the calm has finally settled in

in an email, my sister wisely reminded me that i'm here

to learn, not to win a prize. oh ya.

this program is filled with the best of professors and the brightest of students,

and so it is easy to feel i have to prove myself: that i am brilliant, and insightful, and articulate, and knowledgeable, and, and, and...

it's easy to get anxious and push myself beyond enjoyment.

lucky for me my brain caught itself, and looked itself straight in the eyes and said:

you, my dear, are having an experience of a lifetime; don't ruin it with stress.

so i continue to spend much time in the library studying and writing

for most of my waking hours. but i no longer feel the urge to prove anything.

i pick topics i get giddy about, and i am writing about them in the way that

i want to write...not worrying about what others will think.

i am here in a beautiful city at a wonderful university

and i get to meet lots of incredible people.

i'm taking lots of deep breaths, and taking time to look around me now.

so glad the first weeks of anxiety are over.

however, i miss ceej terribly. i knew six weeks apart would be hard...but i had no idea

how a person can ache for someone almost constantly. can't wait for august 9th

when ceej makes his way over the atlantic to travel the countryside with me.

{photos from our trip to the cotswolds...more photos later!}