Damn That's Sweet

I graduated.  Here is proof:

Four years, full time, 86 credits = Masters of Divinity + One very happy me!

I am still in a bit of a daze.  As I catch up on all the things I have put off until after I graduate, I find myself in a strange brew of emotions.  I am reveling in the fact that there are no deadlines looming, that I can do my work at a pace that won't kill me, but part of me still stubbornly believes that the next semester is just late getting started.  Every time I see the Forums link on my tool bar I have to resist the compulsion to click on it... just to check... one more time.  But today, with the wind blowing through all my open doors and windows, and the warm smell of summer on its way makes me glad that I am done, and still sane enough to enjoy the freedom and satisfaction of a job well done.

The big question now of course is:  What now?  After all, when you spend over 30k on higher education you are supposed to have a plan right?  My temporary plan is to ignore that number for right now so as not to hyperventilate every 20 minutes, because the truth is there is no plan.

I think about my artwork, and I would like to do more... and maybe even someday someone will want to buy some.  I think about what I am good at, mainly being super creative - especially in the realm of spiritual formation - and I wonder if somehow I could find a way to do gigs here and there.  I could plan and set up retreats, using contemplative prayer as the focus.  Or lead "workshops" where people make art and pray all at once.  I love to teach.  I love to make a mess.  It could work, right? I could blog or write a book... or both.  Lots of people have asked me too.  Who knows at this point.

What I do know is that in the fall, the United Methodist Church in Grass Valley has graciously invited me to intern with them.  Starting Sept. 1st I will be preaching the last Sunday of every month, and shadowing the Pastor in order to get practice with special ceremonies, like weddings and funerals and such.  It is only 15 hours a week (a very good thing) but doesn't pay (but we are not thinking about that right now, remember?!?).

With that said, my answer to "what now?" is that I am going to take the summer to remember what it is like to meet each day on its own terms rather than according to what all my syllabus's... syllabi?... demand, and just see what happens.