Hello friends.
I love beginnings. Mondays. The start of a new journal. A blank canvas. I think I’ve shared all of this with you (time and time and time) before.
But. Today, I’m loving a closing.
A turning of the page on 2020. A year unlike any others before in my lifetime.
A year never to be forgotten for the ways it tested. The tears we shed. The ways we grew and shared love and light.
What I worried about mostly was the virus, the lives loss, the grief, the isolation, the social unrest, the political divide.
Yet, somehow in the midst of all this loss and sadness and change, what I am most reflecting on today is the all GOOD that found its way into the world - in spite of all the bad that tried to break us.
Things like_
+ All the everyday humans who became SUPERHEROES in sharing their love and gifts. First responders, healthcare workers, activists, scientists, teachers, volunteers, postal workers, delivery people of ALL THE things, neighbors who were strangers, artists and writers and creators sharing messages of hope and song and grace. So, so many people finding ways to shine their light extra bright in a really, really dark year.
Humanity is still here, love still wins.
+ A slowing of time to know my daughter, our circle, and myself better than I did in 2019. Dance parties, neighborhood walks, backyard forts, and front yard picnics.
Here's to remembering that slow is good and needed and just needs an invitation to show up.
+ The freedom, joy, and community I found in art. I so often focus on technique and process and what I don’t know (sound familiar?) This year, while learning a lot, I mostly learned that when I find a way to return to the fun and play and joy of just making STUFF without the pressure to be perfect, that’s where the real magic lies. A practice I teach but don’t always apply to myself. I’m learning to lead with the fun, the play, the joy - and let the rest follow. In art, and in life.
+ Day by day, it was a roller coaster. The lowest of lows one day; hope and optimism the next. In riding and surviving this storm - we all strengthened our collective skills to soothe and share and stay calm (mostly) in a world beyond control. For this anxiety-ridden, type A recovering perfectionist, it was a forced loosening of the control I pretend to have in my days and life to keep it together.
This year, it was impossible to keep it together. And, in that breaking, I noticed beautiful bits all around that I so often miss. In nature. In friends and family. In masked strangers. In myself.
I hope 2021 brings us ALL more peace, more health, more safety, more hugs. More joy and travel and meals with loved ones. And, especially, an end to this pandemic.
I hope, also and always, we too keep the good and small lessons we learned in 2020. And most especially the ways we all shifted to show more grace and love and kindness in a world that so desperately needs that. ✨
I also hope, that you, dear ones, find a way to create something great in 2021. A memory. A meal. A piece of art. A barefoot dance party in your living room. Something that brings you joy and magic and hope and healing.
Happy New Year friends! xx.
