Happy Real Year

Like many families, ours gathered together in December to “celebrate the season,” sing and dance daily, and stay up way too late most nights laughing, crying and catching up on each other’s lives. We also irritated one another and had our feelings hurt for various reasons…and I even cut Andrew’s face when shaving him (not once, but twice).

Just like the wonderful people in my family, the holidays were real.

I so hope the new year will be, too.

 

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The passage below from The Velveteen Rabbit reminds us of why real is good. I see something new every time I read it. The beloved children’s book by Margery Williams Bianco was made into a new AppleTV special, which Andrew and I really enjoyed last week:

‘Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.’

Wishing you a new year filled with everything real — plus the time, energy and support to enjoy and learn from it all, including each other.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. —Neil Gaiman