LET’S PAUSE TOGETHER
WHAT LIGHTS YOU UP?
What do you remember loving the most about the Holiday season when you were a kid? For me, it’s the lights.
If you ask me, what I remember the most is the energy wrapped around getting it all done and ready in time, packing presents, and cooking food. It was a bustling of excitement that was joyful, but it was also stressful. It was the anticipation and the adrenalin all wrapped up together.
It’s easy to get wrapped up (no pun intended) in the busy of the season. And yet, this is also a season for pause and reflection to connect with each other in meaningful ways, to look back and forward.
BIRTHDAYS, HOLIDAYS, AND NEW BEGINNINGS.
This past weekend, I celebrated my birthday by bathing in a magical light show, walking through the streets of New York City, and sharing meals with friends. Last year, I celebrated my 60th birthday in Tanzania, which was a bucket-list trip of a lifetime, and nothing could compare, and yet, in many ways, it did.
Last year, I spent time watching the animals and how they interacted with each other, finding so much love and care, even among the fiercest. As I was entering my 60s, I committed to deepening my relationships with people I care about, and this year, turning 61, I felt like I was enjoying the sweet fruit of that intention.
Is there a point in me telling you this beyond talking about myself? Yes, there is.
As I pause this morning to think about what I want to write to you, I reflect on meaningful moments that make up our memories.
When I was a child, I don’t remember the particulars about Christmas, but I remember going for walks after dinner, holding my dad’s hand, and talking about the houses we passed by and the light in the windows. We shared a curiosity about people and what made them thrive, which carried through my memories of my dad and our conversations, even till the end. I remember sitting on my grandfathers lap while he played the piano, or when we would light the candles on the tree together. I felt we were connected through small acts of care.
Walking through the city and Brooklyn Botanical Garden, enjoying the lights with dear friends, I felt the same sense of being connected to life. Something about light always carries a promise that we will prevail. Maybe it’s growing up in the darkness of winter, with candles for “hygge” in Denmark, or maybe how my dad would bring me outside to watch the stars when I was scared as a child.
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE.
What is it about light that attracts us? I don’t know what it is for you, but what I do know is that I pause to look for the light in myself and in others.
When I reflect on this year, I light up thinking about the many moments of joy shared with people I care about. I met new people while I was traveling for speaking events, who shared their stories with me, and paused with them to allow the connection to their memories to lighten up in them.
Please pause this Holiday Season and appreciate the small stuff. It’s the small stuff that makes us human, and it’s our humanity that matters in the long run.
