The Holiday cards are done at last, and Christmas Eve is here. I adore the exchange of Holiday cards but always struggle with adding to the waste stream with one of our own. I do use an eco-friendly card, but it's still a product, and odds are it will not be composted. But it brings us joy as a family to come up with our visual from the year even as we struggle over the RIGHT pictures to insert. The whole process pushes us to reflect on our family's progression while thinking back on the year's lessons --the highs and lows. We love opening the cards of friends and marveling at the news and the curated presentations of people's lives. My daughter and I then string the cards up in our entrance to celebrate our tiny slice of humanity. I always enclose a quote as an added blessing, and this year I found this one from Neil Gaiman:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
Neil Gaiman's Journal
Happy Holidays to all, and may our world hold more peace and joy in 2020.