I have been travelling for nearly six weeks and am newly home and luxuriating in the quiet, the richness of being in my own space. For the first time since my return, Rob has taken off for the day.
I wrote a small Facebook post for the new year:
I left home on November 25th and return today, January 2nd, 2023. I am filled to the brim with wonderful memories. And thank yous to my children (and their spouses and my two brilliant grandsons), my siblings, and friends for their loveliness to me.
I steal my New Year's wishes from a master of New Year's wishes, Neil Gaiman:
"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
"And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."
I have started the new year unpacking (nearly complete) and reading "A World of Curiosities" by Louise Penny and just came across a section that pleases me. The painter character of the novel is painting, slashing colour onto a canvas. She notes that she is inspired by a witch from the 1600s:
"She was punished for many things, including being happy. So I wanted to capture that. The power of it. Happiness as an act of defiance. A revolutionary act."
It is 14:15 in the afternoon and I am still in my nightgown and don't intend on dressing today - such a small thing and yet it makes me happy. I often do what I think I must. I like the too rare moments when I take liberties from the usual and expected. An act of defiance.