As we bid adieu to 2023 and step hesitantly into 2024, let us hold a moment of compassion for the tough times, for those that will not be greeting the new year with us, for the burdens of “what if”s and “if only”s, for the pain of lessons learned the hard way, for the struggles faced on our own journeys as well as those on the paths of people we may never know.

For those of us still here, may we experience life the way our loved ones would wish for us. May we witness the absurd beauty of a sunrise in a grocery store parking lot. May we marvel at the tenacity of a weed growing in the most unlikely of places. May we feel the rain on our skin and know what it is to be alive. May we all find gentleness within the world, within each other, and within ourselves.