The second thing #2 that I learned again in 2024 -- you can't be too kind, or too loving

Sweet Sunlight and Coffee

Acrylic on canvas

18 x 24 inches

Barbara Muir © 2023

SOLD ♥ 

My friend, Howard Wolinsky who I met via the phone and Skype when
he introduced me to the Skype community as a Skype Sketcher, recommended

writing a list of things you learned in the year during the month of December.

I like what I wrote last year.

The second thing (really the first thing) I learned again in 2024

I wrote a piece in 2015 to explain why I sign so many of
my letters with XOXOXOXOXO, and it resonated with me again
today. Sadly the pandemic is (still) not gone. I miss all of the things we
did without thinking before.  Now we still have to think about
gatherings, vaccines, when and where to wear a mask. I changed
the dates in the quote to fit 2024.

"To all my friends and family who cannot be in
Toronto this year for the holidays, please know
that I love you and you are in my heart.

I learned the strong power of love when I held
my mother's hand as she lay dying 11years ago.  It was
not about regret, although of course I wish I
could have spent more time with her.  My sadness
was about knowing I couldn't see her, hug her
and speak with her again.

After she died I knew I had to live to the fullest,
not for her, but because she would want me to.
And I understood in the most intense way
possible that however many years I had left on
the planet, they would not be enough to give
out enough love to the people I care about,
and to the world.

I don't mean to overpower people with the
XOXOXOXOXO.  I just mean to say I know
without question that however many X's and
O's I can put at the end of a note they will never
convey how important the concept of being
loving, and kind is to me, or how much I care
for the recipient.

Many friends at this time of year are sharing
ideas about beliefs and ceremonies they
enjoy.  But the common thread in everyone's
background is the importance of love and kindness.

Thank you for yours in 2024, and thank you
to all my friends and family for helping us to
enjoy yet another year of the pandemic. Yes it's
not gone.  I know people who have it right now.

XOXOXOXOXO to all of my friends and family
everywhere!"

Have a loving your life day. 

Where I need to go -- heading towards the light

End of day light
Toronto in the distance from
Colonel Samuel Smith Park
Photo
Barbara Muir © 2020

Despite all of the recent scary changes in the world, my post from last
year on this date still rings true.

"A few years ago Howard Wolinsky, the amazing writer and 
photographer, whose piece about me on his Skype blog got
me noticed by Oprah Winfrey's people in 2009, asked about
the things I had learned that year.  It's a nice tradition to notice
what mattered as the year ends.  This has been both a wonderful,
and hard year.  Wonderful in terms of a super life, kind friends,

happy travels -- hard in terms of wars, climate change, loss
of work, and serious illnesses in the family. This first gratitude
from last year still holds true.

#1 of 23 (or 1 in 24)
I wrote this a few years ago, and it still works as one of
the first things I learned again in 2023. (And it is also
one of the first things I learned in 2024). I am not religious,
so what I like about the festive season, is the joy around
the light returning, which is all about rebirth -- a new year,
new ideas, new possibilities.  

Steven and I are sunset chasers.  By which I mean, we love
to see the sunset, and because we are also more late night
people, we rejoice as the days get longer.  So this is what
I learn every year -- try and be the light.  

In recent years the news has frequently been harsh:
fires in California, fires across Canada, hurricanes on the
east coast, climate change so out of control, 32 countries
experiencing wars, mass shootings in America. A normal 

reaction is to feel despair.

But as I said a few years ago that despair is not generative
-- it doesn't lead to change. And change has to happen now
for the sake of the planet.

I do believe that celebrating the world is one of the most
vital reasons for making art -- to inspire people, and help them
to love the planet, and value all of our lives on it."

Have a loving your life day.