Year's End
Dear Friends,
A year ends. As with every year, it has been filled with laughter and disappointment, joy and grief. For some, the joy and grief have been life-changing. For many, these emotions have been more transient, accompanying moments rather than defining them. But however the events in the past year have affected us we have come through. We are here, present, with eyes open, to greet what the new year has in store.
As we set off into 2025 I offer an essay that I shared the same time last year, along with a poem written more than a decade ago. They both express what I feel every year as we close one calendar and open another. I thank you all for taking the time each week to read these essays, and to all those who comment on them. It means so much to me. And of course, I wish each and every one of you a very happy new year. We are slowly emerging from the darkest part of the year. May the ever-increasing light fill you with hope, and lead you on the path of peace and joy.
Denise
I don’t know about you, but for me the month of December is like one giant inhale. There is so much to take in. Don’t get me wrong, I love December, and unlike some I enjoy preparing for Christmas and celebrating it in various ways during the month with friends and family. I like seeing the colorful lights in my neighborhood blink on as dusk falls in late afternoon. I like hearing holiday music as I shop. I even like shopping. I love the baking, the wrapping, and watching Miracle on 34’th Street. As a bird watcher, I enjoy the annual Christmas Bird Count in late December. It’s a month of excitement, a month of anticipation, a month of celebration.
But by January first I am done. I’ve had enough and I am ready to exhale. As much as I enjoy decorating for Christmas I enjoy un-decorating on New Year’s Day. And when the last bauble is packed away, every surface swept clean, I love to sit and take in the simplicity, the sparseness, the spaciousness.
I wrote this poem about ten years ago, and it still evokes that feeling of blessed stillness for me. I hope you enjoy it, and I wish you peace and spaciousness as the new year opens.
A New Year
Mantle stripped of angels and holly,
A lone, carved moose sits above the crackling fire.
On the bare wood table a single candle flickers.
Eyes cleared of glitz and glitter gaze outward, where
Above the white world Venus rises,
Sailing above the moon’s slim crescent
Against the infinitely black sky.
A new year.
