Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Get Your Cannons Ready, Light the Wick...


I’ve heard plenty of people talk about how they don’t like New Year’s celebrations.  That they find much more joy watching The Simpson’s reruns and falling asleep at 10pm.  That New Year’s Eve, “is, like, so Amateur Night out” and “Like, soooo not a big deal”.  To them I say, good on you.  Go for it.  Watch Homer for the 80th time.  
No, I won’t pay $75 for a cosmo at Mistral and coyly find a random dude to M.O. at midnight....nor do i get plastered, wipe my face on every greasy pizza joint window begging for the last slice-of-the-night before i pour myself in a cab....but i love new year’s eve.  I mean it’s great.
And yeah, I shout HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! with every ounce of air i’ve got in my lungs because hot dang the last 365 days were tough and good and long and sad and meaningful and weighted and i learned a ton and so did you and i met new people and i let go of people and i changed my heart and opened it and discovered something about me and became more by becoming less and i just want to say thanks to you, Year.  And then, after i’m done saying thank you, I get to extend my arms to the blessing of a NEW YEAR with all my hopes and all my apprehensiveness rolled neatly into my suitcase as she approaches all clean and pretty and begging for paint all over her canvas.  My paint. Your paint.  Wild paint.  sure, every day is a new day, but it's nice to break it up in chunks and celebrate the chunks we've lived.
It doesn’t mean i get crazy with it.  In fact, this year - probably my favorite thus far - was spent quietly with my twinner on her last night in Boston before she hopped a plane back to boulder.  We went and saw a movie....then were completely blown away by the best view of the fireworks as they launched over the park, right in front of the movie theater....then walked through the park (hopped some iron fences to get away from the crazy mob of 80 million revelers), I fell up a hill with beautiful dexerity (i need to add this in because I really was quite graceful, mary said so).  We went to dinner at a great indian restaurant near my house and then we came back, baked cookies, and lay, head to toe, writing what we wanted to leave behind in 2011 and what we wanted to take with us into 2012.  We then burned these private inner hopes and wishes on my front stoop (it didn’t go so well - mine wouldn’t burn through which resulted in me going through a whole box of matches, almost passing out from smoke inhalation, and both of us having to take showers to rid ourselves of the noxious smoke smell) but we laughed and yipped and hollered at the physical letting go of the Heart Things that we’d written.  We felt lighter.  
And as we watched the clock countdown to midnight, our dad called, telling us that the rest of the fam - still recovering from the flu that had passed through our house over the holidays - had gone to bed and he wanted to launch some fireworks to celebrate and “could ya count down for me girls? I’ve some bottle rockets that are realllly gonna make some noise!”  He sounded so much like a kid.  My heart broke with happiness.
and so we did.
10...9...8...
i am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends that lift me up daily
7..6..5...
i am so grateful that I have a God that loves me, that created me purposefully, that will never leave me and who is as real as the heart that beats within me
4...3...2...
i am thankful for my life, and for all that transpired in 2011 and for all that will come in 2012
1...
every day is a new day.  every second worth celebrating.
happy new year, peeps.  from my heart, straight as an arrow into yours.
xoKAY

1 comment:

  1. ohilovethisandloveyou.

    well said friend.

    to suitcases painted.
    and arms outstretched.
    for what is to come....

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete