A New Years Toast

Well my dears,

I am late in wishing you a Happy New Year (I'm behind schedule on all sorts of things lately!) but I hope yours began with a bang.

There are the obvious changes one hopes to make in a New Year- taking better care of the body one lives in, attempting to slow down or ward off mortality, tidying up loose ends, breaking bad habits.

But there are other, less cliched hopes too. Being kinder to oneself. Laying aside criticism and judgement of oneself and others. More reading (I've had a devil of a time finishing anything but magazine articles lately, ashamed to admit!) and more journaling. (I just want to jot down a few thoughts each night before bed and at least one beautiful moment for which I am grateful. ) I've got a whole slew of beautiful journals just waiting on the shelf to be filled with thoughts and ideas.

But most of all, instead of endlessly making plans for what could be, this year I want to practice enjoying the moment that is. We watched "Sideways" again last night for the hundredth time and the scene where Maya and Miles discuss their mutual love of wine moved me to tears. Of course, their conversation is a metaphor for savoring our deliciously brief time on earth. When he asks why she is into wine, she tells him:

"I like to think about the life of wine, how it's a living thing.

I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained... what the weather was like. I think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now.

I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle it's going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive --it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks --like your '61 --and it begins its steady, inevitable decline.

And it tastes so fucking good."

That's a lot more inspiring to me than weight loss or a clean basement. Wishing you a New Year to savour and relish.