Happy New Year

Sunday, December 31st, 2006

2006 has been, without a doubt, a year in which friendships have figured strongly in my life. I have made many new and wonderful friends on- and offline.

It seems increasingly difficult in recent years to look ahead with optimism, perhaps more so this year. I find hope for the future not in politics or world events but in those friends of mine, and in noticing an increasing maturity in my own words and deeds.

My friends have been, and continue to be, a blessing when seen individually and collectively. They are a wonderfully mixed bag of gay, straight, old, young, male, female, pagan, agnostic, Christian who, while sharing many of my own values and interests, have, over the past year, introduced me to lots of new ideas and points of view as well. I found a community of like-minded souls who provided great support and a lot of love, and I have certainly known who my friends were in trying times.

Good friends help you see things from different angles. They don’t just offer blind support, but encourage you to think. You know who you are, and that I make no substantive difference between advice offered face-to-face or via emails you take the time to write with kindness and compassion.

I will be 40 at the end of February, and it is in friendships made I find my answer to the question, ‘am I getting anything right?’. Friends are, to some extent, mirrors. I appreciate what I see in them, more than at any time in the past. Those great things I see must, somehow, also be found inside me in no small measure. And so, for the gifts of time, love, support and much more, I thank you all.

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and I hope 2007 is good to you.

categories: rattle bag