Happy New Year!

So how many blogs written today have started that way?  Too many to count, I imagine.  What is it that makes that moment-between-the-worlds, midnight on December 31st, seem shiny and new, magical? This first day of the new year is that one last Christmas present we missed, tucked under the tree, wrapped in the shiniest paper and adorned with a glittering bow.  That present could be anything; it embodies all the possibilities and potential, all those things we'd secretly hoped Santa would bring us but which never materialized on Christmas day.
On Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve last night (as an aside, it brought me to tears; I've watched it many times in its 37 years, but seeing Dick Clark so old, having trouble speaking, stumbling over the countdown, was painful), the word 'hope' was bandied about like one too many gingerbread cookies, and yet distilled to its essence, isn't that what we're celebrating?  Aren't we rejoicing we made it through one more year and lived to tell the tale?  Aren't we hoping and praying that the days and weeks ahead will be more successful--however we measure that success--than the year we're leaving behind in the confetti?  Aren't we wishing that just this once we really can have a blank slate, a chance to rewrite our story the way we want it to be?  Aren't we dreaming, imagining, tasting where and how we want to be when this new year draws to a close? 

I hope to end the year the way this one began, laughing with and kissing my beloved.  I hope that when this year ends I'll have met my goal of submitting a finished manuscript to the publishing house that does an annual contest; that I'll have taken charge and finally lost the weight that has posed a real threat to my health; that I spend my days doing work that's fulfilling and feels good at the end of a day; that my loved ones are well and healthy and happy; that my serious crush on fiber will have blossomed into a reciprocal love affair; that I'll have deepened my spiritual connection; that I laugh often and fall asleep each night snuggled with Linda.  That's the story I'm writing....what would you like your story to be on December 31, 2010?