m,

Good morning and Happy New Year’s Eve! The library and a trip to the bagel shop inspired by Dwight K. Schrute awaits. (I am, by the way, so very glad it wasn’t a specific type of bagel product-placed by NBC… I would feel so dirty, running out the next morning to buy them.) So anyway: brand-new day. I’m pasting this passage by a writer who can at times be a bit cheesy and/or vexingly vague in regards to parenting advice, but he’s mostly helpful, and I do love this one. Must return to it often:

As you progress and become a wiser parent, you may at times feel regret that you didn't "know better" when your children were younger. You may even feel guilty for "damaging" them. If so, let Mother Nature inspire you to a more hopeful perspective.

Have you ever explored a wild forest and appreciated the awesome way in which Life springs forth from the chaos? Then you know Mother Nature never regrets. She learns as she goes and always makes the best of things as they are. She never looks back.

When a tree takes root in the shadows, Mother Nature doesn't regret giving it a "sub-optimum" start in life. She trusts it will bend toward the Light and find a way to thrive. And in doing so, the tree creates its own unique beauty.

She knows that no storm, flood, or fire can stop the endless Flow of Life through her children.

Well anyway. I’m a dork whose habit it is to feel guilt for such crimes as breathing (or yelling, as the case may be) too loudly. Isn’t it part of my charm?

love,

pen