somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying, you’ll find the bright places where boom bands are playing

I wrote the following email to a friend as a way of adding humor to what has been 5 very difficult years. But after I finished, I felt really proud of what I had accomplished. And so I am sharing it here. I can finally admit, without any justification or embarrassment, that I had a heck of a lot of learning to do. I am happy to say I've made considerable progress.

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This May, I will be graduating with a five year degree in Letting Go and Letting Be. Classes completed include:

Codependency 101
Obsessive Tendencies 102
Intro to Letting Go
Emotional Intimacy 101
Basic Drawing 101

Repeating Patterns 202
Getting in touch with your inner child 202
Letting Go: building on your foundations
Intermediate Drawing 201
Belly Dancing - Beginner

Making peace with your childhood
Love can't be earned: so stop trying - [lab]
Letting Go (when you want to hold on) - [prerequisites: Intro to letting go and building on your foundations]
The Buddha and You: accepting and embracing reality
Mixed Media Art Studies

Self Love: your most important relationship
A Rose is a Rose - [group discussion/interactive]
Let it Go and Let it Be (what Paul McCartney's Mom already knew)
Falling in Love with what is -- and seeing what isn't
Finding your Purpose - [meditation practice]
Belly Dancing - Intermediate

Listening to your Heart - Advanced
Happiness: finding within what you thought you were without
Live, Laugh, Play: finding your joy
Music Appreciation: why the compilation CD is the root of all evil
Inward Journey/Outward Bound: inner pilgrimage [thesis]
Letting Go: when one door closes, but no other opens -- learning how to create your own door.

Graduation Ceremony: May 10, 2008. Which coincidentally happens to be my 35th birthday!