Following the Light

We have a pretty sweet New Year's tradition in the McSmadon-BronSterner family (that's a surprisingly awesome mashup of the last names of my buddies). I'm not going to bother to explain it, because traditions are always boring to the outside world—a pretentious inside joke that really shouldn't be inside at all because traditions are available to everyone. Especially the tradition of the new year's resolution, which is essentially what we do.

So even though the McSmadon-BronSterner family does our resolutions different, you'll never have to be bored by the specifics of it. All you need to know is that this year, I ended up with courage as my directive. 

There's a whole lot involved in that word, and I'm not usually good with lots. I'm better with a key phrase I can lock on to. Because that one word came with a rather garrulous analogy about a wildflower, I was able to find the key phrase I needed to guide me through the year: Surrounded by an aura of bright golden light, it exposes the majesty of its tiny self.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you I nailed it. That would be totally ridiculous when I could prove it through a succession of pictures! (Yes, this is a holiday letter poorly disguised as a blog post. No, I'm not sorry. You didn't have to open this post. You're under no obligation to keep reading. And most importantly, you don't have to hang this up on your fridge for the next six months. So basically, you're welcome).

January

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Martin Luther King Jr. 

February

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato

March

Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.  Brené Brown

April

There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights. Bram Stoker

May

PHOSPHORESCENCE. Now there's a word to lift your hat to... to find that phosphorescence, that light within, that's the genius behind poetry. Emily Dickinson

June

Blackbird fly/ Into the light of a dark black night. Paul McCartney, John Lennon

July

No one lights a lamp in order to hide it behind the door: the purpose of light is to create more light, to open people's eyes, to reveal the marvels around. Paulo Coelho

August

From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all. Ralph Waldo Emerson

September

My heart burns for the city lights. Unknown

October

The wound is the place where the Light enters you. Rumi

November

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. All the cute little kiddies

December

Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and then we'll need no other light. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

So that's it. My year of courage, or rather, my year of searching out the light—both within and without—is drawing to a close. Truth be told, I didn't nail it. I could probably use another year with courage. And who knows? That could be in my cards. But even if it isn't, I'd like to think I can keep it on my radar. 

And for those days that I forget, I can always turn to the sage wisdom of Ayana's role model and hero, Eep Crood (if you haven't seen The Croods yet, what in heaven's name are you waiting for?):

We changed the rules that kept us in the dark—we'll stay out here where we can follow the light.