As I am working through a stack of forms here to help booksellers figure out how to position my gift book, the current ‘gifting holiday’ that it most aligns with turns out to be Graduation Day.
I’d like to think that it is a good gift book anytime that a thoughtful gift is needed, but I do have to admit that Graduation provides a special kind of lens with which to view the Glass Half Empty/Half Full Question.
As children, basically every single year is ‘graduation’ – a stepping from one grade and one ‘life stage’ to the next. We celebrate turning 8 and moving into the 3rd grade as major life events; because they are. The difference between 3rd grade and 2nd-grade life is quite profound; because we are children.
But high school graduation begins the march of adulthood and we soon find that the big life event changes are more spread out and happen on an uneven cadence.
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| Illustration from a 14th-century manuscript showing a meeting of doctors at the University of Paris. |
Graduation as we picture it; the commencement ceremony and the caps and gowns all goes back to the 12th-century European universities (hence our attachment to the bizarre ‘middle ages’ garb). These first universities used Latin, of course, to describe their guild systems of degrees. "Graduate" come from gradus, meaning "step” (you would graduate to a bachelor’s step, and then onto a master’s step in a progression toward a ‘license to teach’).
It certainly is a step, and it’s a doozy! High School or College graduation creates a kind of sudden change; ironic for something that has been anticipated and planned for over 12 years of education. With the wave of a diploma, and to the off-key tune of Pomp and Circumstance, we suddenly don’t have to go to school anymore. Or, for some, we don’t get to go to school anymore.
GRADUATION IS JUST THE START OF YOUR LIFE OF CHANGE
Even for people who move on to structured higher education with anticipation of further degrees and graduations; life becomes less predictable. The childhood habit of ‘graduating’ on a regular calendar starts to drift into a less structured plan.
Some of the big ‘Graduations’ we will experience we plan for:
- Buying a Home
- Getting Married
- Taking a Job
- Getting a Degree
- Having a Child
And some – we do not plan for:
- Getting Let go from a Job
- Winning the Lottery
- Losing a Loved One
- Surviving an Accident
- Having a Child
In either case...whether we Choose to put those Graduations into our Glass or Not...they happen.
THE ABRUPT NATURE OF GRADUATION CHANGES
Some changes in life happen slowly, over time (think of learning a new language, putting on weight, or building a habit).
But the Graduation type life-changes tend to happen as ‘events’ with a distinct before and after shape to them. Whether or not we are prepared, the change itself happens one day…and then we spend our time in the following days, weeks, months and years adjusting to and accepting the change.
Coping with the “sudden change” like a Graduation is a big part of Life. We can spend a great amount of energy in trying to rebalance our Glass after one of these big life events. The practice of evaluating, and re-evaluating the Opportunity and Risk in our Glass can be extremely important during this time.
We may find that either new Opportunities or new Risks have entered our Glass. We may also find that Opportunities and Risks we were living with prior to the Graduation…are no longer there.
MY OWN RECENT GRADUATION: TRAGEDY
I have experienced a pretty big “Graduation” event myself recently, and not one that is easy to find a lot of humor in. The loss of the one I loved was, for me, one of the most sudden and unimaginable of Graduations.
The Grief and need for Adjustments and Balance and still very strong for me, and likely will be for some time.
But I have also found that this seminal event, this ‘Graduation’ to a new phase of my life, has revealed Opportunities to me to change the way I share ideas and inspiration with others. It has pointed out Risks to me that I may never have appreciated fully before.
I certainly did not choose to put this into my Glass – but like everyone else, I have to drink from my own glass and find a new way sense of balance in this changing world.
What are your recent Graduations?
Do you see any for yourself on the horizon?
Will you be able to accept and address them when they occur suddenly (as they often do, even when they are well planned)?
Is Your Glass Half Empty? Or Half Full?
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