I'm Ready, 2013

I spent my last hours of 2012 singing and dancing in a coliseum with a bunch of old work buddies. The Avett Brothers were rocking hard then singing sweetly, and they counted down the welcoming of the new year with the thousands of us that came to see them. Balloons and confetti and voices reigned down, and with them, the promise of a new year. The promise of a better year after a really tough one.

And you know what? Maybe it's just because we're all so damn determined to make it feel better this time around, but so far, 2013 really has been full of greatness. It's been chocked full of hope and niceness. I've seen people remembering what manners are and doing pleasant things for one another. I've seen a renewed sparkle in everyone's eyes, a kind of hop in everyone's step. And I'm really hoping that if we all hope and try hard enough, we can keep it this way for the year and many more years to come.

So without further ado, here are my resolutions for the year. They are simple and complex simultaneously, and only because I have such a sharp picture in my mind am I able to make them so short-n'-sweet.

Not only am I blessed with a resolution partner again, but a NETWORK of partners who are all resolved to grow and learn and live better from here on out. Honestly, this community growing closer, these friends and lovers and families and everything in-between, is the thing I'm most excited about for 2013.

Let's do this, y'all.

Hope

I wish the inspiration for this post came from a life-altering revolution or a positive change in legislation, but sadly it comes from tragedy. Unspeakable, heartbreaking, can't-wrap-our-heads-around-it tragedy.

I guess hope means something unique to me, but hope is the one word in this project that has a truly defining element of community. We all have our own hopes, but we all together hope for safety, for a happy ending, for a light in the middle of a ghastly dark night.

Hope means coming together when people need us. Hope means helping even when there's nothing in it for us. Hope means believing doing these things and loving each other, and changing the laws, and taking care of those who have lost the most precious of things, can make a difference. Can make it okay again. Can make it better.

Hope means finding the light left on in the darkness by our neighbors, our loved ones, a total stranger. It means being there for the loved ones of the victims in today's shootings, because god knows we're going to need them to be there for us one day. And that's okay. That's how it's supposed to be. Hope is a universal community of people who set aside their vast differences to hold someone's hand.

Hope is hard to find, hard to give, but even harder to forget. Be someone's hope, and don't give up on your own. It's out there, even in the blackest abyss.

If you're struggling with how to be someone's hope or how to find your own, here's a simple list of how you can start. My friend Allison compiled it today, and I think it's beautiful. It's full of all the best kind of hope:

• Hug your family and your friends
• Offer words of love and support
• Call your parents 
• Donate blood  
• Open up conversation about mental illness  
• Donate to facilities or charities that care for the mentally ill
• Pray, send good vibes, healing light, think good thoughts, say kind words
• Do nice things for people going through hard times; bring them dinner, cut their grass, take their dog for a walk.
• Be a beacon of love

I love all of you, today and always. Please remember that.