In Gratitude

The Lights of 2024

An earworm of my childhood jingles, “It’s the day before the night before Christmas…and I’m busy, busy, busy being good!” I don’t know about good, but busy has arrived, even to my slow-rolling holiday season. And though I have spent the last couple of weeks weighing thoughts for this newsletter, the heft of winter solstice (fully 16 hours of darkness here in the PNW) has left me thinking that it’s time to keep the reflections simple, grateful, trained on Light.

Regardless of life’s ups and downs, the wind-down of our year invites recognition and remembrance of good things. My gratitude list is sometimes the necessary lever to my keeping on as a thinker, a writer, a friend, parent, daughter, neighbor, etc. In 2024, I found magic in:

Windows - my favorite thing about my house, they are the quintessence of blessing and curse - plentiful, gorgeous, but single-paned (meaning chilly, and expensive to maintain); They welcome much sunlight along with dirt. They seem a little much sometimes. But in the darkness, I am very grateful for this touchstone.

Books - Readers gotta read! And I did, widely, from non-fiction about faith, politics, history, civility, economics, the anthropocene, relationships, archeology, writing craft, sociology, healthcare, poetry, nature, colors, etc. And picture books, romantic fiction, mysteries -sometimes dark and sometimes cozy, historicals, middle grade escapades, dragons, bears, sea creatures, liars, and spies, even a bit of intriguing sci-fi. Books offer rest and retreat, as well as information, and I love to be swept away on fictional journeys! I’m equally grateful for the libraries that keep me in ready supply!

People - For decades, I thought writing had to be a lonely life. It turns out that I have made friends across continents, genres, and life stages - online and in person - and the support of fellow creators on my journey absolutely makes all the difference in continuing it. Thank you! Beyond that, I am grateful for family and friends, near, far and changing. Human connection = treasure = magic!

Travel - When you look out of your windows, you can glimpse the world, and then, if you open them to opportunity, you might actually find yourself in magical places. I am grateful for the ability to say yes to travel, whether meticulously planned or opportunistic. This year, I happily spent a lot of time away from home soaking up the possibilities of other places. It was pretty great.

Events - Um…I’m sure I had something specific in mind, but was it my neighbor’s monthly house concerts, introducing singer-songwriters to the community with potlucks? Local Substackers meet-ups? My visit to the Eras Tour? It could have been spontaneous get-togethers or local fundraisers where I ran into friends from other areas of life and found out that we had something else in common. Theater, graduations, birthday parties, tea parties, my first writing retreats? Really, anything celebrated with dinner, a buffet or a food truck qualifies as magical to me.

Food - I’m sure we all appreciate nourishment. I’m especially grateful to embrace something a little special. Pie goes very well with coffee OR tea! Why not breakfast?!

Creativity - I listened to a morning meditation emphasizing seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary (accessible until 1/7; get them weekly for free from For the Writer’s Soul). It said, “Tell yourself that you’ll use your creativity to create the scene that moves you and feels special to you.” What power we have to invoke emotion and surprise, wonder and grace! Creative agency is essential to our beautiful humanity and I am humbly grateful for the ability to exercise it. I hope you can too!

Happy Light-filled Holidays ahead ❤