It’s New Year’s Eve. Today, I’ll change the sheets so I wake up clean, but will leave the tree up for one more night. This evening, I’ll put on my new Christmas socks, and cook something for good luck, and drink something fizzy. I’ll write all of last year’s regrets, unfinished business, and hopes down, and then tie them onto a log and burn them along with a handful of sweet herbs. I will kiss my nearly grown children and make a toast.
I’ve quit making any kind of New Year resolutions because my life doesn’t work that way. Instead, it demands that I witness it. 2023 was the year my middle child became a poet. It was the year my oldest fell in love with both a city and a person, and the year my youngest applied to colleges and began to eye up adulthood. It was the year I finally got very quiet and began to forgive myself for some old crimes and to heal. It was the year I finally accepted that I have a middle-aged body now, but also the year I ran more miles than I thought I could. On the coast of Northern California, we are ending the year being bombarded by extraordinary waves, and everyone is debating what they could mean. Are they a sign, an omen, a promise or a threat? And meanwhile, there are people really being bombarded, and everyone is debating what it could mean, who is at fault, why it’s right or wrong.
Tomorrow will be a new year but also the continuation of the path you are on. Instead of resolutions, I only have prayer anymore. So, here is a blessing for the New Year: Whatever happens, may you meet life eye to eye. Maybe you’ll shake its hand, maybe you’ll punch it right in the nose, maybe you’ll giggle. Do anything but turn away. May you surprise yourself a little and care a lot. May you visit old haunts in new boots, and make new friends who feel like ancient ones. May you make a friend of yourself. Do good. Be good. And when you’re not, just say so. Read some good books and pass them on. Let someone merge, even if you’re running late. Forget about making resolutions and lists. Make connections. Make change. Make your life one you want.
Catch you all on the flip side.