La Rue Bijou - Here's to Hope & A Meaningful Life in 2026

Downtown Gainesville, Fla., lights at Christmas

New Year’s Day . . . A time for reflection.

 Many of us could look back on 2025 as a bleak year filled with challenges. But instead, we plan to focus on accomplishments—connections developed with family, friends and neighbors, time spent in nature, compassion shown to those in need and small steps that make a difference.  

 In her final message to the world, primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall said “even today, when the planet is dark, there is still hope.” She reminds us that our lives matter. That we can make a difference by starting with small, positive actions. That we need to show compassion and respect for all living things. That we maintain hope.

 “If you lose hope, you become apathetic and do nothing. . . If you want to save the planet for the future generations. . . then think about the actions you can take each day.” (Goodall).

 Author and editor Tiffany Yates Martin has echoed these sentiments in her posts to the writing community.

“Perhaps this holiday season will mark a new awakening for humanity where we remember what connects us and that we are more like than we are different, and we begin treating one another as the brothers and sisters we are, with respect and decency. . . .None of it can ever happen if we can’t imagine the hope of it.” (Martin)

NHS psychotherapist Moya Sarner reminds us to focus on positive contributions. “We all have the capacity for creativity and growth. Hold on to this potential when life seems bleak.” (Sarner)

 Research, too, has shown that more hopeful individuals have better health, more resilience and less anxiety. Furthermore, studies suggest, “Those who feel more hopeful tend to also see life as more meaningful.” (Hopper)

 In a recent column for The Guardian, author James Bailey has asked numerous individuals about the meaning of life. Palliative care consultant Kathryn Mannix advises us to “rejoice” in the range of experiences and emotions as “part of our experience of being fully alive.” Holocaust survivor Susan Polllack writes of the “kindness and goodwill” that transcended horrific events. And retired British javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread reminds us, “If you add value to other people’s lives, you’ll never be at a loss for living a life of purpose.” (Bailey)

 

 

     Rainbow near Grasse, France (photo courtesy of SSR) 

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Works cited 

Bailey, James. “What is the Meaning of Life? 15 Possible Answers—From a Palliative Care Doctor, a Holocaust Survivor, a Jail Inmate and more.” The Guardian. 22 March 2025.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/22/what-is-the-meaning-of-life-15-possible-answers-from-a-palliative-care-doctor-a-holocaust-survivor-a-jail-inmate-and-more. Accessed 27 December 2025.

This article is an extract from The Meaning of Life: Letters from Extraordinary People and their Answer to Life’s Biggest Question, edited by James Bailey, April 2025.

Hopper, Elizabeth. “How Hope Helps Us Build a Meaningful Life.” Greater Good Magazine. 22 July 2025. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_hope_helps_us_build_a_meaningful_life. Accessed 27 December 2025.

Goodall, Jane. Interview with Brad Falchuk (March 2025). “In an Exclusive Interview, Dr. Jane Goodall Leaves Behind Her Last Words.” Netflix Tudum. 3 October 2025. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/jane-goodall-famous-last-words-documentary. Accessed 20 October 2025.

Martin, Tiffany Yates. “Hope for the Holidays.” Foxprint Editorial. 25 December 2025. https://mailchi.mp/foxprinteditorial/hope. Accessed 25 December 2025.

Sarner, Moya. “Do You Feel Hopeless About Humanity? Look For the Good Things—And Build A Bridge Toward Them.” The Guardian. 13 January 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/13/do-you-feel-hopeless-about-humanity-look-for-the-good-things-and-build-a-bridge-towards-them?lid=b860goeunv00&utm_source=EMAIL&utm_medium=email_marketing&utm_campaign=MK_SU_USEOYHope261225&utm_term=Email_RecurringUSB&utm_content=Email_RecurringUSB. Accessed 26 December 2025.

Moya Sarner is an NHS psychotherapist and the author of When I Grow Up – Conversations With Adults in Search of Adulthood

 

 

 

Slow Start to 2012. . . .

We're more than a week into the New Year, but instead of looking ahead, I have been thinking about all those things I planned to do in my free time--like getting the car checked, taking a short trip out of town to see my daughter in Miami and attend a milonga.

In lieu of the movie, perhaps Tintin chocolates (Antibes)


About those movies I planned to see--Hugo, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Tintin. . . .Well, I've read the books (admittedly, not the same thing, but Hugo is 533 pages of narrative and illustration). I think it was the 2-hour-40-minute playing time for the Dragon Tattoo that made me balk. And, as my son pointed out, the fact that Milou, the white terrier, is called Snowy in the American version of Tintin. . . .

