Photo courtesy of NASA
In this holiday mayhem that swirls about, I'm thinking of choices. Those billions of itty-bitty choices we've made along the way of our lives that equal the constellation of our selves (like the rings of Saturn, which when the satellites sends back photos, we realize is just cosmic spatter hanging in orbit, acting ring-like), and the ones we make that sometimes startle us by being so easy after we put them off for so long--like changing a bad habit, or suddenly opening up creative time in your life after telling yourself you couldn't.

I am thinking of how we choose to spend time with our families, and hoping for those I love (and all others, too) that they will choose that which feels good to them, not the obligations.

I am thinking how easy it is to blame others for choices we have made, for fear that we really have gone too far, or missed an opportunity, or done something from which we can't turn back.

I am thinking about how just last night I was tempted to go back into a darker emotional place, to stop trusting in the beautiful, haphazard patterns that I call my life, which have never let me down. But I didn't go. I stayed feeling grateful, and happy and full. Replete, is the word, I think.

Above, I used the pronoun "we" because I feel like we are really, truly all in it together. Whether we like it or not. Whether we like each other or not. This is our lot. Being human, here on this planet.

I'll take it. Damn, it's amazing, isn't it?

Seasons greetings. Spiritual tidings. Most of all, Joy.

JPR