exhilaration

"...traveling into unfamiliar territory is like turning a kaleidescope ninety degrees. Suddenly, the colors and pieces of glass find a fresh arrangement. The light shifts, and you enter a new landscape...."
-An Unspoken Hunger by Terry Tempest Williams

Indeed, I have entered a new landscape and the brilliant light of the newfound dances around me in a chorus of jubilant expectation. It's Hendrix College, yall.

And 3am to be exact, with pregnant eyelids still awaiting the bliss of a long rest. The selections from tomorrow's classes' books have been properly read, with sections of intrigue underlined and personal thoughts of possible further exploration noted. I am exhausted. From books, yes, but how silly it would be to imagine books as my only exhausting engagement. My exhaustion is the byproduct of my exhilaration. Because these first two days have exhilarated me- body, mind, soul, and spirit. There is no part of me left untouched.

And yet I remain awake. Dedicating a few minutes, a few minutes carefully folded away in my pocket during all those hours of reading tonight, to write this. These minutes, for me, are pure delight. Because I write when inspired, and inspiration is something I have experienced brightly and intimately these past 48 hours.

Exhaustion. Exhilaration. Inspiration.

There are an unlimited number of facets, both recognized and unknown, that have set in motion these feelings. I will start with the number of books on my shelf, and that would be twenty. Twenty books for one semester had me scared even before I ventured to my first class, and that was when my stomach really began to drop. I have the honor, blessing, joy, and challenge of learning under the guidance of some stellar professors this semester. Really, these people express humanity is deeply inspiring ways.

There is one who, all other things aside, speaks with impeccably startling and beautifully extravagant vocabulary. I want to write down these words to look them up later, but I fear missing the next thing he will say. Another, whom I fondly refer to as The Goddess, gracefully commands so much respect from her students that a hushed, expectant, warm silence overtook the room the second she stepped inside. Half a second later she began quoting quite possibly the greatest English poet of the eighteenth century, Alexander Pope. Yet another asks me to explore the question what is nature? I know not where to begin but I know that I can find it. And still another, with gentle smile and peaceful presence, invites our eight student class over to his home for dinner with him and his wife.

With the myriad of books, the presence of professors, and the exhilaration of every bone in my body, I feel greater challenge than ever before in my life. The beauty of it though, is that the challenge extends beyond GPA and page counts. I am exhilarated at the prospect of what insightful conversation, introspective evaluation, riveting knowledge, and bountiful change lie ahead of me.

I feel the heartbeat of the college at the poetry slam. I feel the joy of communion during each meal in the cafeteria. I feel the warmth of relationships at the mission trips orientation. I feel the uneasiness--the uncomfortable growing pain of life--of pushing beyond my social comfort as I hand out fliers at the Religious Life fair. I feel the magnificence of uninhibited friendship during late and honest moments with a few spirits kindred to my own. As I walk across campus all I feel is life around me--trees rustling in the fine August wind, water babbling to and fro, glistening sunshine on my face, and the crunch of ground beneath me, holding me up. I feel so much.

Hendrix's tagline reads "unto the whole person". They chose it well. There is no part of me left untouched by life via Hendrix College.

So I will stand here exhilarated by the turning of the kaleidescope. Every degree of turn an opportunity for growth, every shade of glimmering color a newfound perspective, every beam of light shining though an inspiration to look deeper. Thus is the exhilarating movement of life.