Wisdom so often comes at the expense of pain, and that pain comes through with agonizing clarity in this blog post by Barry Crimmins. But so does the wisdom… especially in this passage:

I just want some peace and beauty. The world is full of people who want the same thing. Unfortunately many of those people refuse to understand that their peace and beauty is interdependent with everyone else’s. We can’t steal it or outbid others for it. It only comes when we are thoughtful and kind and conscientious. And even then, we are still going to face enormous pain and sorrow because those feelings are original equipment in the human condition.

May peace and beauty be yours, and all of ours, in the coming year. Thanks for reading RobCottingham.ca, and see you all in January!