Like most of us, I left 2011 in a hurry.
The last couple of weeks saw me trying to frantically complete the last To Do list of the year. They saw me struggling to close one thing after another – one last article, a last contract, that last meeting to be arranged, to attend, to report on…
Tick tock, tick tock…“Hurry, hurry” went the ceaseless whisper of my watch.
And then, before I realized it, there was quietness, and silence and joy…quickly followed by bubbly wine and laughter!
It was time to rejoice and to celebrate. But somewhere, somehow, it was also time to pause and reflect, to daydream
Nostalgia kicked in, this bittersweet feeling connected to experiences and events come and now gone.
Twelve months had passed. They went by so quickly. They have been so intensely full of changes and encounters.
Time started playing tricks on me, slowing down gently. It pushed me to look at the journey taken and celebrate the things achieved.
It asked for progress to be measured, for friends to be accounted for – new friends made along the way, but also friends lost in the turmoil of change.
It was about loved ones, coming in like shooting stars and abruptly disappearing, but whose memory we will always carry and treasure. It was about remembering, acknowledging…and letting go.
It was about getting ready for a new year as pure and beautiful as a blank canvass waiting patiently for the uncertain hand of the artist.
A new year to re-invent, set in motion, move into action. Vows may be taken again. Commitments may be made again. Directions may be chosen again. The past is gone, the future a vivid dream – just the present matters.
A new year is starting. Make it count. Make it as beautiful, joyful and rich as you have dreamt it!
A happy New Year to you all.