Today is Leap Day!

And Time is the Greatest Gift of All :)

Feb 29, 2024

Welcome to Leap Day, a special day that only happens once every 4 years. It’s a chance to really think about ‘time’ and what it means for us.

In celebration of this day, I collected Leap Day activities and ideas from friends and mentors. In the week prior to today, I sent the following message out:

I’m doing my Substack next Thursday about the leap year. I’m writing people who I admire and asking them 1 question: ‘What is 1 special thing you will do to honor or celebrate this extra day that only appears once every 4 years?’ It can be anything, tiny or huge, fun or serious, any topic (spiritual, artistic, creative, social, environmental, mental, emotional, global, local) - something to inspire readers and anyone else to follow suit. 😃 Write me your answer if you want to be included, too ❤️ thank you 😊))

Below are the answers I received. They were sent by people from all over the world. Artists, musicians, gardeners, business owners, painters, physical fitness instructors, tree climbers, comedians, non-profit directors, activists, photographers, filmmakers. In Part 2, I will include a detailed rolodex of descriptions and links to all of their incredible work. I ran out of *time* to pull that together for today, so their beautiful words stand on their own, speaking for themselves next to their names. I am so grateful to each person included here and so moved by what they’ve shared.

In reading their answers, I hope they inspire visions of new Leap Day activities and rituals, and to think about what this day and the concept of time means in your own life. At the bottom of the post, you will find a journaling reflection activity (LEAP/TIME/PLACE), and I hope you will share your own Leap Day answers in the comments, too!! So get comfy, have a cup of your favorite beverage, and enjoy reading their answers with ease. See how each one feels, see what memories and emotions they bring up. See what excites you, see what makes you smile. <3

Wishing a very happy birthday to all of the ‘Leaplings’ out there in the world. <3

leapling

noun

a person born on leap day, February 29.

Leaping for life in Montreal with Raju Lama, Shyam Nepali, and Rebecca Foon

LEAP DAY ACTIVITY ANSWERS

Tenzin Choegyal

This leap year, I want to make sure to give my “Time” as gifts to my friends and family and any beings. Time, something that I can’t buy.

MiMi Tao

A lot of people say I don't have enough time for this. I don't have enough time for that. Now, we have a very special day. And we got an extra 24 hours to do it. And now is the f****** time. Just do it. 😉

Rome Green

act extra, be extra, chew extra gum, be an extra in a show, extra coffee, extra love, extra elevation, extra meditation, extra stretching since I need it and finally go to sleep extra early

Luke Thomas

I’m going to draw some frogs

Emily James

I will kiss and hug my children one extra time.

Jorge Martinez

I will reach out to 29 people I have not seen or heard of in a long time to reconnect and mark the leap year day as the new beginning to our friendship

Patti Smith

February 29 is always special to me. I think of it as a day of preparation for new adventure.

I am going to make a secret promise to myself and make certain I fulfill it. Only I will know the outcome, so the result of my leap will be solely up to me.

Michael Campbell

I suppose I will imagine leaping so mightily that it takes me 4 years to touch down again, and imagine how drastically the world may or may not change whilst I leapt. Quite a bit has happened since last leap year, and no doubt we’ll be able to say the same next time.

Jose Kuri

Read poetry aloud.

Hear the beauty of words, follow the rhythm and pace of their kinship, feel the precision of language, be present with their power.

Rebecca Foon

I will close my eyes and send love to all sentient beings and try to feel the magic of our interconnectedness

Lyle Lovett

For leap year I’ll help celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday. He gets a real birthday only once every four years, so it’s extra exciting in our family.

Bill McKibben

Normally I'd take the extra day as a great excuse to go for a ski through the woods, my favorite thing. But in North America's warmest year ever, it's supposed to be thundering in the mountains of Vermont on Thursday. So I'll stay home and do my best to cause some more trouble for Big Oil.

Gina Papalia

Most of us are always saying, never enough days in the week. This week we need to be AWARE that we are given an extra day for the year!

We fill our days with busy-ness. I am guilty. I will do LESS busy-ness on this extra day, and work towards doing less more.

😀🌈❤️

Michael Stipe

For leap year, I’m borrowing from a Danish New Years tradition that I learned from Helena Christensen— on New Year’s Eve the Danes climb up onto chairs and at the stroke of midnight jump off the chair and into the new year. So— for leap year 2024, I plan on leaping off of a chair into March…and then maybe I’ll march over to the kitchen and make myself a cocktail.

Giovanni Caccamo

Every day is a gift. I’ll be more grateful in my daily life. Every night, before we fall asleep, let us find at least a dozen small or big things that made our day special and for which we feel 'thankful’: a walk in the park, a colourful sunset, our favourite ice cream, the care that a friend can offer, a memory from our childhood told by our grandfather. Gratitude is the precious seed for a conscious present of light and beauty.

Martha Mooke

On February 29 I will wish everyone who was born on that day a quadruple Happy Birthday!!🎂

Joseph Reiver

I’ll do with my extra day as I should with every other day. Work in the garden. A hug for my mom. A nice cup of tea. A first, an extra, or a last.

Dr. Jaycee Mayers

For my leap year ...I'm just inviting joy and purpose....doing more of what makes me smile and my heart sing...

Extra leaps in California with Cam Miller and Rome Green

Michael Pirrocco

Practice gratitude and listen to my breathing

Jenn Ruff

I will treat the day like a secret and try to remember all day that the day is an extra gift to cherish. (I should probably treat every day this way!) It is also an extra day to pray for peace so I will try to pack in the extra prayers as we desperately need it!

Alec Signorino

As a reminder of the short time we ultimately have here. I view this day as a gift, and an opportunity to be present and gracious for everything that is often taken for granted.

Lori Snyder

I’m a voracious reader but the time for it is hard to come by. I bought James McBride’s latest, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and on my leap year day I shall read and drink Barry’s tea from Ireland for a good while. I’ll also do something to pass it on that day! Maybe a little donation or just a kind word to someone. Both!

June Michel

I will spend the day in the garden with my two cats around me, listen to the birds, and give mother nature an extra hug. I think she needs it desperately. 🌿☮️

Hillary Harrison

On Leap Day, I'm going to handwrite a letter to a friend that I haven't seen in awhile. And mail it the old fashioned way!

Wade Papin

I recently fractured my tooth in Europe, and as an anxious person with a deep-seated fear of dentists, having it taken care of has been an ongoing struggle for me.

In celebration of leap year, I've chosen to get the tooth extracted on February 29th, symbolically embracing this extra day as an opportunity to move forward.

Joey Goodwin

I am going to work at Overthrow, take Yoda for a walk, and look at the sun and sky and say hi to my dad, call my mom and workout with Edgar Santana. I am grateful for the extra day to chop wood, carry water, and blessed to get to do what I do because I love it and am very lucky.

Jaclyn Jonet

I am entering my leap year day with the most clarity possible. I find with clarity all is possible and all can be seen for what it is and what it isn’t. I wanted to surround myself with as much beauty when I am my clearest state so I will be attending LA Frieze Festival to be amongst forward thinking artists.

Shawn Coss

I shall wake up and mistake the day for March 1st until March 1st.

Michael Hallock

It’s always been… I will live four years in a day. I always thought that Feb 29th unlocks a portal to a “time stretch”…. Hence living four years in a day

Thank you for being here. Please feel free to share this post with your community if you like <3

Timothy Monger

Most days I am hell-bent on achieving some kind of productivity. I consistently over-schedule, over-task, and over-ask of myself. Although I do have a couple commitments on my Leap Day docket (work, band practice), I intend to gift myself a chunk pressure-free playtime with no expectations to meet.

Molly from Good Golly Gal

Today I have decided that calories don’t count. I’ve also decided to seek joy on this gift of an extra day. I’m starting my day with breakfast next to a creek. I’m going to take my shoes off and dance in the moss next to the water. I going to create something for myself. I’m going to listen to my favorite music and end my day with Prosecco to celebrate this extra day we have been given. ❤️

Dave Hill

I’m going to go see a friend I haven’t seen in a few months, catch up, and hopefully eat some snacks. The friend Dick Cavett, which I say not so much to name drop but just to give my answer a bit more pizzazz! That said, I also love name dropping.

Tony Millionaire

I will draw Page One of my new epic tome, “Idiot’s Odyssey” on February 29, 2024.

Jennifer Barton

⚡️🌞⚡️ On Feb 29, for my whole life at my mother’s urging, we saluted all the kids born on the leap year day- hoping that they would receive birthday wishes, cakes and gifts each year!

😍⭐️❤️

Matthew Zawisky

To celebrate this leap year I will go to mass.

“The faithfulness of the Lord endures forever” Psalm 116-117

David Chang

I will listen to this song (Rainbow Connection) thinking of my favorite frog 🐸

Sho Shibuya

I painted the sunrise; I meant I lived as usual; my mentality or routine would not change because of the “special day,” even on my birthday or New Year holiday. My neighborhood pigeons stay on the same apartment roof every morning, the sun rises every day, and I paint. I appreciate the continuity of life.

