Open a new book, write a new page, let the merry year begin. Take all those good intentions and pave the road with them, never mind the guilt, let them all go when they need to go and be yourself. What should stick, will. What is superfluous will fly away and at the end of this one, you can laugh at the pledges that never lasted a week and make more.

That is the beauty of it all anyway, that it is transient and fragile as a bubble. We get to glory in each precious moment and then set it free.

How cool is it that every day you wake to see another morning? Go outside and listen to the music of the Earth. Let it snow on your upturned face, Feel. Make a snow creature, doesn't have to be a man,... make STONEHENGE.

Be a child in the Spring and jump in a puddle or three. In the summer, go berry picking and eat warm strawberries that stain your hands and face, In the fall, since we can't burn leaves anymore for that wonderful smell, make a pile and jump in them.

Yes, you might get cold, or sneeze or ache a little or a lot. Isn't that GREAT? To paraphrase Horton:" You are here, you are here… YOU are here."
How great is that?.

It's a good moment to spend a little time sending love out, seeding it so it can grow and flourish. It is a good time to say I love you still and always to those who have moved into other worlds beyond our eyes and our skies.

We learn things very slowly. We think we are appreciating each moment but we cannot always see that the ones that matter most are not the big ones. It is the brush of a hand against a cheek, a smile, a moment in the aisle of a grocery store, a chance meeting on the street.

The David Bowie and Bing Crosby "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" has played all this holiday season.  One verse goes like this:

"I pray my wish will come true
For my child and your child too
He'll see the day of glory
See the day when men of good will
Live in peace, live in peace again."

It struck me that we may be looking at "Peace on Earth" in one way when the way to achieve this has been pointed out over and over, like many things right before us that we just don't see. In the old carols it says "Peace on Earth to Men of Goodwill." It does not say let the evils that men do stomp all over you. It does not say allow yourself to be hurt or your loved ones.

Now I am as pacifist as they come, but I am also the first to say that pacifism never stopped a Hitler. So, just perhaps, as much as we want a solution to all that is happening, we have to offer up our peace to everyone and try to show them the way to be people of goodwill, and ever so rarely, defend against those who deny goodness in favor of utter evil.

I wish it wasn't so, but there are people on this earth who started out sweet babies who somehow were twisted into monsters. I wish we could fix them all, but some gain power and come for our sweet and innocent ones.

Let's offer up our peace to all people of goodwill, and hope to those who walk a darker path that they will remember some gentle loving kindness in their lives at some earlier time and allow that memory to grow and destroy the cancer of hatred inside.

We may tremble and our hands may shake, but we  can offer an open palm and not a fist every chance we get because that, with loving kindness, is how most of us are made.

Happy New Year, and may the hand of kindness reach the damaged hearts that need it the most.

When you are feeling downhearted, read this. E.B. White wrote this letter to a man who had lost his faith in humanity.

"As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Sincerely,

E. B. White"

Happy New Year. Merry every day.

Now go and kiss someone you love.

 Hug a stranger.

 Take the leap.