,

One more day. 

Two thousand twenty-four has one more day to be savored, and this past week I have been savoring the rain mixed with snow that has wonderfully saturated my garden, reminding me more of the weather more typical for the Oregon coast which is where I typically visit this time of year. This similarity prompted me to wonder how our lives often give us what we need, and when we no longer need it or have learned to fully appreciate the gifts of what we were given, it trusts us to hold on to and continue to apply that skill without assistance.

Such is the case with the previously annual trip to the Oregon coast to welcome the new year. The reason for retreating to this destination was to find a place to rest, and now knowing how to find rest in my home, live fully in the present, the lessons I learned during my visits to the coast are now fully in practice here in Bend without a four-hour drive. 

Don't get me wrong. I still love to visit the coast, but now the rejuvenation I felt there is now regularly felt here at Le Papillon. Then add the steady rainfall for hours, and I feel as though I am transported to those cozy memorable moments in my tiny one-bedroom with a bath and kitchen next to the Pacific ocean. Bliss. 

When you reflect on the reason for the trips and excursions you have taken, or even will be taken, what is the primary motivating factor to do so? What do you find there that you cannot find in your everyday life? A recent article in The Guardian shared how travel actually does appear to make time slow down in the best possible of ways. Just one of the many reasons why travel is a gift we give ourselves to deepen the enjoyment of living. Travel also gives us the opportunity to experience or try something we either aren't able to do in our everyday life or are unsure how to do and thus need to be pushed out of our routine in order to try this something new. Upon experiencing it and feeling how it affects us, we then discover how we might welcome it into our way of life whether we are traveling or not. This is all to the good.

So as we both reflect and look ahead, what can you be grateful for that you now incorporate into your everyday life that elevates it and perhaps was something that was experienced elsewhere and finally you were able to adapt and tailor for yourself, experience welcomed benefits? Perhaps that is what the end of each year is, a way of reflecting as to strengthen the skill of appreciation. And then tomorrow, we can throw ourselves fully into the new year with curiosity and confidence that our everydays need not be bah-humbug 24 hours, but rather quite nourishing, enjoyable and inspired. It all comes down to stretching ourselves in our exploration of new experiences and ways of living well. 

May your reflections upon the year that was 2024 provide much to appreciate and a reminder to be courageous and inquisitive in 2025.

Now to the newsletter! Thank you for subscribing, and until Saturday January 31st, I will see you on the blog.  

Bonne journée and bonne année !

—Shannon

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