Okay, I have a confession to make… my second favorite holiday has secretly been New Years Eve. I think it’s due to this concept of “out with the old, in with the new” that really comes into play on this day. The idea that a brand new year is coming within a few hours from now makes me a little bit excited. Plus, tangible gifts aren’t “required” on this day: just the gift of time. NYE can involve preparing yourself to become a better you. Additionally, NYE pushes people to want better for themselves as well as come up with steps to actually do it by writing it down. Goal-setters like me are working to prepare for the New Year. I’m excited. Aren’t you???

Okay, anywho…

New Years Eve also falls on the sixth day of Kwanzaa, and today’s principle is

Kuumba – Creativity

To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Besides automobile factories my city is best known for being the Gem City, in which “the most indifferent observer will not fail to notice Dayton. The wide streets, kept in excellent order, the noble blocks of stores, filled with choice, and of course, cheap goods, and more than all, the exceeding beauty and neatness of the dwellings, you at once mark with a ‘white stone,’ in a small bend of the Great Miami River, with canals on the east and south, it may be fairly said that Dayton is the gem of all our interior towns; it possesses wealth, refinement, enterprise and a beautiful country.” (Click here for reference.)

As amazing as this sounds, the place that I call home doesn’t look that amazing in all areas of the city; and if you were to come to my side of town you’d probably think, “This is Gem City, right? Where exactly is the gem part?” Or you might say something like, “Oh there are some beautiful areas of the city… but this part… eh… not so much.” Some areas look like a ghost town, while other areas are very beautiful. We don’t have main attractions like most metropolitan cities. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that if the city doesn’t look like a gem in appearance then there must be some gems within the residents that live here. My side of town may not look that appealing, but there are so many amazing people here that are creative in the arts, music, engineering, medicine, etc. Those are some amazing gems to me and that’s how we thrive! Furthermore, I think that’s what can make my community more beautiful and beneficial. If we work together, then some day the appearance of my city can match the amazing people that live here. It requires all of us.

How can we make this possible? Where can we start?

There’s no right or wrong answers here; simply ones that make sense and will benefit the community are the ones that matter. Sometimes I think it begins with something small… like littering (e.g., throwing stuff out the windows of our cars, dropping an empty bag of food, etc.). I can also begin with locally-owned businesses. There are many ways we can start from, we just have to start 🙂

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Okay, that’s all. Take care… and HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!!!

~Live Laugh Love~