aeternum vale, 2011

In the day to day scheme of things, we don't quite realize what's enfolding in our lives. In the grander scale of things, a year in a life is small. We're talking about 1/75 (an average) of your life. Yet, I'm a firm believer that the small slices of those years, the slimmest of slivers, make up for some of the most significant portions of our existence. A brief encounter, one wrong word, a slight glance. These all lend to the everday beauty and mystery of our humdrum office day.

Nonetheless, these fleeting vignettes are beautiful and mysterious precisely because they are... fleeting. The true richness and substance, I believe, comes from the lessons that are reinforced year after year. You know the kind. Not quite with the Hollywood glamour. The lessons that are evident in slowly receding hairlines, finely shaping wrinkles and softly protruding stomachs. By no means do I consider myself old, but young? Not so much. Or does that thought just reveal my silly youth?

Those lessons we learn year after year: honesty, courage, friendship, family, love... aren't learned in one momentous occassion. No. They're learned in the truthful face of a child, in the bravery of the breaths of a dying woman, in the loyalty and concern of friends thousands of miles away, in the tireless efforts of a mother to ensure a sturdy, loving home, and in the actions of a man of few words and no material things to offer but with a limitless amount of patience and warmth. These are the lessons that don't require an act of grandeur but slowly seep into you, shaping and encouraging you to become a better peraon. A better person not for the sake of yourself, but for the sake of all those who have given of themselves to you, selflessly, generously, lovingly.

I've never believed in new year's resolutions -- why wait till the next year for something you can do tomorrow, today, now? What I will settle for is another year of learning. Learning from those willing to teach. Learning from those smart enough to know the worth of a good conversation. Learning from those brave enough to love.

Here's to another fortunate year of learning, laughter, living and love.

Happy new year.