Prompt:

September is a new beginning- the start of a new school year, the beginning of fall. But September is also a signal of the end. The year is more than halfway through. How have your plans changed since the year began?

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response:

I start each year with a new idea of myself, as if I have not lived more than thirty years in my body, as if I do not know myself. My grand ambitions materialize as elaborate vision boards and in depth plans, mapped out across journals, planners and notion databases. All of these chart the course of who I will become by the end of the year.

September is usually the time these grand ambitions devolve into manageable goals- tasks I can accomplish without completely destroying my mental and physical health. And though I'm always disappointed at how little I've seemed to accomplish, how many of my dreams remain out of reach, those dreams and plans are still there. That's a bit of an accomplishment in and of itself. It's okay for plans to change. I can too.