And a belated welcome to my readers outside the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Bloggers are provided with a little map of where our blog is being read, and increasingly I notice regular color in parts of Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. For this "little girl from Schenectady" who took much too seriously childhood admonitions to be "seen and not heard," not to think so much, and not to be selfish, it amazes me that my explorations into what I really think, am, want and want to say are now read quite literally around the world. I am sorry that I haven't set foot in many of your countries and have no idea what your lives are like, but I can only hope that there is something universal that makes our paths similar.
I won't make promises about upcoming blogs, except to say this: friends tell me the most successful posts are the ones where I push through my fears and express things I've been trying to hold back. Vulnerability isn't easy for anyone, but it is particularly hard when you are simply "you," with no possessions to speak of, no fame or fortune, nothing whatsoever to buffer the vicissitudes of life. Just your little boat, the winds of change, and a small but steady world readership. Every post terrifies me. I'm confident about my writing skills, but pressing "publish" reveals even more of the me that I've always felt I needed to hide. Two-and-a-half years into this blog, the process hasn't gotten easier, but it has become like breathing -- absolutely necessary. So it means the world to me, literally, that you are there. To use a Quaker phrase, I hope I will continue to "speak to your condition."
I wish I could say that 2018 will be easier than last year, but somehow I doubt it. If humanity will ever transition into a more loving, sustainable paradigm, it's got to happen soon, and the process could continue to be messy. But if many of us can maintain a high, beautiful energy, maybe we will all have what I've sometimes called a "soft-ish landing." Join me in finding a personal thread of joy, beauty, love or passion to focus on, and sail with it through the storms surrounding us. I can see our fleet of little sailboats on the horizon now.
