I am not sure how I feel here at this place, at this moment. I am not sure how I expected to feel at the end of a five-year journey that I never really planned to take (at least not for five years). Originally, it was a two-year plan, but at the end of year two, better still beckoned, and so I kept going, and with each passing year, I’ve just kept chasing better around the bend. And now, at this place of pause, I have still found no end to the bend. Better is still ahead.

But I know “better” better than I did, and at this place, I am going to try to capture its elusive essence in my book, Better: A Teacher’s Journey. And so no end, never an end, just a next better, which will take me from blog to book as I sit down each morning this summer to retrace my steps over the last five years–a journey into a journey.

Of course, here where I have arrived, I would like to believe I am not alone, that you, the many, who’ve supported my journey, are here along with me, beside me–as you have been and will hopefully continue to be, for I could not have gotten here without you. And for that I am deeply grateful. Thank you.

Will I continue the blog next fall? I don’t know. I don’t want to make that decision right now. I want to take the time to wipe the dust off my travel weary bones before this next significant leg in my journey. I want to fully focus on the book, and from there, we will see where my next better takes me.

And with that, I will bid you adieu. This will be the final post of year five. Thank you, again and again, for making this long trip with me. I hope I find something worthy of your attention as I set off to explore the realm of writing a book about better.

Have a wonderful summer, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.