Hi. Welcome to 2013.
I'm sitting in the quiet kitchen at my mom's house in a tiny town in Ohio. There's a pair of blue jays clamoring for bread outside the window and a small brown wren just landed on our snowman's twiggy arm. (I'm surprised she was brave enough to go near him; my 12-year-old boy created a "SnowTerminator" with a paprika-red eye and a matching ice mask covering half his face!)
I'm still in that "holiday bubble" and it is such a delicious place to be — no schedules, no carpools, no rushing from here to there. Lots of time to enjoy the simplest of pleasures like taking three days to finish the Sunday New York Times Crossword puzzle — and that's with seven of us guessing!
In the midst of this quiet joy, I wanted to take a moment to connect with you and thank you for being such a huge part of the past year — and years!— for me. Just as I love sitting around my mom's big kitchen table, chatting for hours, I love sitting around (virtually) with all of you — sharing conversations and participating in celebration events together. When it comes right down to it, these connections to one another —whether online or live— are the real backbone of life. They mean everything to me.
So here's what I really want to say to you as 2013 begins to unfold… here's why I logged in this morning… the word YES.
My wish for you — and me— in 2013 is that we let ourselves be called by everything from quiet whispers to bold ruby sunsets to unimaginable dreams to whimsical purple striped leggings to cliff edges and soft landings to sparkly things on the ground to almost imperceptible shadows from the third story window.
Let's be called. Let's listen. And let's respond with a certain and unequivocal "YES."
Let's make a pinky pact to say yes to ourselves more than we ever have in our lives — even if it's scary or if it means being bolder than we've ever been.
In honor of this "yes," I want to share with you a short poem I ran in the Simply Celebrate newsletter way-oh-way back in 2003. For some reason, this poem popped into my head last month and I've been loving being reconnected to it. I love the power and playfulness of YES and am hereby declaring it my One Word for 2013. All those internal naysayers of mine can go find another nest! It's 2013 and … YES!YES!YES!
God Says Yes to Me
By Kaylin Haught
I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
And she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
And she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
Or not wear nail polish
And she said honey
She calls me that sometimes
She said you can do just exactly
What you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it okay if I don't paragraph
My letters
Sweetcakes God said
Who knows where she picked that up
What I'm telling you is
Yes yes yes
***
"God Says Yes To Me" by Kaylin Haught.
Reprinted by permission of Steve Kowit from The Palm of your Hand. Copyright 1995 by Kaylin Haught. For further permissions information, contact Tilbury House Publishers.
Photo by Ian Fratar