Recently I began reading Edith Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence” again. You might remember the film vision directed by Martin Scorcese starring Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder. The novel gives an insight into the social mores of Old New York at the turn of the century – how wealthy socialites should behave and conduct themselves. This is of course punctuated by the main character Newland Archer’s infatuation with his bride’s divorced cousin, Madam Olenska. But it really is much more than this – it is about our wishes, our decisions, and the losses we have to endure.

“Archer did not accompany his son to Versailles. He preferred to spend the afternoon in solitary roamings through Paris. He had to deal all at once with the packed regrets and stifled memories of an inarticulate lifetime.”Excerpt From: Wharton, Edith. “The Age of Innocence.”

Sometimes the decisions we make can have far-reaching consequences. We can treat ourselves quite harshly over these decisions and our judgements of others. So, for anyone who has ever experienced difficult decisions or experienced heartbreak and sorrow

This Christmas

I wish for you greater tolerance of opinion
I wish for you greater acceptance of reason
I wish for you greater recognition of loss
I wish for you less consumerism
I wish for you less anxiety
I wish for you less anger
I wish for you less animosity
I wish for you more tolerance
I wish for you more understanding
I wish for you more connectedness
I wish for you more love

And in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut sorrow, I wish for us all to expand our hearts to the entire community and reach out in a collective embrace and in sympathy over this tragic event. May all the innocent angels, their teachers and their families find Peace.

And may your God’s gentle hand guide you on your path. May you live a life which can be expressed not through introspection but through understanding and giving to others.