New Year's Eve - oh the silliness!

Ha! I’m goofy and lovable.

Today is New Year’s eve. I know so many of you have a long list of things to do today. The crazy hustle and bustle is just not for me. Today is a time for putting on a roast to slow cook for the day. It makes the house smell of warmth and love. Soup does the same thing! Onions, carrots, potatoes and more can go into a handsome soup that feeds the soul as much as it feeds the body. This is a new week for me as I make a journal about the important things in my life.

A few things I have learned this year (and other years – but right now I am trying to focus on learning for keeps and not needing to relearn) is that in our list of what is most important are things like friendship and love. There are details in my life that are down right not-beautiful, details that don’t make up who I am but are the result of life hiccups that every single one of us goes through. Yet while I am not able to change every event in my life to be beautiful, I can see that the dirty details aren’t the final say about my life. Details are hiccups. Details are soap batches that don’t turn out. Details are lotions that are too thick to pump correctly and I learned this after filling the bottles and attaching the pumps. Details are also lip balms that are perfectly colored and flavored and I am so happy to share. The whole picture of my life is my desire to cultivate relationships that have profound meaning. That life picture is beautiful. That life picture is full of imperfect details and lots of imperfect events but that life picture is nothing but beautiful.

Here is my recommended reading (no, there is not an Amazon link, get this book locally if you can), The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown. I would love to put that cute little accent on the last e in Brene’s name but the code of HTML breaks with accents. Darn. Imperfect. Still beautiful!

All of us have imperfect lives. We make mistakes and there is no shame in making mistakes. Enjoy the book. Enjoy life.

Photo note: this photo is of a dog who was rejected by his new family. He didn’t fit. The family and this dog were incompatible. Minor detail. This dog displays actions of gratitude and thankfulness. Dogs are like people, the hiccups make us stronger and the challenges make us appreciative. The complete silliness he shows is part of his appreciation of where he is today – goofy, loved, hugged, fed, brushed, played and snuggled. He fits where he is now. Forgive the minor distracting details of a dirty lens, an un-staged photo, and an unclean house. All of these things are what makes the photo so real. They are imperfections. The photo is real joy.

If you have an Audible.com account, or are interested in creating an Audible.com account, and would like to be in our drawing for a copy of this book then please comment on this blog. Entries on the blog will be put in for a drawing that is exclusive to MMS customers. From all the entries I will randomly assign numbers to each entry then randomly draw 3 names to receive a gift of an Audible.com version of The Gifts of Imperfection. This is an audio book. You will need a computer or MP3 player to listen. The book is about 4 hours long and worth every minute. You will be required to use an Audible.com account to redeem this offer. I will check the randomly chosen entries to verify there is an MMS customer account that corresponds to the commentator. If there is not an account then I will choose an alternate winner. Do not post your personal information in the comments area. Just tell me you are here and want to be part of the drawing. If your blog comment profile uses an alternate email than the one you use for placing orders, then send me a note through the Contact Us tab on our website.

I will give 3 people a gift credit for purchase of this book only on Audible.com. These books can not be resold, transferred to another person/account and are subject to the other Terms and Conditions at Audible.com. Since the gifts will come through my personal Audible account please comment on our site blog.thesage.com to be entered. I have never had a Facebook account and I don’t use their service, that is a part of this company that is done by others who are “in to” social media. Go ahead and “like” the post on Facebook but make your entry official by commenting on our site. Thank you for understanding that I can’t be in all places. The drawing will take place on January 6, 2015. Winners will be emailed and announced on the blog. If you want to check out Audible.com before submitting your official entry into this drawing, you have time to do so. Knowing their rules is important because you must have their service to use this gift. If you are not interested in an audio version but think we should offer this hard copy book in our catalog let us know that as well. Comments on this blog entry are not restricted to drawing entries.

Happy New Year!