New Year's Day offers us the same sense of optimistic spaciousness that we gain while gazing toward the horizon from a mountaintop.

"It is pleasant to gaze upon the world from some lofty standpoint . . . It seems to expand the mind; it conducts one by easy pathways down long lands of thought penetrating far into the future of nations, and opens out broad vistas of contemplation through which glimpses of what may BE can dimly be discerned. The outlook from such a commanding point elevates the mind, and the soul is elated by the immensity of Nature."

The Earl of Dunraven,
19th century settler in Estes Park, CO

New Year's Day offers us the sense of a wide-open future, one that beckons and hints at seemingly endless possibilities. It is like the view of the horizon we gain by climbing a mountain, one that is filled with a sense of spaciousness, optimism and quiet excitement.

Happy New Year!

Photo: Looking toward the southern horizon at sunrise from the slopes of Medicine Bow Peak, Snowy Range, WY; August 24, 2013