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| Little plastic cups of bubbly... |
Since starting the Fireflies at Dusk project, I have looked back in time to bring back old things that were good about the past in my life and make them new again. I have also thought a lot about the present as I've been adding new traditions to my life and to the lives of those I love. My husband and I have a tradition of having some really good friends over every New Year's Eve and I hope to continue that tradition as the years go by. It is especially good because while we can have a lot of fun, we can also talk about the real struggles of our life through the previous year in an honest and open way.
This year, I decided to start a new tradition to the bringing in of the new year - I call it the first dinner. When midnight comes on January 1st, most of us are out some place fun or are surrounded by people we love. By that evening, however things can seem pretty depressing. You are tired from not having slept much, and if the holidays had their fun moments, those are now behind you. Looking through the window at a cold landscape where the trees have no leaves and the Christmas lights are done coming on in the neighborhood adds to that bleak feeling. Starting this year and from now on, for the first dinner - the dinner we eat on January 1st of a new year, I am going to start making breakfast. It is my chance to think about how there is a true beginning is upon us and there is a clean slate in our lives. Eggs and bacon for dinner is a chance to look forward, to think about the ways I am blessed, and a chance to think about all the hopeful potential that a new year holds....
This year holds potential that isn't just great, but is in fact, extraordinary. Just watch.
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(c) 2012 photography and writing by Chloe - all rights reserved
