My essay pulled at three of my most bold and colorful threads. Relationship experiences that had shaped who I was. It told of their place in my tapestry, how they came to be woven within it, and how they changed the face of it.
I loved writing the essay and was I pleased when I found out that it was one of five finalists. I knew however, that it could not, and should not, win. While my essay may have been judged as interesting, entertaining or even structurally sound, my essay was not complete.
It could have been that while the three relationships I wrote of were important, they were too bold within my young tapestry and they did not yet have the balance of being braced against newer and equally vibrant threads. And perhaps my essay simply came too soon. Too soon for my young author self to see how the essay was to end.
Looking back now, I see the tapestry from the perspective that comes from years of additional weaving. I can still see those colorful threads, but now their boldness blends much more beautifully and subtly with the other colors in me.
To my young self, I am grateful, for seeing the importance of those threads. I did not have the perspective then to see what I know now, but even though I wasn't yet able to draw all the conclusions, I still entered the contest and wrote about their place. All those years ago, I wasn't able to give my essay a proper conclusion.-
-I wonder if I could now.
