Tree goals! How many pine needles do you imagine my little seedling might need to grow so majestically? I’m working to manage my hopes, but I am also encouraged that shared soil has nourished this magnificent tree. I wonder if it began as a limp offshoot? And then I think, haven’t we all?

One Word.

It’s a challenge.

Literally.

What one word would you want to set your mind and focus on for a whole year? Which word of all words might direct your heart in 2022? What could possibly recenter you all day and all night when life’s navigational GPS has you all over the place? I mean, that’s the idea behind a One Word challenge. Is there such a word?

We’ll be celebrating today. Yet, not as grand as we’ve once had. It’s the second year that traditions of family, food, gifts, and games get traded in for smaller gatherings and absent members. Truth be told, the significance of this tradition could said to have once dwindled much like the gathering.

I took a picture to remind me.

I framed it.

And captioned it.

Be still.