The Dawn Clears, as the Day Breaks

Are you in a fog at the end of this year? I am. Anna, my 80+ friend and colleague, says that's a good place to be. It's where the seeds of creativity germinate. Some folks have it all figured out, but a state of restlessness can be valuable, especially during these tumultuous times. Curiosity breeds creativity. It can get us through life's ups and downs.

Anna doesn't differentiate between work and play or age/stage/ability. Like me, Anna values connection and accomplishment, but not necessarily on-site connection and accomplishment. To Anna, accomplishment includes watering her plants and cleaning up her hard drive. We can talk about politics, work-life balance one minute and baking a cake the next. The dishwasher repair man became her tech advisor. She is baking a holiday rum cake as we speak. In a few days, she will share state-of-the art healthy diet tips, but not today....

Speaking of connection and accomplishment, two of my favorite men were in the news yesterday. Rowing together has been a high point in their lives, especially since the Pandemic, since it's outdoors and folks aren't breathing down each other's necks in the open water.

I don't row in the Bay (I did briefly, several years ago), but I respect their passion for the sport. What keeps you going? Or, if you are in an end-of-the year fog, as I am, consider settling into the mist, reading a good book, watching a slew of good films (check out the all-streaming Legacy 2023 Film Festival on Aging), and/ or cleaning up your home/life/work (as I'm doing now).

As Bob and Eli find, most days, the fog clears up as the dawn breaks. "As dawn breaks on the new calendar year, opportunities lie before us like a blank canvas". (Source).