These Are Special Times

It's beginning to look a lot (more) like Christmas these days, now that my adorable little evergreen tree, adorned with mini pinecones and ornaments, sits decoratively in my living room while I sip on some spiced apple cider and listen to Sarah McLachlan (Wintersong), Michael Bublé (Let It Snow), and Céline Dion (These Are Special Times) sing about a river, a grown-up Christmas list, and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Though Christmas has in the last ten years been somewhat of a bittersweet occasion for me, the holiday season brings a lot of festive joy for many and, for me, still remains one of the most special times of the year—a time to be thankful for all our blessings, a time to cherish our family and loved ones, and a time to reflect on another year gone by and to look to the new one with a renewed sense of hope and optimism.

To all my loyal readers, both here and abroad, may this holiday season be filled with much love, hope, and happiness. As a new year approaches, I leave you with the following—a thought-provoking quotation that caught my eye while brunching at Luma the other day (and one that is discreetly engraved on the stainless-steel railing of the BlackBerry Lounge in the TIFF Bell Lightbox):

Don't just like. LIKE is watered-down love. Like is mediocre. Like is the wishy-washy emotion of the content. Athletes don't do it for the like of a sport. Artists don't suffer for the like of art. There is no I like N.Y. T-shirt. And Romeo didn't just like Juliet. LOVE. Now that's powerful stuff. Love changes things. Upsets things. Conquers things. Love is at the root of everything good that has ever happened and will ever happen. LOVE what you do.