It occurred to me recently that language learning is a bit like the following..

Imagine you are walking through some cool art project or science exhibit where you enter a tunnel made up of blue panels. The panels start out lighter in color. The further you walk in, the darker, deeper, and more vibrant color blue they become.

This is what language learning has been like for me. Things are good at the beginning: Light yet pleasant. Then things get deeper, stronger the deeper the more you walk, the more you get into the process. This is what Spanish has been like for me lately. I have moved into a stage of blue inside the tunnel that is the shade of cobalt blue, probably my favorite color.