By Laura Moore
I love the satisfaction of progress and the reminder of how much work we still have to do.
I love getting the chance to re-experience the ah-ahs, the wow, I can't believe that happened THIS year moments.
I love watching highlight reels, reliving championships, and re-watching underdogs claw their way out of holes.
And I treasure the time each show gives us to reflect, to review our own lessons and to bring our own closure so each of us can find a way to move forward.
I'm not sure why I get so sentimental for that sort of thing, but I have a sneaking suspicion it's the segmentation I love. The fact we get years to begin with, and because we have years, we have clear cut boundaries starting and stopping them, ending one game and beginning a new one, turning the page to a brand new scorecard replete with lines and lines of chances, and roads and roads waiting for our feet to tread them.
We get to wipe the slate clean, close nagging doors, and anticipate new adventures. We get to put bad years in boxes and decide--even if it seems absurd in the long run--that what ever happened is over as of December 31, and on January 1, life will start anew, draped in crisp white, and reeking of Sugar and Roses (well, maybe that's just for people living in football country).
Because we have years, we get built in excuses to pause, to look back, to let go and to grow up and out and in. We get the chance to revisit our starts and stops and allow them to give us hope and meaning and the strength to move on. We get a January 1 bursting with 364 more mornings just waiting to leak out.
And so, after a week of watching the best of 2014 shows, and feeling massively nostalgic for the year that made me a mom, I am ready to take on what comes next. I'm ready to embrace a 2015 that will be narrated by my son's first sentences (okay so maybe that's a bit hopeful) and decorated by the earth flying steadily under his feet, a year where my words will fill new pages and my heart will meet new people, a year where my family will embark on new adventures and undertake new challenges, a year where I will get 364 more days to bathe my family in love.
Happy 2015, everyone!