Let’s not begin
with snow.

I don’t want to begin
with snow.

I want to begin
with flowers
& spring green
& swollen rivers racing toward the sea.

I want to begin
after —
after everything begins.

Things mostly begin
underground —
in the damp
& the dirt
& the dark.

Underground —
where things are murky
& messy
& sometimes hard
& often tangled.

I want to begin
after that!

I want to begin
with hope
& promise
& softness
& color.

Haven’t we all had enough of hard?

Please
please
don’t misunderstand me.

I know
that suffering can be the beginning of
compassion
& character
& eyes that can see in the dark.

At least
if you allow it to be.

I am not discounting any of that.

But do we
always
have to get there
that way?

Can’t we
sometimes
take a
different path?

True, the new path might be hard in its own way.

Allowing pleasure
& generosity
& ease
& joy
feels vulnerable.

Vulnerability can be hard too.

But will we really be
any less
for not having suffered
even more?

I suspect not.

So that is what I wish for you today:
Even more.

Even more joy.
Even more rest.
Even more love.
Even more kindness.