IT IS THE CUSP OF A NEW YEAR.

MANY THINGS HAVE BEEN LOST, MANY THINGS FOUND, STILL MORE ARE YET TO COME. AND YOU HAVE SURVIVED THIS FAR, DEAR ONE, AND YOU WILL SURVIVE FURTHER STILL.

LONELINESS IS A TEMPORARY DROWNING THAT CAN SEEM TO STRETCH ETERNAL, AN ENDLESS SEA OF NUMBING FOG AND ISOLATION.

BUT YOU ARE HERE, NOW. WE ARE HERE, NOW. YOUR STRENGTH IS ADMIRABLE ON ITS OWN, GIVEN THE THINGS YOU HAVE SEEN AND SURVIVED AND THRIVED DESPITE THEM.

THE NEW YEAR BRINGS MUCH. YOU BRING MORE. YOU BRING YOURSELF AND ALL THE MYRIAD TRILLIONS OF WORLDS OF ANTICIPATION AND POSSIBILITY THAT EXIST WITHIN YOU.

YOU ARE TIRED, AND EXHAUSTION FEELS LIKE HOPELESSNESS. BUT YOU HAVE TRAVELED THIS FAR, DEAR ONE, AND YOU WILL TRAVEL FURTHER STILL. YOUR STRENGTH IS IMMEASURABLE, YOUR COMPASSION AWE-INSPIRING, YOUR KINDNESS A GEM AND A GIFT.

YOU ARE INCREDIBLE, AND YOU DAMN WELL OUGHT TO KNOW IT. NO MATTER WHAT THIS NEW YEAR BRINGS, NO MATTER WHAT BEFALLS THE WORLD OR YOURSELF, YOU WILL BRING YOURSELF INTO IT AS WELL. AND THAT SHOULD MAKE THE NEW YEAR TREMBLE.

THERE IS A SAYING: “THE PAST IS GONE, AND CANNOT HARM YOU ANYMORE. AND WHILE THE FUTURE IS FAST COMING FOR YOU, IT ALWAYS FLINCHES FIRST AND SETTLES IN AS THE GENTLE PRESENT.”

THE FUTURE ALWAYS FLINCHES FIRST. EITHER BECAUSE IT KNOWS IT CANNOT BEST YOU, OR BECAUSE YOU ARE THAT FUCKING BADASS.

EITHER WAY, YOU’VE GOT THIS, SWEET HEART, KIND SOUL. AND WE HAVE GOT YOU. AND BOTH OF THOSE THINGS BRING MUCH JOY.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.