Month: December 2024

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2025…

So here we are and here we go…one year soon leaving and the next one is at our door. New opportunities, possibilities, hopes, dreams, and our stories march onward as Chapter One of 2025 unfolds. The history of each of us has always been in our collective stories, and a new year provides unique ways of crafting and sharing our stories. Even as we reflect on the past year, we cannot help but crave a peak at the year before us.

The Scottish phrase “auld lang syne” literally means “old long since” or for “old time’s sake.” So, my friends, may I offer these simple and personal reflections of gratitude and gratefulness:

Thank you for everything you do…the big things and the million little things each day.

Thank you for the unique gifts you share, most especially the priceless ones from your heart.

Thank you for bringing JOY to those fortunate enough to know you; I’m grateful to be counted among them!

Thank you for marveling at ordinary days in the most extraordinary ways.

Thank you for simply showing up, paying attention, speaking your truth, and letting go.

Thank you for understanding that it’s ok to not be ok.

Thank you for taking the blank page of each day to write the words as the story unfolds.

Thank you for rewarding others with your smiles, hugs, strength, and comfort.

Thank you for trusting your “circle of persons” as the real treasures in life.

Thank you for doing your personal best and allowing the rest to take care of itself.

Know you are seen, heard, and loved for who you are and what you choose to do in your story. I’ve come to accept how little in life means more than faith, hope, and Love. Gentleness and humor keep my faith, hope, and Love alive because they are everywhere when we seek them. These “big three” are most prominent in ordinary things like cooking a meal, sharing a conversation, laughing from the belly, making music, reading a book, dancing when no one is watching, hugging my family, helping my daddy, and walking in the woods—simple everyday actions where cream gravy soaks in and homemade grace shines through. So, may wondrous dreams and wishes take you to remarkable places as you move into this new year. May an angel gently hold your hand in comfort and strength as you prevail when the storms of life swirl. May quiet time with yourself allow your everyday actions to soak in and grace to shine through as you celebrate all that is in 2025. Happy New Year!

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The blessing of light…

The longest night; the shortest day…Winter Solstice.

Yes; winter is coming (and already here for many of us today).

In a recent conversation with a friend, we shared our collective concerns about continuing to care for a parent with Alzheimer’s. She reminded me of this poem once again and how poignant the connection between the darkness and the light holds space for each of us.  Even as we live through the longer, darker nights of the Winter ahead, may we trust the blessing of light will be near us:

Blessing for the Longest Night (by Jan Richardson)

All throughout these months as the shadows have lengthened,
this blessing has been gathering itself,
making ready, preparing for this night.

It has practiced walking in the dark, traveling with its eyes closed,
feeling its way by memory, by touch by the pull of the moon even as it wanes.

So believe me when I tell you this blessing will reach you
even if you have not light enough to read it;
it will find you even though you cannot see it coming.

You will know the moment of its arriving by your release of the breath you have held so long;
a loosening of the clenching in your hands, of the clutch around your heart;
a thinning of the darkness that had drawn itself around you.

This blessing does not mean to take the night away but it knows its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots along the path,
knows what it means to travel in the company of a friend.

So when this blessing comes, take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road you cannot see.

This is the night when you can trust that any direction you go,
you will be walking toward the dawn.

( © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com )

Wherever you find yourself on this longest night, remember, tomorrow brings a sliver of more light on your journey. Peace and blessings…