Yeah, I've been bad about keeping this up. Thanks for bearing with me (those who have). Today's topic is transition. Change. The process of impermanence pushing its way to the fore. Speaking personally, I don't handle transitions very well. With some few selective exceptions, I get very introverted, moody, sullen, confused, and generally not pleasant to be around. I operate best with a solid platform base, and when either I leave the base or the base becomes unstable, I shut down partially. Since I'm an extrovert and almost always draw energy from other people around me, in whatever number, shutting down only exacerbates the situation ("What does 'exacerbate' mean?"). Over the course of many years and many, many transitions (five moves, leaving home, coming to grips with my beliefs, finding out just who I am exactly, etc.) the problem of dealing with them is one that I have yet to find an answer for. Sure, eventually the awkwardness goes away and I return to my normal everyday self but there is precious time that I can feel slipping through my fingers and into a pile of mopey oobleck. Of course, there is the possibility that I shouldn't even try, that this is the sort of thing that I should allow to run its course and not try and control. Like the time I figured that since I always felt bad when I cried, I should just stop crying. That lasted for about two-plus months until I watched the tour of RENT. Popped the cork out of that bottle of emotion, and I'd had plenty stored up. But back on the subject at hand, I'm still left wondering what I should do, if anything. Something to ponder while I pack and travel, I suppose.