The albums on my mother's shelves are full of family photographs. But also other things. A starling with a crooked beak. A day of hoarfrost and smoke. A cherry tree thick with blossom. Thunderclouds, lightning strikes, comets and eclipses: celestial events terrifying in their blind distances but reassuring you, too, that the world is for ever, though you are only a blink in its course.
- H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald
I am sitting here this morning, well traveled, exhausted, wondrous, rethinking all that was this year. I do not think I've ever been in this place before- a place where the fullest heart crests and breaks with the saddest heart. And still I feel my prayer answered as clear as ever: keep you life uncomplicated. Spend your days with the people you love and who love you back, equally. Don't let your creating get too comfortable- dare greatly. Surround yourself with beauty. Love well and be loved well. But mostly be grateful for each and every breath. Each and every breath. Wow! A new year!