Happy New Year to Good Old You!

When I was a kid growing up in New York City, my grandparents moved up and moved out of our concrete paradise and out to the suburbs, just like Billy Joel said they would. “The country” as we liked to call it, because there existed grass. Their big, beautiful home was nothing like our city apartment. In my elementary school brain, it was a castle, with it’s chandeliers and wall-to-wall carpeting and a giant dining room table where I discovered myself in the most authentic way.

Whenever I was there (and it was a lot), I would set the dining room table for dinner with all the fancy china my grandmother had on display in her cabinet. At my request and to appease my appetite for luxury, my grandparents would go upstairs and “dress” for dinner. Meaning, my Pop always put on a coat and tie. My grandmother would put on a pretty blouse and some lipstick and sometimes allow me to wear one of her dresses - which was a pretty big deal at the time. Just before we would seat ourselves, I would light every candle I could find, turn off all the lights and we’d all eat in the dark! This was not a once in a blue moon adventure for me. This was like an every weekend occurrence. Us, dressed up, eating by candlelight in our castle. It never got old.

My grandparents and I love to have a laugh at the memories of those formal dinners. But as time goes by and I have kids of my own, I now realize they were really just supporting my little girl heart with a big fancy dream. They joined together and allowed me to express myself in the most luxurious way I could manage. And it stuck.

Instead of looking at this new year as a time to start over, I’ve decided to stay stuck. My vow is to view this new season of my life as a coming together of self. An opportunity to be exactly who I’ve always meant to be. I have shed a thousand skins trying to get back to the place I started, and I think the greatest takeaway from all of it is this: Don’t ever let anyone tell you who you are. Worse, never let someone tell you who you are not. I was a kid who had very little. But in my heart I had it all. A new year doesn’t have to signal a complete departure from ourselves, because if you want a new life, you’ll have to be ready to forfeit the old one. And that’s pretty drastic stuff. It’s so much easier to authenticate that which you already have. To accentuate the things that make you happy and bring them closer to you, in the simplest, purest way. Listen to the child in your heart and believe in what you know to be true about yourself. Use this new year to celebrate the old you.

See you around the table.

Best always,

Christine