Heavenly new year...

As I just wrote that title, I realized I didn't mean it in just one way.
The past few days, I have heard dozens of people everywhere I've gone talk about how they couldn't be happier to see 2011 out the door... and don't let it hit you in the butt as you leave...
Joy. It's something that has been lacking for many of us in the past few years.
The reasons are numerous.
Financially -- we have all been suffering. As a result, many of us, myself included, have lost some good friends. Some people drowned in this sorrow and just couldn't bear to face another day, so they didn't. Others of us, just put our heads down and barreled ahead. People have suffered the feelings of shame and futility when they couldn't make their house payments any longer and when they couldn't buy their children the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. It's been hard, sad and yes depressing.
Most of us who are alive today did not live through the Great Depression, but our parents and grandparents did. We heard stories of it. I grew up with a mom who was a food hoarder and a dad who buys every small luxury device that he can. Both survivors of Depression era parents and habits.
I inherited and have both these traits. I hoard food and small appliances.
I've always known why.
And not to be the endlessly annoying Pollyanna, but coming through these past few years, and still being alive, still with food on the table -- gives me hope.
2012 feels like a page turned. Everyone is pulsing with a bit more energy and yes... joy.
Hope runs through our bodies like a current. I have this feeling that if we all held hands around the world, the energy in our bodies would light up the sky. This energy is powerful and palpable.
Don't waste it. Use it. Let's really start again. Let's take advantage of this moment and take some chances, step out of our comfort zones and wallow in this sense of joy.
Or at the very least, smile at the next person you see. :~)