Happy New Year to you all!!!  I know I’m a little late to the party, but the month had a busy start!

I spend the first few hours of 2014 in Cuba, swimming naked in the ocean under the stars with some friends. It was one of the most magical and sublime nights of my life.

The early morning air had just enough chill to make the water feel like it was hugging you with it’s warmth. When I wasn’t giggling, and jumping through waves, I was looking up at the stars. I wanted to get lost in them, but then a wave would knock into me and I would start to pay attention to the ocean again. I felt completely safe and utterly cradled in Gaia’s arms. I was as full of gratitude as I have ever been.

While we were frolicking and cavorting in the water, my husband (my hero) was bribing a guard to keep us from getting kicked out of the resort! Apparently night swimming is frowned upon, but the ocean was full of New Year’s Eve reveler’s.

It was the perfect way to start a new year. Completely at home in my body, in the ocean even in another part of the world. It was one of those transcendental experiences where you feel the deepest connection to everything as part of yourself. Perfectly fitting for my theme for the year, Radical Self Love. Last year’s theme of Radical Self Care taught me so much and I’ll continue to glean lessons from my body for the rest of my days, but this year I want to focus less on self care and self improvement, and more on sheer loving acceptance of myself as a perfectly imperfect being. It’s not that I’m done with striving for improvement, but I want to relish in loving every part of the process, every part of the journey and every part of myself.

I’m excited to be here, right now, on the other side of the epic year of 2013. Self love,
(which is sounding dirtier the more I type it) in all forms feels like it will help me integrate all the lessons I’ve been plowing through over the last while. I’m keep to slow down a bit and really enjoy. I know I’ll be traveling less, and writing more. I want to write about this last year, so I may not be blogging as much… But I’ll still be thinking of you, and sending you love.