january 4: day 1

so, in terms of finding out how i could incorporate more of those horsey bits into life, we've embarked on quite an adventure for 2011. i resigned my full-time job in seattle effective december the 23rd, in preparation for beginning a year-long professionals course at NSAE.

#1 item i have to be thankful for? my loving husband, who roots for me, and who figured out a way with me for us to arrange our life to include this experience - because our hope is that it will help us figure out a whole lot more of what we want our story to be about. in general, that's what 2011 is going to be for both of us - writing some more of our story, on purpose, together.

one of the expectations for the course is that i will post, daily, about my experiences from the day: what i did or how i felt or what i learned or what i want to learn but am having difficulty with, be it 5 words, 50 or 500... i am to write to help myself process and more fully engage with the experience.

i thought maybe i'd share some of those thoughts here. we'll see how it goes. so, from our online message board group [dressagetrainers], here is my entry 1.

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i have lots of thoughts and experiences i'm still absorbing after my first day. i have been trying to pull them into some semblance of order since i drove home tonight and, if i'm honest, then even while i was going through the day today.

i think i'll summarize by saying this:
i am really, very grateful to have had a first day today. i'm so thankful for the opportunity to just be here. i am really hungry to learn. i will admit, unashamedly, that i have everything to learn in this niche of the universe that is home to classical dressage. yet something i do know about is how to work really hard, to pour my effort into what i'm doing, and it's important to me to be a teachable person. so i am committing to the learning. i want to learn all of this, as much as i possibly can. i am very aware of, and overwhelmed by, all that there is to learn. but i want to learn it, to get to know it, for the concepts to ruminate inside me.

i am fighting against the anxiety and overwhelming-ness of this new adventure because i will say it again: i really want to learn.