When the end is just the beginning ~

Tonight I stood on a bridge on a relatively cool night in Austin, Texas. I stood in eager anticipation for the sun to set, and for the dark night sky to invite thousands of Mexican free tailed bats to emerge for well, the start of their 'day'.

Around 500 bats are nested within the cracks and crevices of one square foot of bridge, and from my vantage I may have only spotted a few hundred.

There is such a calm and stillness when the sun is no longer visible, right before the sky is darkened. It's by far my favorite time of day, and I hear from my mom, that it was also her father's favorite.  The peace that comes from the sun being out of sight, the instant temperature drop...and a period of renewal that sometimes seems to last far longer than it does in reality. All of this cannot be captured in the simplistic marker of "dusk".

It was within that stillness, that my senses seemed amplified for action. I was conscious of the road noise, the chatter around and below. I desperately wanted to hear the asynchronous sounds of bat wings and the promised ammonia-like smell that would accompany the mass of bats ascending into the feeding frenzy after a dormant day.

A few things came to mind as I walked off that bridge, with the giddiness of a child after their first roller coaster ride.

1) The anticipation of a new experience is not always met with a thrilling experience.

I had seen videos of millions of bats filling the sky. I expected almost, to be surrounded by these creatures in the glow of the sunset. Yet squished between obliging boyfriends and doubtful 'tourists', the few hundred that fluttered below, my feet did not live up to that awe inspiring moment I expected.

***Relevance to my professional life: the process is just as important as the product or assessment. Slow down and enjoy the process and take it all in.

2) The end of the day is just the start of another whole cycle of activity and life. The transition between day and night is often lost in "unpacking the day~aka venting", or simply boxing it up like a pair of shoes that has no business being worn through the work day AND through the night.

***planning for the transition between day to day lessons needs just as much attention as the lesson itself. You can't simply box up the day and return the next, hoping for continuity.