It is beautiful when it rains.

Why is that we feel the most beautiful and the most empowered when our hair is drenched in sweat, our shirts hang loose off our tired bodies, and the make-up washed off miles ago?

Clinque can't sell us a beauty like this. Beauty is confidence. Beauty is empowerment. Beauty is genuine.

Today I went for a 4 miler in the near pouring rain. It was the perfect study break, and the rain was not a deterrent for the run --- actually, it made me want to run that much more. My body got looser much quicker, and the rain pushed my shoulders into a more relaxed mode. As I reached the Battery, the rain just poured onto the river. It was phenomenal. I stopped, put my hands on my hips and just stared at the beauty. With the Cooper Bridge to my left and the West Ashley bridge to my right, it was picturesque.

As I finished running the perimeter of the peninsula, I looked up to the skyline of the city.


And I knew, as I stopped to walk and feel the runner's high, I would never feel so beautiful as I did right in that moment.

It's a New Year

Sure. Most people's new year started 11 days ago. At midnight, right?

But, as a college senior, getting her books ready for the first day of classes of her last semester --- tomorrow embarks the New Year. What will my final days in Charleston bring?

While I have mixed emotions about embarking on our final semester in beloved Charleston, I feel pretty happy that running has re-entered my life. Running went on a brief hiatus last semester, when I was juggling 50 hours of work in addition to full-time course load... but it is back.

I'm not quite as fast. I stop to walk, often at the Battery and just think it out.

But it's back. And I feel centered now. So..chances are the new year will be just fine.