Endings and Beginnings

8/28/2016

As I sit here writing this post, it's Sunday evening. The Sunday before the first Monday of a new work week. The first work week of a new school year. It is the last Sunday evening of the summer, for me.

Last year I wrote about having that bittersweet feeling. And I feel it again. Endings have such a sadness to them. And we shouldn’t feel bad that we feel this sadness when things come to an end.

This summer I left a school and will be starting a new one tomorrow. As I left, my principal said to me everything in life that really means something to us is always terrifying when it begins and sad when it ends. And it’s so true. A new job. A marriage. The birth of a child. The birth of a friendship. Starting school. Everything.

But we also can’t allow ourselves to be sad forever. So it’s nice to know that endings also signify a new beginning.

Last year, at this time I left my readers with some end of summer poems. But this year I started thinking about endings and found some amazing quotes.

Two of my favorites are about butterflies.

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, it became a butterfly. -Unknown/Proverb

If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. - Unknown

"There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story."
-Frank Herbert

"Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way. Ends are not bad and many ends aren't really an ending; some things are never-ending."
-C. JoyBell C.

"The greatest challenges humans face throw-out their lives are two:
1- the challenge of where to start
2- the challenge of when to stop."
-Sameh Elsayed

"Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know it at the time."
-Mitch Albom

"And above all else, remember that the end of a movie (or a TV show, or a play, or a book) is never really the end."
-Jen Calonita,On Location

And for anyone who has studied the craft of writing:
"The best endings resonate because they echo a word, phrase, or image from earlier in the story, and the reader is prompted to think back to that reference and speculate on a deeper meaning."
-James Plath

This last one if my favorite, not only because it’s related to writing but because it’s related to life. It makes me think about in life when something has ended, what image or word or phrase in the beginning of the that story (in my life) would have echoed near the end that would have some greater meaning?

How about you? What image from your beginning would be echoed near the end? And why?

How do you feel about endings?

One of the last days of summer...

8 Comments

Mary McClellan

8/29/2016 03:38:18 pm

Oddly enough, I've been reviewing a ms, wanting to tie the end back to the beginning. It didn't happen naturally so I want to rework my beginning. What image for me? Blue eyes...always searching.

Natinder Ferrer Manak

9/4/2016 07:37:00 am

I’m rather uncertain of my particular perfect end. But become excited by the concept of endlessness, the prospect and promise it gives. Allowing it to be else.

Jen

9/5/2016 07:09:51 pm

I love the national geographic books on animals. Especially the snow leopards.

Deb Bartsch

9/8/2016 11:55:09 am

Thanks for the great review on , "The Airport Book". A lot of fun facts are packed in this book with wonderful visuals. "Red Bird Sings by Gina Capaldi The Story of Zitkala-Sa, is one of my favorites for non fiction. Beautiully done, touching and sad but the story is inspiring of spirit.

Kenneth Lamug link

9/8/2016 12:07:47 pm

I'm looking forward to diving into this picture book. It looks great.

Meredith Messinger link

9/8/2016 12:58:15 pm

I LOVE the Airport Book! It's so beautiful! One of my very most favoritist books (it's so hard to choose just one!) is "The Adventures of Beekle, The Unimaginary Friend" by Dan Santat. I just love how, when Beekle is in his "Imaginary World," everything is so colorful. It's illustrated just as you would imagine such a place. And once he enters the "Real World", everything goes gray and dreary. It's a great use of colors to show what's real vs. this amazing augmented reality we are introduced to in the beginning, and it definitely draws a boundary between his world and ours. And the way Beekle and his friend meet is just so perfect...the way they're drawing each other, just the way kids would, and the way Dan uses the drawings to tell that part of the story for us. It's a beautiful book with a beautiful concept and just brings it all to life for kids who love their imaginary friends. =)

9/8/2016 01:11:02 pm

^ So ignore my last reply...it was meant for the other post. =)

I LOVE this quote that you shared:

"The best endings resonate because they echo a word, phrase, or image from earlier in the story, and the reader is prompted to think back to that reference and speculate on a deeper meaning." -James Plath

...because in addition to being an illustrator, I'm a musician. I play in many, many ensembles. When you're a musician playing in an ensemble, you know that your last note is the most important one, because you want it to literally resonate throughout the hall. You want to allow it to fade into silence. In a good hall (and assuming you do play the last note well), the resonance sounds like angels humming.

It's always a beautiful moment. Endings are always hard (unless your ending your last ever math class!). But I think if we let ourselves sit in silence and reflect on the beginning and the middle, and listen to the end hum itself away...there's just something magical about that. It's bitter and it's beautiful and it's a mess and somehow it's still perfect. And we always know there will be more music to play.

Mandy

9/8/2016 05:57:35 pm

So beautifully put. Thank you.

Endings and Beginnings

Leave a Reply.