Happy Holidays friends and family, neighbors and colleagues, and strangers who stumble across this site…

On January 1^st, 2010, I wrote a short blog post where I shared a quote by Edith Lovejoy Pierce:

“We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.“

I finished the post by asking this question: “What new words will you put in your book this year?”

Once published, I never looked back and, I admit, none of the family ever even thought about that quote or post again all year – until now. But as we were reminiscing over the events of this past year and pondering what nuggets of wisdom, humor, or lies to share in a holiday message, we were suddenly struck by how much 2010 really has been a year of opportunity for us in a number of ways. So we decided we’d share some of the words we put in our book called “Opportunity” this year:

Deb is thankful to have had the opportunity to:

• be semi-retired – by choice.
• start a new adventure – Four Circles Learning – and meet some truly dedicated professionals along the way.

  

• appreciate the importance of peace of mind and the connection between mind and body.
• plant millions of seeds and watch them turn into beautiful food at a local organic farm.
• knit scarves, bake bread, can pickles, create jewelry, and grow vegetables.
• put 600+ miles on her walking shoes.
• earn a half-marathon finisher’s medal.
• organize the first-ever JuniorCamp (a technology un-conference or barcamp) for K-12 kids in the U.S.
• sleep with a guy who gets senior discounts (ah, the advantages of getting older).
• hike and paddle through some beautiful wild places.
• watch magic happen.

Keith is happy to have had the opportunity to:

• return once again to work with a leader who inspires him.
• be out on the water when the need for it arises.

  

• dust off his old bicycle for some nice long rides.
• discover the true power of judiciously-applied email.
• appreciate the value of long-term projects with minimal short-term rewards.
• sit down at work and wonder what he should do next.
• enjoy a brief visit to New York to see friends and family.
• eat fresh-baked bread on numerous occasions.
• garden again, with some success this time.
• learn some new tricks to his old trade.
• prepare some delicious meals, and to eat some even better ones.
• go fishing often, and even catch something on occasion.
• wake up to and go to sleep with the person who makes all these days so extraordinary.

  

Kennedy had the opportunity to:

• save quite a bit of money.
• grow accustomed to paying bills.
• spend money.
• have an adventure!
• live on an island.
• meet someone…
• take thousands of pictures.
• sort through thousands of pictures.
• work retail on Black Friday.
• hang out, laugh, have fun.

What opportunities did 2010 bring for you? How did you respond to them?

Each of our opportunities was a gift, a way to help us grow stronger, to re-connect with the truly important things in life, to understand the beauty of simplicity and caring. We wish you happy holidays and a joyful 2011 filled with lots of love.

Keith, Deb, and Kennedy