Lighting Up 2013 With Hope

There’s a magic to the new year.  When the massive holiday light display on Camelback Mountain mysteriously transforms from Merry Christmas to Happy New Year I am enthralled.  I have gazed up at those white lights since my childhood and wondered how the heck it is done.
With the announcement of a new year’s arrival there is a hopefulness and freshness that envelopes me. All is new, possible and open.
For me, it is like the start of a new school year, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, dark blue jeans and pristine penny loafers.  Optimism abounds.  It might be the crisp winter air, tourist traffic and ramped up bustle that gets me going.
Living in the Valley of the Sun my entire life, the new year has always brought a new crop of visitors to share Arizona with.  These folks with Bermuda shorts, golf visors and oddly phrased Midwestern accents bring with them the exuberance of a new calendar year as well.
At one point every 12 months, we are offered the chance to think new thoughts, look forward and embrace the notion of change with accomplishment.  January makes us believe that we can drop those extra 20 pounds, learn to speak fluent French and make more love to our husbands.  Better yet, we can do all those at one time.  Point of clarification.  I could stand to deal on the weight.  I’m focused on Spanish.  My husband?  Well, that’s probably on his resolution list.
At any rate, you get the idea.  We all can look for places in our lives to seek improvement.  It might be a small change, big idea or even a daring risk.  New horizons are never easy but they can be the elixir of life.
Because if someone on Camelback Mountain can get an enormous display of lights to proclaim the New Year is here, then anything is possible.
From the Heart…