And now let us welcome the New Year
Full of things that have never been.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
I think about my cousins’ house every New Year’s Day. Growing up in the same town, they were like a second home for much of my youth. Frequent sleepovers, delicious eats, more kiddos my age. I can see in my mind’s eye—clear as day—a rolling over in my sleeping bag, likely near the hide-a-bed where we’d played charades the night before, to see college football games on the TV. The background noise of still provides the same sort of comfort and familiarity of a lazy, cozy day. I also remember feeling this sense of sadness that another Christmas season was nearing its close, and that school’s return was just around the bend. Some sentiments don’t change despite the years.
Living all my life in the midwest, I relish a change of seasons. I appreciate the closure of alongside the anticipation of what’s to come. Some tours, though, I’d like to stretch a little longer—like fall, like our summer weeks at the cabin, like Christmas.
Last month, I enjoyed an Advent group with family. A sister, a niece, another niece who’s married to my nephew, and a family friend who might as well be a sister made for the perfect grouping of gals. We read on our own, we messaged when things resonated, we managed at least three get-togethers leading up to Christmas. That’s more time carved out as a group than we typically manage in a year. And in the greatest Christmas blessing of all, we got to celebrate my nephew and his wife welcoming their first born. Getting that news as the church quieted to sing Silent Night is a moment I’ll never forget.
Thinking on how I welcomed Christmas this year has me thinking on things as I head into a new year waiting. That which matters takes effort. Moments worth remembering are made possible through love, commitment, thoughtfulness, and time. While Christmas can be magical, it’s the people who make it worth remembering, relishing, and revisiting.
Seeking a few more ways to make the most of the year ahead? Click here for Gratefulness.Org’s Inspiration for New Beginnings. I especially like the writing to people, the remembering what spoke to you in a day.
For now, I’m off to stir my black-eyed peas, dust off my gratitude journal, and see who’s winning the football game, while paying no mind to the school clothes that need laundering.
Wishing you beautiful start to a year of seasons loved and savored.
BLESSING
by Carrie Newcomer
May you wake with a sense of play,
An exultation of the possible.
May you rest without guilt,
Satisfied at the end of a day well done.
May all the rough edges be smoothed,
If to smooth is to heal,
And the edges be left rough,
When the unpolished is more true
And infinitely more interesting.
May you wear your years like a well-tailored coat
Or a brave sassy scarf.
May every year yet to come:
Be one more bright button
Sewn on a hat you wear at a tilt.
May the friendships you’ve sown
Grown tall as summer corn.
And the things you’ve left behind,
Rest quietly in the unchangeable past.
May you embrace this day,
Not just as any old day,
But as this day.
Your day.
Held in trust
By you,
In a singular place,
Called now.
