Dear Friends,

For so many, this has been the toughest year yet. Inflation is rampant. War continues. Loved ones have died. Families remain unreconciled. The election was traumatizing. It was not an easy year.

As I close the book on 2024, I am encouraged by the lightness in my step and the opening of my heart. I am not immune to the heartbreak of 2024, I promise. I chose to work through my disappointments, the worries, and the unkindnesses of others. I chose to see silver linings, new beginnings, and alternative endings when life did not go as planned. I chose to believe I always had a choice. I could love or I could hate. I could persevere or I could despair. I could rage or I could show compassion. I could choose whether or not to engage.

I am choosing to leave 2024 softly. I choose to disengage and seclude myself from the fray with a glass of water (or wine) and a book. I choose to go to yoga and take my vitamin C and renew my intentions for love. I choose to take outdoor walks with cleansing breaths. I choose to nap when I’m tired and eat when I’m grumpy. Self-care may be an overused “buzz word”, but that doesn’t make it wrong.

As I let 2024 go, I am preparing for 2025 gently. I will be kind to myself and others. I will be intentional with my time and talents. I will create space for personal growth—and also healing. These are not resolutions (I cast those off a while back), but spaces—clearly marked and clearly intended for new love and new learning and new acceptance.

So welcome 2025. I look forward to our time together. May we learn from each other and lean on each other in the coming days. May we dance together through the good and not so good. May we soak in the bluebird days of sunshine, so the blizzard days of gray do not overtake us. I will hold space for you friends as you hold space for me. Together may we find more likeness than unlikeness and love, love, love all the time, always.

❤️ Marla