Thursday, December 29, 2022

New Year's Eve 2023



New Year’s Eve is like the Rock Star of the Holidays! It is full of glitz and glamour, music and partying, and a huge kiss-worthy celebration at midnight.

Or it’s not.

For every person who parties like the former, there are scores of people who refuse.

New Year’s Eve is also a wonderful evening to spend safely tucked in at home. You can have a small get-together if you like, it’s fun to share the holiday with friends and neighbors, family and loved ones as you ring in a new year.

Foods can range from leftovers from Christmas week to appetizers and desserts since no one cares about a sit-down dinner on December 31st.

But even if you hold up at home, alone, and want to honor this change of calendar, there is much to do if you care to participate.

If you have children who are too young to make it to midnight (or you yourself are), find celebrations in other parts of the world where it has turned midnight and 2023 has already arrived. Australia, Egypt, Germany, or anywhere that is in a time zone before ours. It’s an educational research project that can expand to HOW that country celebrates – traditions they observe, foods they eat, etc. – and allows for broadening of one’s horizons without leaving home. Plus, by celebrating before midnight comes here, you get to go to bed at a “decent” hour. Sounds like a Win Win!


With the end of a year, it is a great time to create a Time Capsule. Find a container that you don’t mind storing in your home that will be off limits for a few years or up to a decade. Fill it with a newspaper from December 31, 2022, and other ‘artifacts’ that are indicative of the times we’ve just lived. I don’t recommend putting in the latest iPhone, but you could throw in a defunct iPhone IV, other tech that doesn’t work but once did, and other items that show what was popular (posters, magazines, greeting cards), useful, and a part of YOUR life or that of your family’s. It’s a cool process to assemble a Time Capsule, and even more exciting to open it in the future. Just make sure you remember where you place it, so it doesn’t get lost forever.

Another way to honor the end of the year is to write a letter to your future self. It could start, “Dear Me in 2033”. You can include information of who you are now but can also encapsulate the hopes and dreams you have for your future. No one is too old for this project as having goals, hopes, and dreams keep us all motivated. The letter should be completely private, so you are totally honest with yourself. Let your mind wander and tap its most cherished dreams. Then, write it down so you can start working towards it. Powerful.

As for New Year’s Resolutions, I’m not a big fan. I know that most get forgotten by January 13, never to be tackled again until December 31st when people think of the same hateful things – 1. Lose weight 2. Become a millionaire 3. Marry a millionaire…  And so on.

Perhaps you need to honor yourself in a different way. It needn’t be written down, but it can be. Forgive yourself. Yes, as a new year dawns, go into it free of self-loathing. Instead of telling yourself to Lose Weight, simply tell yourself to look in the mirror and love yourself. Then, make a small decision that you can manage like, walk 10 minutes more per day. That’s it, just walk. By the end of January, you’ll be feeling more energetic and want to add more time to that. You’ll start making better food choices – no food after 7p, especially junk food. Or, add an apple or veggies to meal.

Baby steps, lifestyle changes, nothing drastic that leaves one feeling deprived. It’s about feeling better about yourself NOW, not when you lose 30 pounds. Love who you are, forgive yourself the trespasses you feel you’ve done, and start 2023 with a renewed passion for YOU. Be kinder to yourself, be kinder to others, be accepting, and soon, your disposition will change for the better. Now that’s a New Year’s Resolution you can stick to!

Are you saddened that New Year’s Day means the end of the Christmas holidays? Do you abhor taking the Christmas tree down, undecorating your home, and having the absence of light?

Here are some recommendations. First, make undecorating the tree as festive as decorating it! Call some people up who you actually like to come over and help with this tedious chore. Offer beer and pizza, Chinese take-out and wine, or simply Christmas cookies and hot cocoa. They’ll appreciate getting out of their house, and with your task, many hands make for light work, and then you are left with the chore finished.

Let’s tackle the absence of (artificial) light. If you love the home decorated with lights, leave some up! Or, buy some now with the deep discounts at the stores (already 70% off or more in many locations) and put some up in your living room, dining room, bedroom, or kitchen. It’s YOUR HOME, decorate it the way you want.


Create a winter scene post-Christmas with snowflake ornaments and white twinkling lights. For Valentine’s Day, put up heart ornaments and red lights. The possibilities are endless and will help brighten the dark winter that lay ahead.

The New Year’s celebrations are waiting to be had; however, you want to observe them. And, although Christmas is ending for 2022, it is never over. Christmas is a year-round season and feeling if you allow it to be.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2023 and best to you all year long!



 

 

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Angels




As 2022 comes to a close in a couple short weeks, we take time to reflect on what a year it was, what we learned, and how we want to proceed into 2023.

As the Christmas holiday is upon us next week, we find we have been surrounding ourselves with favorite things. Nutcrackers, toy trains, snowmen, and various other symbols of the season adorn our homes, our Christmas trees, and ease our mind. They are powerful reminders of happier times, family, celebration, and togetherness.

These symbols have the power to make the world a better place.

How?

Let’s explore.

Angels. Surround yourself with Angels.

Many - most? - cultures and religions agree that Angels exist. They are a common thread in our shared Humanity.

There is something comforting about the presence of Angels in our lives.

We are not alone.

I’ll say it again...

We are not alone.

In a time when people are questioning their beliefs and faith, it’s vital to understand that we are surrounded by Angels.

A line from Miracle on 34th Street,

 

“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”

 


I believe.

I believe in Santa Claus, an Angel in my life.

And I surely believe in Angels.

If you are struggling with your faith in your religion, the government, Humanity, or God, talk to someone. It’s not easy but necessary. You are worth the effort.

