From the editor...
The Dawn of a New Beginning
When I considered this month’s theme a few months back the one thing that resonated with me as I listened to people was the overwhelming mental and emotional exhaustion most of the country is feeling right now. I could personally relate because like so many people I too have had moments that have tested my patience and fortitude as I search for new ways to handle the changes that are taking place around us each day.
What occurred to me too was that more than anything, what most people are longing for is to be finished with things that are past and for an opportunity to be granted a station or place in life from which to begin anew. A new beginning, however, does not mean a reshuffling and repackaging of old stuff, as that would only result in staying in the same place. But rather, it means to put aside those things of the past that got us into this state in the first place, and find a way to move forward, one new step at a time.
If we consider the reality that too many of America’s people are stressed, overweight, unhealthy, over-worked, under-appreciated, emotionally drained; and the list goes on, one would have to agree that it is time to start over and do what we can in order to make things right. And the good news is; we have what it takes in order to make it happen.
And although we are unable to do very little about what happens on any given day, we can however change how we respond to it when it does.
My personal goal this year is to stop complaining about the state of the food supply and grow more of my own. I made this decision back in the fall and began by increasing the size of my family’s vegetable garden to triple the size of what it was previously. Yes, yours truly is about to start a very small farm. And so come spring my approach to the availability of good food for my family begins anew. This decision was not easy as this also means a commitment on my part to put in the time and effort in order to make it happen. After all one of the toughest things about making a decision to begin something new is making the commitment to not only begin the process, but to finish it as well.
And to encourage you with whatever beginning you are about to embark upon I will share the journey of the building of my “potager”, which simply means kitchen garden, in a new section of the magazine entitled, Garden Plot. My secret hope is that many of you will also be inspired to plant one of your own.
There are not too many things in life over which we have control; one could say there are indeed none. I guess with the knowledge of that fact, we can make a commitment to ourselves, however, to once again embrace the prayer of serenity...“to accept the things that we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference”. And I might add, for the courage to begin things anew.
From my humble abode to yours, Happy New Year and Bright, New Beginnings in 2011!
Deigratia,
Bonnie
