Scraps of wisdom, on wind and wings.

Sometimes individuals seem to be blown into our lives like scraps of wisdom – on winds of circumstance or chance.

And they seem to come to us at our thinnest moments. Breaking into us. Awakening our present. Reassuring our past. Infusing our future with possibilities.

Sometimes these individuals are in human form. Sometimes they may be animals. Sometimes they may be places, or even moments in time. Sometimes they come through words in a book, or a phrase of music, often in the sounds of nature, or even the conversation of strangers.

I suspect that these scraps of wisdom may be angels in disguise. Because with them, they seem to bring peace and understanding that we may not have known we were needing. Or answers we didn’t know we were seeking. All simply blown into our path … at just the right moment.

Over this past year, I have found such wisdom swirling though my life with unprecedented frequency. It has come with mercy and tenderness, but sometimes with brutality as well as kindness; always persistent, and with startling accuracy.

Sometimes, these scraps of wisdom have come from out of the past, sometimes they portend the future. They have come to me reflected in the eyes of horses and the tears of warriors. They have come borne on the courage and grace of those without much more than hope. And they have come in the words of children. They have been discovered in the knowledge of ancient cultures and the realms of imagination. They were heard with the tick of a clock and in the song of a bird. They bubbled up with cheap champagne and irreplaceable goldfish. They were found in night skies and summer heat and frosted ground. And they were shown to me many, many times by a dog.

Over this past year, I have tried to share these scraps of wisdom and experience with you through my columns. And many of you have been the source of new wisdoms in return. I am extremely grateful for the privilege of both.

May this coming year hold for you a future of possibilities, a past of forgiven regrets, and a present of heightened awareness. May we all be blessed with scraps of wisdom swirling through our lives and breaking into us – on the winds of circumstance or chance and the wings of angels unannounced.