the past never provides a strong foothold for stepping into a new moment, yet who we are is influenced and even somewhat defined by all those memories. We can’t very well pretend they don’t exist or don’t matter.

It seemed rather easy for me to leave high school behind, but somehow this past year is one I’m not quite ready to move on from. I carry it with me everywhere I go. I treasure it, but, that hardly leaves me very open minded for what is to come, and that really isn’t what I want. I don’t want to be closed off. Yet alternately, moving on somehow seems like I’m saying the memories aren’t important anymore – and they are. They so are. The last thing I want to do is downplay the impact the past year has had on me.

Maybe I’m just over-complicating this, though. Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean it didn’t matter. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t one of the most important things that ever happened to you. Moving on just means… turning the page. The other pages are still there, and you can always turn back to them and revisit them. But you can’t live in them anymore. And that’s ok. Moving on doesn’t mean the people and memories suddenly don’t matter. They will always be a part of you.

So whatever your past year has held, whatever experiences you’ve had or people you’ve met, embrace the past for what it has done for you, but don’t let it keep you from living in the moment. Moving on isn’t forgetting, and it isn’t pretending it didn’t happen – or that it didn’t mean the world to you. It can be all those things, and you can still take on each new day as a fresh start. Letting go is good. Welcome the next chapter in your life with open arms and an open mind.