This is the New Year

I haven't been a fan of pop music since I was a teenager, but every now and then a song catches my attention. Usually, if it does, it's because the sound is unique like Paralyzer by Finger Eleven a few years ago. Or, it could be something about the lyrics that has me singing in my head. I am a sucker for a positive message song. A Great Big World gave us one back in 2014, with This is the New Year, and coincidentally it popped up in the shuffle on my iPod today. I was driving down the road, jeep all open, and a chill in the air. The day before New Year's Eve, I found myself reflecting. I just know 2017 is going to be a great year. I can feel it.

Another year you made a promise

I did. I made a promise to make writing an everyday part of my life, and I did. I wrote on this blog nearly everyday, looking for love and finding it in many ways all around me.

Another chance to turn it all around

Every new year is a chance to turn things around. Sometimes it's a small thing, sometimes it's everything. For me it's something small, a personal change. It's not a resolution, just a more keen awareness about something.

And do not save this for tomorrow
Embrace the past and you can live for now

I have not yet mastered the control of staying in the present. I'm working on it. But I have certainly learned to let go of a lot, to learn from the past and leave it there. For this year, I need to work on trying harder not to live too much for the future. Have you ever heard someone say if you wait for the perfect time, it will never come. So part of this is seizing the day when appropriate.

Speak louder than the words before you

And give them meaning no one else has found

My writing circle, cheers to us. I am so proud of how much we've grown as writers, as friends, as a collective voice. I can feel our power. Our voices are getting stronger. Each year we have added another devotion. The group. The blog. The retreats. The Sanibel Island Writers Conference. Sounds like at least one of us will produce a big piece of writing this year. Maybe more than one of us!

The role we play is so important

We are the voices of the underground

This year, I made a huge realization about the work we do at PACE. Our organization is speaking loudly, and we are bringing the needs of women and girls to a bigger audience. There is so much more to be done, but it is important work. Right here, right now, I feel I am right where I should be.

Say everything you've always wanted
Be not afraid of who you really are

In the end we have each other
And that's at least one thing worth living for

I maybe the freest I have ever been to say what I need to say. My husband and my family have always afforded me a safe place to be who I need to be and speak freely from my heart. The amazing women of my writing group have created the safest circle of trust for writing and sharing. And I can even say, my boss and co-workers empower each other to be the most authentic and genuine best we can be. It's given me the confidence and security to make some important decisions this year.

Let's tear the walls down that divide us

Our country has a lot of work to do this year. We have to navigate some rough waters, but I believe we will find a way. We have to.

This is the new year
A new beginning

Here's to a healthy and happy and prosperous New Year. Here's to a more peaceful nation and global community. Here's to respect for our earth, and our people. Happy New Year.

Happy New Year

Few days on the Hebrew calendar bring as much joy, love, and hope as Rosh Hashanah. Literally, the phrase translates to head of the year. Up north, the celebration is synonymous with fall. I remember as a child, just as we shopped for back-to-school clothes, Mom always took us for new High Holidays dresses and tights, finished off with our Mary Janes. Around the same time, the trees were beginning to change to beautiful shades of gold and orange and red and purple wine colors. The weather was drying out, leaving a crisp cool bite in the air. Camp and swimming were replaced by pumpkin patches and apple picking. There was nothing like it.

It's not quite the same here in Florida. Our season "changes" aren't as drastic, and lately, not even noticeable. Our leaves don't change much, and there are no apple orchards. Pumpkin patches are really just pumpkin sales, brought mostly to neighborhood churches on big trucks and set up with scarecrows and other decorations in attempt to celebrate the autumn we wish we had. The apples we traditionally eat with honey to symbolize a sweet new year, come from somewhere else via Publix. And the challah also comes from Publix, as there are no Jewish bakeries anywhere nearby. At least we have local honey!

It's ok though. It's still Rosh Hashanah, and I am still filled with hope and promise for a new year. My house is filled with the delicious aroma of home cooked recipes. Homemade chicken soup has been simmering on the stove, and sliced apples dusted in cinnamon and sugar are waiting for their dive in the Dutch Apple cake batter I'm about to put together. I bought a fresh round challah and local honey, and tonight my little family of three will sit around our dining room table and enjoy a quiet meal together in celebration.

We won't have fall weather or a change in the leaves outside, but we will have a delicious dinner and the pleasure of sharing a meal that will remind us how lucky we really are. I didn't wait for the new year, I've started already in small ways, but my goal for the year is to be more giving.

This says Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year) in Hebrew.
Image retrieved from myhadassah.org

Love in the New Year

In the last several years, I have been on a journey to make writing an increasingly bigger priority in my life. Since becoming a member of the National Writing Project in 2010, I have been inspired in my work and play to write in many ways and for many reasons. I have written on several personal blogs, and in 2015 I began to publish in a shared blog with the spectacular women in my writing group. This year, in 2016, I am making a commitment to daily writing. That's right, every day.

On this blog, I'm going to explore love in all its forms, in any way or place I can find. I am committed not only to write, but to look for and see good, no- love- in the world. Love, tiny and unassuming or love, grandiose and out there on parade, we can never have enough. I don't know where it will take my writing, but I know it will fill my heart and give me lots of room to explore. The possibilities are limitless. Here's to a 2016 filled with love!