Far Horizons

This is a photgraph of mine, and it's always been one of my favourites. There's just something about the green deck, and the white prow pointing out to an endless blue horizon. An arrow of possibility; a dream of new places.

It helps, too, that I took this on my honeymoon, which is itself a celebration of a new beginning, a shared journey.

I wanted to put this photo up today because this is a little how I am feeling this year. It's an odd feeling, as it's a sense of hope, of adventure, of possibility, and yet it comes at a time when my life is, to some extent, a little more settled and sorted out than it has ever been (at least as an adult). Perhaps they do go together, though - when you  have a safe harbour to return to, perhaps you're more willing to venture out in search of new places.

Perhaps it's a normal feeling at this time of  year. The calendar ticks over, and the relentless march of the year's numbers starts anew.

I'll admit, I've never really been a New Year's person, in terms of the Eve celebrations, or the day itself. I have bizarrely weird luck on New Year's (bizarrely weird and of the bad variety, that is). And I think this touch of misfortune has always rather soured me on the rest of it, and made me push aside thoughts of new beginnings, new changes, and new resolutions. Onward, as before, was more my calling card.

And my luck wasn't really much better this year, as a sinus infection coincided with my daughter accidentally breaking my nose (she was very sorry - I think). Apparently sinus infections and broken noses don't go very well together; they're sort of like the opposite of apple and cinnamon, and nothing delicious is ever made from the pairing.

And yet... I feel strangely untroubled by it this year, and the sense of new beginnings is strong. Or perhaps it's not a sense of a new beginning, but of a new and exciting stage on a journey that is already well under way. But, this year, the journey is taking us somewhere we've never been before. How long before we get there? I don't know, but the horizon is blue and we are flooding west across the waters, carving the waves and dreaming, dreaming, dreaming...