week 52, post 1: For everything as season

What an incredible year this has been! And yes, my year is coming to an end... I have profoundly mixed feelings about this. Yes, I am very loyal to my clients here, and am finding it very difficult to terminate with them. I have made many good friends here and hate to say goodbye to them. There is much that I have come to love about coastal LA and the bayous, especially lower Terrebonne Parish. I will miss it all, and I am sad.

As I terminate with my clients, I also have feelings of great satisfaction for the work we've done together. The partnerships of counseling therapy are so rewarding to me. Terminating forces us to take stock of this, and we get to enjoy that accomplishment along with the sadness.

I also want to go home. I do indeed miss my wife and my friends in B'ville. I enjoy our family and the gatherings in Oklahoma. I (mostly) look forward to growing my private practice in B'ville. I also have learned a lot about myself over this past year and hope to continue to be available to do disaster related work through SAMHSA, Red Cross or other agencies. Although it is indeed stressful and painful, it is also challenging and rewarding to help others in this way.

Bartlesville is a good place in many ways. I love it and respect it. It is also a dull and stifling place (for me, at least) and I'm reminded by this past year how good it's been to get away and experience a different context. Bartlesville may be home -- but it's not good to stay home all the time (not for me, at least).

With the exception of an extra 20# I'll be taking with me (I do love seafood and Cajun cooking!), I'm going/coming home with a sense of satisfaction and anticipation. And the little white dog is coming with me...

Peace, Warren