2012 - The Year of Stark-N*ked Blessings

We've all heard the somber warnings about 2012. End of the world. Apocalypse. Yada yada yada. I tend to think that those Mayans -- and all those other forward-thinking ancients who made prophecies about 2012 -- were intuiting about big changes. MONUMENTAL changes.

Humanity as a whole seems ever inclined to painfully slow growth. Like continental drift slow. But, you have to admit, there are times in history when we seem to take huge leaps forward. My guess hope is that all those prophecies and prognostications signal that kind of a leap, and I'm hoping it's of a spiritual nature. A collective reaching up towards Love.

Anyway, if truth be told, I am a little superstitious when it comes to New Year's Day. I always see the happenings of the first day as somewhat symbolic of the year ahead. (Blame my Irish grandmother.) That is why I was pretty darn agitated when our day started with a lot of frustration and obstacles -- the alarm failed to go off, I woke up to a zit on my chin (a zit at my age?), our fridge was empty, all our favorite breakfast places were closed for the holiday, the car engine light went on...you get the picture.

So I told Nastia about my little weird superstition as we drove to the mall, and she laughed at me.

'Oh mom, you're soooo crazy. You're just grumpy. Look for the good stuff!'

And so, as we walked into Sears to buy our new vacuum cleaner, we saw an elderly lady standing unsteadily at the bottom of the stairs we were about to descend. She was smiling right at us.

'Seeeeee.....?' whispered my daughter.

We started walking down the stairs as she walked up. Her smile breathed new life into my day. I was feeling hopeful, jubilant even. As we met in the middle, the smiling woman stopped to catch her breath and addressed us . 'Don't ever get old, you two. It stinks. It REALLY REALLY stinks!' And she continued up the stairs as my daughter fell into a fit of laughter.

Later, as we left the store using those same stairs, Nastia recounted the story of the old lady and laughed. 'Mom, she probably said that just because you were looking for the bad. You gotta look for the good, like me!'

My daughter, buoyant with her new-found optimism, runs to hold open the door for a young mother dragging a perturbed-looking toddler by the hand. As the door opens, we hear the boy mid-tantrum:

'I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!' He is directing this tirade at his mother.

Nastia barely makes it past them before she bursts out in hysterics. 'Okay mom, I guess you're right. maybe there are a lot of bad signs today, but maybe God is trying to tell us something.Remember what you tell me, there is always a blessing in disguise.'

Note: Nastia and I have a running commentary on 'blessings in disguise' She thinks the very idea is ridiculous. I know it is almost always the case. Last week I sat at my kitchen table discussing 'blessings in disguise' with an out-of-work friend who was struggling to see any blessing in his current state of unemployment. Nastia chirped in from the other room in a very loud voice,

'BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE ARE STUPID! If I WAS A BLESSING, I'D JUST RUN AROUND NAK*D!'

I've laughed at and pondered her declaration all week. Tonight it came to me -- I want 2012 to be my NAK*D blessing year. God knows I've had enough of the disguised kind. Now I'm on the lookout for straightforwardly au naturel, totally exposed, stark-nak*d blessings. 2012, let's see that patootie!

Note: I had to take out the full word (n8ked) because I was getting thousands of google hits from men searching the words RUSSIAN and GIRL(s) and N8ked. GROSS.