We are celebrating new chapters!

Can you become an expert at saying good-bye? Maybe just familiar, or  maybe just more understanding of time and place. One thing that remains continually hard is the vulnerability to show how much the closing chapter had meant, as well as the vulnerability to make room for the people and experiences in the chapter ahead. A characteristic that aids in all of this is the forgetfulness of human beings. 

I recently heard a new friend say the greatest fault and triumph of the human race is our ability to forget. We forget the lessons learned, consequences experienced, knowledge gained and the joys of chapters finished. We forget the pangs of failure, sorrow, disappointed expectations and of course … saying good-bye. 

As I reflect on Cohort 11 starting their internships, I know how much all of them will be expected to dig into what they consumed and internalized in the last two years. Their hearts are full of anticipation. I wonder how much they will remember. Will they remember what they conquered? Will they remember the prayers answered, and the gains they made that have made them who they are now. The remarkable women who inspire us.

Of these women, Nazareth Rivera, is taking the largest leap. She has chosen and been accepted into an internship program with the organization Friends of San Lucas in Guatemala. Her love and drive for social justice has led to this opportunity to serve ethnic Mayan women. At 19, she will open this chapter, facilitating team building workshops, sharing business theory and best practices. Translating for international teams, and learning and teaching the mayan language. I admire her and am filled with so much pride.

The words of Nazareth: “This transition feels right, there is so much peace that I feel”, reminds me that the place where passion, timing and preparedness meet is a place full of gratification, anticipation, and hopefulness. To make sense of the hard things, like saying goodbye and embracing the long awaited requires a bit of forgetting so that in humility we can continue to learn and with boldness we can hope for the unimaginable in the chapter that lies ahead.

From Nazareth and Myself, in the Antigua Guatemala square. We encourage you to take the leap, whatever that is for you. Forget a little and learn a little as we begin the second half of 2022, go and finish strong.