This is the season for graduations. I am amused that it’s called commencement, as if all of the work that went before came before the beginning. My friend, and former colleague, Nancy, called her retirement, commencement. That’s probably a healthy way to look your work life as a preamble to what comes next.
‘OK, what’s next?’ was what my oldest niece placed on her mortarboard for her commencement exercises. It’s a homage to the TV series ‘West Wing’ and the oft-said phrase by President Jeb Bartlet. It’s a good phrase for someone that has completed her nursing degree program and is looking forward to what comes next. And what comes next is more education, a continuous process in medicine, no matter what part you practice.
I think it’s interesting that we add the word ‘exercise’ to the commencement. I suppose exercise might refer to the fact that commencement recurs on a periodic basis, just like physical exercise is repeated again and again.
Commencement exercises reminds me that all that came before prepares you for now, and next. And that tomorrow we repeat the process, a new now, and a new next.
So, Congratulations to all the graduates! You worked hard, and for now, you’ve completed something. Tomorrow, there will be the next. And special congratulations to my niece, Tamar, and for all the new beginnings that come to you.
Feather in the Wilderness 