Happy New Year.
There is actually considerable online debate about how late into the year you can appropriately send New Year’s greetings. Of course, the same could probably be said for any topic that is debated online so whatever. Some etiquette experts say it’s one week or eight days. Others claim there is actually no expiration date on greeting, while yet another group of experts claim that an entire month is acceptable. That’s the school of thought to which we subscribe so again – Happy New Year.
Instead of adopting resolutions we’ve each identified words that hold special resonance for us as we start 2023. Cassie’s are “endurance” and “confidence.” Dan is leaning into “magic,” “stillness,” and “difference.” Now we are not entirely sure what any of the words mean to us exactly and that’s part of the fun. These words just spoke to us and feel right to explore as we start a new journey around the sun four and a half years after Cassie’s Metastatic Breast Cancer diagnosis.
Endurance feels like it is both physical and emotional. Confidence too for that matter. A woman Cassie follows on Instagram recently said “One of the biggest daily challenges is balancing an innate sense of optimism with the reality of what MBC is.” We can relate and confidence and endurance seem like they can both help with this delicate balancing act.
Magic. Wonder. Awe. Dan sees these as different ways of saying the same thing and he has found himself wondering how adults can reclaim more of life’s magic and mystery that comes so easily when we are younger. Stillness may help and may also open up new possibilities for living and being. Difference feels like being open to new decisions and experiences.
We don’t know where these words will take us or how they will relate to our relationship with Cassie’s cancer. We do know that we can’t wait to find out how they will show up in our lives both as individual words for each of us and collective words for us as a couple – magic confidence maybe? Different endurance? Who knows but let’s bring on 2023.