Scott Daniel Ellison

I’ll go out in the woods and keep my eyes and ears open for wildlife. It’s a good way for me to disconnect from all of the noise. The last time I went hiking I saw a mink bounding along a creek and I found a shed deer antler-for me those small moments are really special.

Max Turk

It’s really sweet timing because I had been writing about the coalescence of both the Gregorian and Jewish leap year at the same time- and how the gift of any extra time, even if it’s within the made up lens of how we interact with time and measure it- is such a relief. So I’m using this notion of a leap year as a way to appreciate any relief that comes with being told “you have an extra day, you have an extra month” and that feels comforting…

Jeroen van der Meer

When I think of something that only occurs once every four years, February 29 is not the first thing that comes to mind. Instead my mind wanders to the greatest sporting event in the world, the World Cup. So in celebration of four year cycles I will be watching the Dennis Bergkamp goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup on repeat.

Tenzin Choegyal leaping for joy in Australia

Ian O’Neil

On this year's February 29th, I'm going to do something I've been trying to do more often: take my dog, Maybe, on a walk. Maybe is a rescue with a great deal of anxiety, so getting outside frequently helps her relax. There's an 18th century cemetary near our home we go to that's usually been empty and quiet, until recently. As winter set in and as our housing crisis persists, some unhoused folks have begun using it as a location for their encampment. The space provides what I imagine is some relative safety and privacy. Or at least some quietness. It's also been one of the snowiest and wettest winters on record here in Rhode Island. So tomorrow, we'll go on our walk, assuage Maybe's psychological concerns and drop some supplies for some people in much greater need than ourselves.

Stephanie Samuels

It’s been quite the year so far. The worst being the devastating fire that consumed my ceramics studio along with the other 3 businesses in the building. It is a total loss. That said, while I try to gather the threads from that, a dear friend is hosting a Leap Day Mending a Life gathering, and I can’t think of a better way to spend this extra day we’ve been given, to repair and mend whatever we need to, while in community. The glorious thing about mending is that it gives us the chance to repurpose beloved items, that have fallen into disrepair, and thread new life into them. I know I will carry this forward as I contemplate what is next.

Phillip Ward

The No.1 special thing I do to honor or celebrate Leap Year is observe my father's birthday. Without him, I would not exist. So I thank him daily, and especially on his birthday, I invoke my father's name so that he is close to and dances within my heart. My father, Phillip Sr., was known as Peg. As a teenager working in the coal mines of Eastern Kentucky, an accident caused him to lose his left leg and wear a wooden peg leg for the rest of his life, thus his nickname of Peg. He was a caring father and expressed his love gently. He was a moonshiner and a bootlegger, and because of this connection, I light a candle and salute my father, Peg, with a gin martini. As a poet, I commemorate the day by writing poetry and prose to celebrate my father and his shared love and life with my brothers and sisters and me. So, I dance love throughout the day and share it with friends to celebrate my father, Peg. <3

Toshi Aizawa

Many of you don’t know this I guess, but we just had a national cat day in Japan on February 22. Despite being a cat person I am, I did nothing special on that day so let me catch up on it one week later. I have two human kids and five furry children but we reside distributed in three places. Which means I don’t live with those furry fellas. So I am going to visit where they are, spend a whole day, and ensure I get enough cat intake 😻

That’s my plan and now I’m so thrilled! Hope every cat person out there also have their daily dose of cat exposure on this special day 🙏

William Wildblood

I might just spend it in bed and catch up on lost sleep and read some seems as tho we’ve been gifted a spare day. You know when the clocks change and we get an extra hour in bed well I might just have the full day Or maybe Honour the day to family/friends lost. It’s hard to imagine but I’m sure everyone gone would love to be gifted one more day of their lives they held so beautiful. God bless everyone and every souls and I dream of world full of love.

Paul Nowinski

I actually know more about leap year now than I ever did before because of you… Im not sure how Im gonna feel but tomorrow I will be thinking about it and maybe it’s gonna hit me and it will all make sense … like I said Im gonna be with Peter Stampfel so that is gonna have some effect….Im looking forward to that extra day .. see what transpires…

Jessie Askinazi

Leap year comes the day after my grandfather’s birthday. I don’t believe that I’ve ever properly grieved the loss of him (if that’s even within human capabilities), so I’d like to use this special day as a container for his memory. Perhaps I will write a poem about his connection to Ioannina, Greece—where his family came from. My Hebrew name is Yannina, after all. He loved to listen to Greek music in a reclining chair and of course indulge in chocolate cream pie. I just may do the same.

