For today, I dug into the archives of #Reverb10 for the prompt that I felt had the biggest impact on me in 2011. It was this one:
Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead?
So here is a love letter received today, postmarked December 31, 2016:
Noël,
Keep walking towards me.
I know your grip on this year is tight. Which we both know is funny, since it was more rife with cyclones and avalanches that any year in recent memory. But seriously, drop that rose in the river, the thorns are tearing up your fingers. You can watch and send it a blessing as it floats by into the past.
Then turn around. Put one foot in front of the other. I won’t lie to you; you are a ways away from me. If I had to estimate, I’d say you’re at mile 7. But don’t think about the distance; that’s where the mind games creep in. Think about your foot on the pavement. Think about how good it feels to run. Think about the gifts the landscape gives you as you pass by: the smell of rain, a field of sunflowers, a patch of shade.
Be not in fear, be in amazement. I will be waiting on the porch when you get here.
PS 2011: Thank you for your many gifts.
Happy New Year, everyone!
beautiful! happy new year.
Posted by: Rita | December 31, 2011 at 10:03 PM
Your amazing and she is on the porch waiting with open arms to embrace and celebrate your being (:
Posted by: Dragonfly | January 01, 2012 at 01:13 PM
This is simply stunning, Noel. Stunning. Thank you for sharing this. HUGS and HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FRIEND!
Posted by: Tracy Mangold | January 01, 2012 at 08:40 PM
"Drop that rose...thorns are tearing at your fingers..." -- genius!
Posted by: Abigail | January 04, 2012 at 08:52 AM