Look for the Angels, they surround us daily. They volunteer, they wear uniforms, they smile brightly, hold our hands when we are scared or sad. They speak words of comfort and peace.

Angels are people. People are Angels.

I surround myself with Angels - year-round - and try to mirror what I can.

Surround yourself with Angels.

Be one.

The world can be and IS a better place if we just believe.

Santa Claus. Believe in Santa Claus. 🎅🏻

That’s right, Believe.

I understand for many that belief ended years even decades ago, but it’s time to reevaluate.

Santa Claus has been around for over 1700 years. His importance and presence have waxed and waned in many cultures over the centuries, but he has survived and thrived and still has a vital and powerful role in society.

As stated in Miracle on 34th Street (I’m quoting this again),

“Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.”

I believe. Maybe you can again. Here are some reasons why believing in Santa Claus is not only great but helpful:

Santa Claus is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful) and uses his knowledge and power for GOOD. That’s incredible in any era, but a beautiful and important fact for this 21st Century year of 2022.

Santa Claus is SELFLESS. He acts FOR OTHERS. He is a model for human decency, charity, and compassion.

Santa Claus is LOVING and CARING. He may keep a “Naughty List” but when it comes down to it, he gives children myriad opportunities to change for the better. He’s patient, wise, forgiving, and kind to a fault. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to thrive. He wants to spoil us. He has faith we will mend our ways and behave for goodness’ sake.

Santa Claus’ Generosity of Spirit knows no bounds. He wants to make our Christmas wishes come true. In addition, he wants us to help make others Christmas wishes come true. He hopes we work in tandem with him to provide children whose families can’t to have a Merry Christmas. He prays we follow in his actions to provide for those in our communities who can’t.

If we all believed in Santa Claus fervently, perhaps our communities - our shared Humanity - would be thriving, too.

I believe. Won’t you please join me in believing in Santa Claus, too?

Be the one you long to have in your life. Emulate the ideal and the ripple effects will be powerful resulting in like behaviors.

After our Christmas/Holiday symbols are safely tucked away in storage until next year, let’s remember the positive effects they have when we allow them to work through us. Truly our wishes of “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” will reverberate the entire year through if we keep the message in our hearts and not stowed away with the decorations.

 


 

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

How Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward Saved Me By: Candice Smith

 


Recently I took the six hours needed to watch Ethan Hawke’s documentary called The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max) and was blown away.

If you don’t know who Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were and are, then research needs to occur before reading this piece any further. For the rest of us, these two were a part of the fabric of my American upbringing. I knew their movies, I knew their love story, I knew their politics, his racing, her theater, and their philanthropy. I thought.

Watching this comprehensive documentary with their words, their children, and their images completely transformed how I looked at them as individuals, as a couple, and, more importantly to me, how I looked at myself.

Like many in the world, my first world, I suffer. I suffer with self-esteem issues. I suffer from mental issues. I suffer from the post-COVID world. I suffer from having teenagers. I suffer from anything and everything and nothing at all.

Watching Newman and Woodward on my television for six hours brought a profound understanding, a clarity that I had heretofore never experienced in my life. Ever.

They were enraptured with one another when they met. Their passion ebbed and flowed but never disappeared.

They were equally impressed with one another’s talent, perhaps more he than her.

She sacrificed to raise a family, his and theirs. She did it brilliantly if not perfectly, but it wasn’t the path she would choose again perhaps.

He was an alcoholic. She stayed despite the pain, uncertainty, and boorishness it brought.

He took up racing at 47 years of age. She rooted him on race after race.

They were a couple, a team, a family.

And, yet they were pulled together and apart like any marriage.

They continued to reinvent themselves.

They continued to make mistakes. The same mistakes.

They loved, hard.

They shared tragedy.

They shared joy.

They shared recipes with America and made millions for charity when no one else was doing this. Is ANYONE doing it even now besides them?

And while watching and learning and gleaning and sitting transfixed, I couldn’t help feeling good about myself.

Good about my marriage.

Good about my future.

You see, I’m nothing like them, and I’m everything like them.

My marriage is happy and joyful and flawed and terrible.

My desire to reinvent myself shows promise and then winds back onto itself to normalcy.

Creatures of habit.

My world has been dark of late. Problems that will remain unnamed yet are real and heavy and robbers of joy.

They affect my marriage, my family life, my serenity.

But, by seeing that Newman and Woodward had problems, too, I see a different perspective. That they suffered and endured. They reveled in one another and persevered, I am able to feel an optimism that has escaped me for far too long.

Perhaps I’d held myself, my husband, our marriage, and our family to far too high a standard.

We’re doing pretty great, thanks.

Oh, we still have problems, we’ll still fight, and we’ll be grumpy, scared, and over it, but we’ll never quit.

See, we love each other.

We’re imperfectly perfect for one another.

We love our children, our home, our lives, and each other.

And, if two crazy movie stars can muddle their way through life and keep a marriage together for 50 years, there’s no telling what two regular people like my husband and I can do – we’re nearly through the first thirty years!

So, thank you Ethan Hawke for saying yes to the project and putting a human light on two of Hollywood’s biggest deities.

Thank you, Newman children, for opening up about your parents, their story through your eyes, and for letting us know how much you loved your flawed parents.

And, thank you Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, for doing your thing for all of those decades. Right or wrong, good or bad, love or hate, drunk or sober, knowledgeable or ignorant, you provided one type of roadmap for this lady to consult when she’s feeling lost.

Lost I felt – and will feel again, no doubt – but this documentary about your lives makes me feel that whatever Life throws my way, I can navigate it with my husband by my side.

Thanks.