Angie Chait

Let's see...I usually spend my days lately working on pretty intense and heavy things - Domestic Abuse, getting someone to safety, or getting the items they need, dealing with my own still dangerous situation...stocking fridges....if I have an extra day, I am going to get some fake lashes and get my feet rubbed!!!

Shadow Leaping with Pascal Perich at Rockaway Beach

Robert Byler

This leap year extra day I will be honoring the reappearance of its tradition by introducing it to all the beauty I am surrounded by - the colored lines on a tulip leaf, the tilt of a wind blown daffodil, the rhythm of a circling hawk in the sky, the seduction of shadows on a marble wall, the song of rushing waters in Strawberry Creek. I will be welcoming the afternoon light with the squirrels and crows and together with all other life around us ,will be still, will be silent

and meditate for an end to war and a healing of our planet.

On the 29th day of February, at the end of my birth month,

that leaps every fourth year- the day of recalibration,

the day of somewhere-

we will all be together.

Once again.

Anne Waldman

I suggest we do something ritualistic on leap year day to help quell the ugliness of war, and specifically work with art or meditation practice of Tonglen

READ SOME POEMS OF RESISTANCE and EMPOWERMENT from around the world.

Or find something from your favorite poet from any time that speaks to you.

And try the spiritual practice of “Tonglen” where you visualize someone’s suffering and try to send some connectivity of compassion. Think of all the innocents and their vulnerability.

Adriel Lyles

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently. Especially since my fight and all the emotions surrounding that. This past year has been busy and packed with so many adventures, goals and experiences. Specifically with my goals I’ve spent a lot of time investing in them. And of course there is always some kind of feedback or tangible measure to let us know that we’re achieving these things/ on the right track. But I want to honor the invisible progress that I’ve been making. Appreciating myself for being consistent. All my efforts. Not worrying about the end goal. Maybe I’ll get a cookie today.

Andrew Joslin

For Leap Day February 29, 2024 I would like to listen. To what nature has to say. Nature which is everything. Concrete, steel, what is broken, and alive, growing, failing, thriving, or sleeping. I want to listen for the signals that will set me right, leaning in directions allowing me to see and hear.

If a raven flies over and says “Cronk!” so be it. If the wind shifts into the north and creates ice, or the sun softens the soil and brings early crocus or snowdrops, I'm fine with that. A starling chatters then whistles improbably. A cat settles into the “bread loaf” position, legs tucked in, eyelids squeezed tight, paws peeking out from under. There is something there to guide us if only in practical ways. Or in broad metaphysical waves. Both are possible, sometimes in the same moment.

We have cues available if we stop for a few seconds and wrestle down our ambitions. They won't go away, wrap them in your arms and hold them tight. Give them a soft pat, “Don't worry, I know you're here”. Let them calm for a minute or two, then release them. Now you or I are stronger. So much to face on this Leap Day, and so much to learn.

Pascal Perich

An extra day can surely be a like a treasure to do all “extra” things, superfluous activities, the additional ones that we are not allowed to do the rest of the time . We could always think about what we don’t have time to usually achieve. But maybe an extra day is also the day to have the beautiful luxury to do what they call “nothing” or “ the futile” or “ an escape” ! A day to be able to get rid of everything that the daily routine oblige us to use, to spend time with or to have. A extra day to simply feel alive, to feel one’ s breath, to be charmed by the grace of the most un-noticeable simple things like the steps of a sparrow, a dancing shadow, the caress of the wind, a reflection of a light, the smell of a wooden table, everything that “ this life “ makes us forget to notice. There is an eternity in an extra day. And then maybe we can realize that everyday should have the greatness and the eternity of an extra day.

Kara LC Jones

Something about extraNESS has been sitting with me for the past week or so. I've been pondering how even the tiniest bits of extraNESS can allow us some space, maybe even some permission, maybe even celebration. I'm thinking here of how pilot programs for universal basic income always end up showing an increase in creativity of the population being served. That extra bit of safety net serves in so many unexpected ways. So for this extra day, I've been planning to be with extraNESS in all the ways I possibly can. Can I be extra kind to myself and others today? How many extra hugs can I give my partner today?

How many extra ways can I be sure my Loves know I love them? Even practical things like I found a jar of summer fruit preserves in my freezer. Who can I gift that too? My baker friend maybe would be extra celebratory bringing summer into winter? There's just so much loss and grief abundant in this world today that is seems all that much more important to be with the ideas of how extraNESS can serve, support, be loving safety net. How can extraNESS be a form of self and community care on this leap year for you and yours?

