The Priceless Gift

"Nations will rise and fall. Wars will be lost and won. Lives will begin and end, but a true friend is eternal." ~Jon Koroluk

Happy Holidays to you!

No matter what your faith, if any, I wanted to wish you all the best and I hope that the coming year brings you much joy and fulfillment.

Ok, I must wax sentimental here for a moment. At this time of year when we gather together from far away or even next door from one another, we usually exchange gifts. It is a custom and it is wonderful to share things with one another but honestly, to be together and to have our health is the greatest gift of all. I guess I'm being quite George Bailey about all of this but it is true: hold close to you not the present that is given but the person giving it . THERE is the real gift.

I have a small immediate family. I am an only child so it is VERY small...but we are large in gratitude for the fact that we are all together. So often illness or a sudden flux in life jars us back to appreciating the very things that we sometimes take for granted: friends, family and our health. We are having a very small and humble Christmas, which is just fine by us. We have many years of great memories of large gaggles of kids and parents gathered around a turkey that seemed to strain the legs of the dining room table. Well, times change and given that I am vegan now there's Tofurkey instead of turkey and no leaves are added to our table as our family is rather far flung geographically. However, misting over with nostalgia can be counterproductive. I look to the present....to what is here and now, WHO is here and now...and appreciate every second with them.

Take some time over the holidays to reflect on the year that is almost over. What have you accomplished or hoped to accomplish? What dreams have become reality? Which ones continue to elude you and how can you make them happen? This past year was a watershed one for me. I have traveled and experienced so much, made amazing friends which I will have for the rest of my life and grown as an artist through these experiences. I have realized how full the world is, in every sense of the word. I realize that anything is attainable with enough hard work and the belief in yourself to buoy you along. Yet all we need is right beside us too, with friends and family that stand by us in the hard times. Truly, these are the best gifts of all.

I urge you to cherish your time with friends and loved ones this holiday season. Rejoice that you are together! If you are not together, for whatever reason, rest in the hope that you will see them soon and hold them tightly in your heart. If they are far away there is always Skype to bridge the gap.

With Joy!

Heather

"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life-to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories."~George Eliot