The past is gone, the future is not here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be alive.
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh 

As the school year draws to a close, I find myself thinking about endings.

Endings are funny things. We spend much of the year looking toward them – counting down to summer, anticipating vacations, imagining what comes next. Yet when they arrive, they are rarely simple. Even the happiest endings carry a touch of sadness because they ask us to let go of something we have loved.

This time of year is filled with those mixed emotions. There is excitement about summer adventures, new grades, new teachers, and new opportunities. There is pride in how much our children have grown. There is relief in completing a long and busy year. And there is also a quiet ache as we say goodbye to routines, classrooms, traditions, and people who have become part of our daily lives.

Perhaps that bittersweet feeling is a sign that something mattered.

One of the challenges of endings is that they often tempt us to rush ahead. We begin planning for September before June has quite finished. We think about the next chapter before fully appreciating the one we are still living.

I have been reminding myself lately to resist that urge (unsuccessfully!).

There will be time to think about next year. There will be time to dream about what comes next. For now, I want to linger a little longer in the present moment: the sound of students laughing on the playground, the excitement of end-of-year projects and performances, the pride that comes from seeing children accomplish things they could not have imagined doing in September.

Progressive education teaches us that learning is a journey, not simply a destination. The same is true of life. So often we focus on the next milestone that we forget to pause and appreciate the one we have already reached.

As we move through these final weeks together, my hope is that we make space for both gratitude and anticipation. Gratitude for all that this year has been and anticipation for all that is still to come.

Because the truth is that endings and beginnings are often the very same thing.

And while exciting possibilities await us just beyond the horizon, there is still much beauty in the here and now.