One day I'll wake up and I'll be a real therapist

One last flaming hoop to jump

The final requirement pending for me to complete is the final Pro-Sem I'm scheduled to attend on the 29th of this month. Once that is over and done with, I'm totally free and clear for graduation! There's something about writing out a check to the school to pay for this quarter's tuition, but that won't keep me from being at the ceremony--they will just hold my official diploma until all accounts are settled.

I can tell myself I've just about completed something "very big" and that I should be "thrilled beyond all expectation" for I can really call myself "something" that has "meaning". I'll awake on the morning of the 10th as my usual self but will go to bed that night a bona fide therapist who can officially write the letters "M.A." after my name.

Hopefully, friends and family will be there to see me graduate. I have no idea about having any kind of celebration. But I do feel like celebrating and rejoicing and sharing my mirth with all of those people I love and care about. I've never been able to really celebrate myself. I can celebrate others quite well.

My fondest wish after getting this degree is to take some time off and hide in a cave and sleep the sleep of those who are blessed with restorative dreams. Maybe in one of those dreams it will come to me what direction I should take next, for I have no real idea what happens next. I've been concentrating so hard on "just getting through this" that the future beyond graduation is something I've not earnestly thought about. I have entertained starting my own practice, have considered doing more agency work (for slave wages), and mused about doing state social work. Nothing feels like it is the right thing to do, except for that cave and the dreams.