Happy New Year!

Wishes to Everyone for a Very Happy New Year and all that goes with that thought.  Health, Prosperity, Happiness, Purpose....

Wow that's a lot to expect from a brand new year. 2017 is still in its infancy.  This is just the second day, and yet here I am, making such demands.  I guess it's more hope than anything.

Hope is such a positive thing.  There is a quote, "Where there is life, there is hope".  Way, way back in the BC dates, the Roman Statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero said that. And never have we needed to embrace the comfort of it more than now, more than two thousand years later. 

We live in very uncertain times, my friends and it's easy to be discouraged, negative or apethetic. And that is  when you should cling most to hope. Resist the tendency toward anything remotely cynnical and instead be hopeful.

We saw signs of hope on New Years Eve.  Around 11 pm, we could hear fireworks but not see them so we drove around looking for those "flowers in the sky".   We started at the jetty.  It was a chilly night, the sky was crystal clear and yes, we could see fireworks both north and south of us on the beaches and it was beautiful. But even better, for the first time in a long time, I noticed that could see stars. Millions of stars.  The fireworks were forgotten, the smell in the air and the banging all faded to the background as we looked above us.  I could easily pick out constellations, Orion, Gemini, Ursa MInor and on and on. Like sequins on black velvet was another world sparkling in the night. It was breathtaking. It was uplifting. I was filled with something beyond awe. I can't even think of a word for it.  But I was filled with hope.

Eventually we drove on.  All over the island were little pockets of gatherings.  The largest by far was Sharkey's on the Pier.  It's a restaurant on the South end of the island, sitting on the beach and it's quite good. Very popular.  We have enjoyed several meals there. The parking lot was filled beyond capacity, cars were lining the road in both directions. I'm not quite sure how that many people fit in the restaurant but by some magical alchemy, they did.  And they continued to arrive. Car after car arrived and dispelled happy people, dressed in their best, excited at the prospect of ringing in the New Year with good food and good music, knowing that if they needed a quiet moment, the ocean waiting, just outside.   More positivity and hope.

We drove back home just in time to wish each other a Happy New Year.  And that's another thing.  I love that people still do that, wishing each other a happy new year.  They aren't saying, I'm wishing ME good stuff. They are wishing it to someone else. Sometimes total strangers!  Each person, passing along the hope of good things to someone else. I love that.

Hope.  Let's keep that going. And by the way, I have great hope that a  Happy New Year waits ahead for each and every one of you!