Skip to main content

Celebrate the small things

My art piece called "celebration"

The new year is a time of reflection and planning. Last year I wrote a blog post for the new year and I am doing so again this year. I can feel the end of year and new year because the days get cooler and the nights and mornings get colder. The parang starts playing on the radio. The Christmas festivities usher in the end of the year. The stores start giving out calenders. The groceries bring out the butter cookies and the nuts you have to buss. Pastelles go on sale by the dozens.

Did you accomplish your goals in 2022? Did you learn new things? Did you unlearn some things? These are questions we should all be asking as we welcome the new year. The worst of the pandemic is over and the hype and panic and discomfort has passed. Humanity and the human spirit has overcome. I say a prayer for myself, my community and my country. May God guide us and bless us. May He give us strength and humility. The number 23 is my favorite so I am thinking 2023 will be my favorite year.

I will be 43 years old in 2023. I don't feel that old. I mean sometimes persons call me uncle so my maturity and wiseness is showing. I would describe the past year as productive and fruitful. My theme for 2023 would be celebrate the small things. I want to be rooted in gratitude and contentment. I want to face my tough moments with calm and smarts.

Alot of persons would be excited for the return of Carnival in Trinidad. This is us. This is who we are. I stay home but I can see and feel whats going on through social media. Carnival is art. Carnival is celebration. I have included my art piece called "celebration" in this blog post. Let the new year be about celebration. About winning. About beating the odds. I want to create more art and write more poetry in the new year.

I am thankful. It is too easy to take for granted what we have and how far we have come. The birds chirping in the morning. The cup of orange juice in the morning. That fresh feeling from a good night's sleep. A smile and compliment from a stranger. Armed with a heart full of gratitude we can take on the days and the world. I celebrate life and I view every day as an opportunity to pursue our goals and dreams.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee and a prayer

It is 245am and I have decided to write. I have no topic and no idea what to write. I am thankful for another day. I see the beauty that surrounds us. I choose to be happy. We are in the last ten nights of Ramadan. Tonight is the 23rd night. It could possibly be the night of power. I wonder if it will rain. Maybe it rained when I was sleeping. I got up and bathed and drank a strong cup of coffee. Today is also Friday the 13th. I keep thinking. Life is beautiful. Life is simple. No need to complicate things. No need to be extravagant. Believe in God. Trust in God. Be guided by God. Imagine we can pray for anything. We can ask God for anything. God is always listening. God wants to hear from us. Maybe I can turn this blog post into a prayer. My God I pray that everyone gets their prayers answered. I pray that everyone gets what they need. I pray that you light our path towards you. Guide us with what you intend for us. Keep us close to you. Soften our hearts. Keep us balanced, consistent...

Belief is a part of life

I watched this video and I quite like it as a good starting point for this blog post https://youtu.be/t44PFI_V4LE We cannot know everything. We do not have the capacity to know everything. I make plans for tomorrow because I believe there is a tomorrow not because I know that there is a tomorrow. We cannot decide today to say we will only act on things that we know for sure. This would be impractical. As my friend Chatty puts it, to live life, we must believe in things that cannot always be proven with certainty. For example, we believe that the future exists, that our actions matter, and that other people can be trusted. We also tend to believe life has meaning and that things can improve. These beliefs help us make decisions, keep hope, and move forward. Given that belief is a part of life, it is reasonable to have people believe in a God and a particular religion. My point is this. Life cannot happen without belief because we cannot know everything (unless we are God like). Belief i...

God of direction

It is 323am and I have decided to write. I am thinking that I am a bucket of paint. A beautiful shade of blue. That God uses to paint the sky. How could I turn this into something worth writing about? My friend Chatty tells me that I could develop the idea by exploring the metaphor of myself as a bucket of blue paint and God as the painter using it to color the sky. The meaning comes from reflecting on what it feels like to be "used"—losing some of myself while helping create something beautiful. The paint may not see the whole picture and might fear being emptied, but its purpose is fulfilled when it becomes part of the sky. The piece can reflect on purpose, trust, surrender, and the idea that giving of yourself is how beauty is created. It is now 423am and I cannot think of a way to continue this writing. The sky is silent is what comes to my mind. How do I ask the sky to speak to me? I look through my window and I see patches of clouds against a dark sky. Maybe the night s...