As 2016 winds to a close, a few pauses for quiet, personal reflection is time well spent. This particularly tumultuous year has been exhausting for many of us. Sifting through the mental montage of nearly surreal occurrences, perhaps we can slow our thoughts down to focus on the relationships that nourish us, warm our hearts and help us move forward. Our human desire to connect with the energy around us is supported by the love and acceptance we give and receive in our relationships with our partners, family members, friends, neighbors and visitors passing through our lives daily.

Love of people, animals and our planet, coupled with a desire for peace and beauty to surround us, makes us feel part of something whole. Forming strong connections can build a base for loving relationships with everything and everyone to last throughout the coming year—or even a lifetime. Linda Sechrist’s article “Loving Large” examines the human urge to stay connected with one another and our world. In this month’s “Community Spotlight,” local energy healer Cindy Carlson offers her perspective on bettering our world one person at a time by tapping the inner love and peace that resides within all of us.

Perhaps like no year in our lifetimes, 2016 showed us that our participation in creating and maintaining goodness in the world is an urgent priority. As we consider the coming year, we can each reflect on ways to improve ourselves and our community. We may be called to venture into a new challenge or to commit ourselves more deeply to a cause or personal passion. The world needs the unique contribution of every one of us to the greater whole. The time to act is now.

The holidays are an ideal opportunity to reach out to one another. Let us appreciate and connect with everything that brings love and light into our world, and then let’s expand on it by returning brightness and kindness to those around us.

May we gather meaning and hope from the holiday season. May we discover strength and inspiration to build integrity, fairness, kindness and unity in 2017.

Wishing you a joyous holiday season,

Gabriella Buchnik, Publisher