While on break, I didn't keep up with television news or political advertising, both of which distract from the real issues (e.g., the need for national health care, protection of natural resources, quality education for all). I planned to make an Epiphany, or Kings', cake for Jan. 6. But the puff pastry requires hours of preparation. I still have about 365 days to figure this out for next year.

I did amp up activities and plan a 3-mile noon walk around Lake Alice as part of daily activities. It's a nice break from my day job.

Although I'm off to a slow start, I still have a good 350-plus of days in which to make those resolutions!

How is your New Year shaping up?

A New Beginning - It's 2012!

Ahhhh! Veuve Clicquot--this size is for a big celebration! Maybe next year. . .

It’s that time of year—I start feeling nostalgic. I don’t think it’s an end-of-year phenomenon but rather an end of holidays, which enabled me to reconnect with friends and family, avoid a schedule and assess accomplishments and resolutions or things lost and found.

Lost - objects
With a past lifestyle of numerous moves, I have lost or misplaced many things I cherished. I really miss crystal chandeliers, which give the impression of luxury and provide endless plays of light.


Found - A Place!
The Crystal is my favorite café. It has taken me a long time to find a place I consider my own.

- A rental apartment in an old part of town where I’ve wanted to live for the last 20 years
- A renewed love of trail biking & dance
- A growing interest in cooking (in the last month)
- Members of the family, former students and old friends. Exciting times ahead.

Wish I had done
- Traveled to see family and friends when instincts told me I should
- Been happy with what I have done even though it was much less than planned

Memorable occasions
- My son's engagement
- My kids as partners in life's major undertakings
- My long-term projects (my "other" life) are nearing completion


Ah Ha experiences
- Savoring moments with special people
- Realizing how nice people really are
- Finding shared passions
- Enjoying Isabel Allende’s books and quotes. Here is one for us all this coming year--“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your legend or not.”

Best of all, I'm looking forward to a new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! "And off we go," as my friend HE says!

Resolutions . . . that will last . . . 15 minutes by Jane Tolbert

Most web articles on New Year’s resolutions focus on two things—the 10 most popular resolutions (starting with fitness and weight loss) and psychological advice on keeping resolutions (especially those concerning weight loss). Any historian or anthropologist looking at our newspapers (digital or otherwise) years from now will assume we are an idle population with too much food and too much time, and obviously unable to commit.

The list of resolutions in both France and the States reads like this:
- Stop smoking - Eat healthy - Do more sports - Spend more time with friends and family (or form new meaningful relationships) - Be nice to colleagues at work and the general public -Be more socially responsible. These resolutions are easy to uphold. . . for a few days anyway.

In past years, neighborhood streets and parks have been filled with newly converted cyclists. Membership in fitness centers has increased. And it is easy to integrate a fitness routine in a vacation schedule. Just as it’s easier to think charitable thoughts about colleagues you have not seen for a few days. Our resolutions are made as we bask in the afterglow of holiday merriment.

My resolutions fall into two broad categories—volunteering for a humanitarian cause and maintaining a focus in my work. The odd thing about humanitarian actions is the difficulty I have had in getting organizations to accept my offers of free help. It has been much more difficult than getting a job

My personal resolutions include goals such as organizing my daily schedule, developing a business plan, identifying goals and objectives and branding my products. A critical resolution is not to sweat the small stuff.

That reminds me. I can’t have a business plan until I write my goals and objectives. And to write those, I really need to set aside a block of time in my schedule. But first, I need to clean up the dining room table which serves as my office. I’ll start once I check my email and cell phone messages just in case something important has come in . . . . This new technology is wonderful. I am so “in touch.”

Messages on FaceBook. A Gainesville friend is celebrating a birthday. A tanguero just wrote from the South of France where they will hold the Reveillon at Jack’s Blues. And look, an email. The Nice-based tango association Siempre Tango just posted photos from the Dec. 4, 2009, milonga at the new Café Nikaia I wonder if I recognize anyone?

My son just texted me from the Frozen North. He has been caught in various snowstorms over the holiday. I need to check the online weather. I just talked with my daughter the other day—those great phone rates in France (unlimited and free). Wake up, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Where was I? Organization. Focus. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Now that’s one of those expressions I haven’t been able to locate on WordReference. But a Google search. Eh bien, ça y est! Of all places--in a forum about New Year’s Resolutions--“arreter de prendre la mouche pour un rien.”

Maybe I should sweat the small stuff. . . . No, focus on the tasks at hand—clean off my desk! I am finding all kinds of interesting things. Ahhh, if I can keep this one resolution, at least for the next 15 minutes.

But all resolutions have a downside. . .



Best wishes for 2010!

What are your resolutions?