It’s been a heck of a year. Highs and lows, peaks and valleys. If you had told me a year ago that I would be moving to Australia, to build a team to work on a huge, high profile project for my company… Well, I would have laughed at you.
If you had told me my father would affectively commit suicide by bottle in 2010… Well, that would have been unexpected, too.
The theme of this past year for me, and I think for many others, is Letting Go.
I see in in our movies and our television… Toy Story 3, Inception, and LOST all had the obvious denouement around walking away from the past, that the protagonists need to move on.
I see that in our news, with a great many Americans giving up on the idea of some One who can fix the world… And this past year I have seen many people take it upon themselves to speak up and make their voices heard. They have given up on the current model of government and governing – they want better. Whether they will get it… Well, time will tell.
I see that in my work, where I have to walk away from the detailed work and attempt, in my own limited way, to persuade, direct and lead. I can’t do it all, and I need to stop trying.
And I see that most obviously and closely in my own personal life… Where an easy trap of accusation and anger and comfortable inaction is a very tempting thing when it comes to things… Especially and specifically when it comes to my father.
I could go there… Or I could let go. And love my family, and do my best, and walk away from recrimination and blame.
Some have a word for that. They call it grace.
So, I welcome the new year with a glad and open head and heart… And hope that whatever comes to pass, obstacles or triumphs, makes me someone better than I am today.
Onward.