Happy New Year

Love. I know that the first day of the year is the same as any other day – 24 hours in a day with 3600 seconds in each hour. It’s just like any other day, with all the same potentials to love someone, to comfort someone, to spend time with someone, to remember someone after you’d forgotten them for a while, to reach out a vulnerable hand in the dark to someone and hope they take it. I’ve learned it’s okay for that “someone” to be yourself if you need it.

It’s another day where our hearts beat and we labor. It’s another day where we have to decide what we’ll eat, what we’ll wear, what we’ll do. It’s another day to fill with laughs or tears.

My first day of the year was extraordinary. It was a beginning. It was a surprise. I feel new and light. I’ve never had a first day of the year like it.

I would like to explain myself. I’ve been flailing out in every direction searching for people to connect with. I’ve never been much of a phone person, but in the past weeks, I’ve called people from all over. I’ve called my parents constantly; I’m surprised they aren’t tired of it, and I hope they aren’t concerned (but I’ll see them today, so I’ll be able to give them both a hug – a privilege I cherish). I’ve called people from the church I grew up in. I’ve called teachers, both from schools I’ve attended and schools that I’d never heard from before. I’ve called people near, and I’ve called people in other countries. And, of course, I started writing in this space.

I’ve been recognizing the enormity of my blessings. I’ve known legions of good people, and I feel privileged to remember them.

I don’t feel the need to write for myself as often. I may sometimes, but the crushing drive I felt before seems to have wound down. I hope to continue to write with all of you. Amen.