Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode.

If you are currently experiencing any kind of change or something new and you kind of feel at times that you're a bit off to a rocky start or things are not going quite as smoothly as you hope they would.

Today's episode is for you.

Here is a prose piece that I wrote inspired by the concept of moving into a new chapter, moving into something new.

So if you find yourself in that place of newness, a shaky newness, where you aren't quite able to find your rhythm, your footing just yet, this is for you.

There's a reason why we don't always like the sequel as much as the first movie.

It's new. It's different. We liked how the first story ended and we were happy with it.

And we don't necessarily want to unravel at all and revisit it all again.

But something different happens when we move beyond the second movie.

Once you get to that third, fourth, or fifth installment in the series,

if you stay with it, you start to find different parts of the overall story that you enjoy.

If you stay with the series, only if you stay with it.

Even if you're not a fan of every plotline or every character's arc,

eventually something happens that excites you to keep going, to stay with the story.

I think change at first feels like that first sequel, that second movie.

Change, especially unexpected change that we did not initiate, is often that part of life

that leaves us asking, why? Nobody asked for this sequel. We were good with the first one.

We were fine with how things were. But eventually, amidst all the movie sequels and book number

twos and second series of TV dramas out there, we find stories worth staying with, even if it's a bit rocky at first.

We find plot lines worth investing in, even if we're still trying to figure out the others.

To embrace change is to find a story worth staying with. To welcome change is to welcome grace that reminds you.

You don't have to make sense of it all right away.

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