Listening to the clock on the wall, the gentle tick, tick, tick soothing with its consistent, monotonous presence.

The animals are restless today.

Why, I’m not sure.

Maybe they sense another new year is here, with the potential for all things great and small,

all things bright and beautiful.

Or perhaps they care not about such human concepts such as time and years.

Is today truly any different than yesterday?

I believe it is.

Although it may not be a concrete creation, time shapes and moves us all in so many ways that, to paraphrase Descartes, “I think about it, therefore it is”

While many scoff about goals and resolutions, I love to hit the reset button.

To take a step back and remember where I am on the path of life.

If life is what happens while we’re making other plans, then mine has been exceptional.

But I don’t think that’s completely true, either.

Sometimes when our plans don’t work out it doesn’t mean that we’ve failed, it means that our goals have changed.

Other times, we’ve been distracted by things along the path,

shiny objects, or loads to bear.

This is when a reset button is needed.

It can be as simple as a ten second pause to get your bearings, or as thoughtful as sitting down and planning out twelve months of your life.

2018 was a bountiful year.

It was full of changes,

both expected and otherwise.

Some wonderful people passed on, heading down a road the living can not yet travel, while some wonderful additions,

stars in their eyes,

Entered into the world to begin a journey of their own.

And I sit here,

On day one of 365,

wondering what this year has in store.

The dog paces back and forth while the cats climb around me,

anxious for reasons I can not fathom.

My sense of curiosity firmly engaged,

I sit back with my coffee and wait

For events of 2019 to unfold.