Gregory McIntosh

May I propose that we start a leap day tradition (that is, if your leap day dance card isn’t already filled)? What we assigned leap day the distinction of being a day for actively chasing our curiosities and expanding our skill sets? We can call it Leap Day to Conclusions! I know that sounds corny, but one of the things I still like to do in my middle age is just to try new things. See if they stick, you know? Like, I’ve never upholstered a couch before, but I sure wouldn’t mind becoming a master upholsterer. You can’t do that in one day, but leap day could certainly be a marker for when you started that you could measure progress by! What is something you’ve always wanted to try? Big or small! Have you ever wanted to build something? Paint with watercolors? Write a sonnet? Make a pizza from scratch? Should we choose a thing and try it out on leap day, then share our results with each other?

Gina Papalia leaping this morning in NYC just for us! :))

Tatiana Pais Becher

To celebrate this Day I’ll follow my Dreams, as I’ve always done since I was 15🥳I’ll fly from the Dolomites to the USA for the first time in my life…going to Las Vegas to attend the concert of my beloved rock band🎸🎼U2!!! It’s a long flight, 17 hours from Venice to Frankfurt and then to Denver and L.V., but I’m sure it’s worth doing it🥰I’m curious to see how the world looks different from that point of view, so loud and far from my silent Dolomites….and I’m looking forward to enter the Sphere and be thrown in that irreal world for a night, listening to the soundtrack of my whole life played by my Dubliners (even if they miss Larry, but I hope he’ll fly from Dublin to the stage that night). Just like a Dream🥹✨❄️🤍I Can’t stop believing that In Dreams Begin Responsibilities🙏

Merlo Podlewski

One More Day

To Be With You Again

One More Day

To Live this Life

Without You

One More Chance

To Make You Mine

One More Chance

To Say

I am Still In Love

With You

One More Song

Before the Record Stops

One More Song

To Sing

To Play

Before The Music’s Over

And We Leave this Room

Everyone Walks Home

Through Cold Winter Streets or

Down Star Filled Country Roads

One More Kiss

Before This

is Said and Done

One Kiss

Is All I Need

Just One More

Before I Leave this Town

Oh .. Just One More Thing

We Get

One More Day

This Year

Patti Hudson

Time is the greatest gift of all. Time plus health plus love and you’ve got it made. This year gives us an extra day of time, use it to store up the other two.

THANK YOU to everyone for your answers! Which one did you relate to, which is your favorite, which one resonated with or inspired you in any way? In the comments, be sure to share your reflections and your own answer to the original question, too! I would love so much to read them and hear from you.

Leave a comment

Here also is a Leap Day activity from Anne Waldman if you would like to try it.

Below I will share 3 options for journaling activities we can all do and then reflect on together. Join me if you like! Thank you all so much for being here. <3

Edward Muybridge stills, Leopard Leaping

JOURNALING REFLECTION ACTIVITIES

Here are 3 journaling ideas. You can take any inspiration from the ideas listed below and write freeform, anything that comes to mind. I will include my own underneath.

LEAP

Here are some different definitions of the word Leap. Depending on how you look at it, there can be many meanings. Which one do you like? Is there anything in your life you would like to leap towards, leap into, leap away from? How will you Leap and what will you Leap to? Will you leap in small steps from puddle to puddle, or will you take a great leap across the pond? What is needed in your life at the moment?

Leave a comment

TIME

Here are some quotes about Time. As you read them, see how they feel in your body, which ones resonate, what emotions or physical reactions they illicit. Use their inspiration to reflect on the questions that follow.

‘Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.’

Miles Davis

‘Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.’

Rose Kennedy

‘The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.’

Leo Tolstoy

‘It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?’

Henry David Thoreau

‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’

J.R.R. Tolkien

‘With Natural Time, we can let go of calendars and watches, because with Natural Time we always know when and where we are. ‘

Pennie Opal Plant

‘Time is a brisk wind, for each hour it brings something new.’

Paracelsus

‘Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.’

Khalil Gibran

‘This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.’

Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘I always live in the present. The future I can’t know. The past I no longer have.’

Fernando Pessoa

‘Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.’

Marthe Troly-Curtin

‘Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is to say, ‘I don’t want to.’

Lao Tzu

‘If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.’

Bruce Lee

‘I give you this to take with you: Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.’

Judith Minty

Reflection: How do you personally feel about Time? What does Time mean for you? Do you feel that time moves by quickly or slowly? Are you able to take some moments to pause when it feels that things are moving too fast?

Leave a comment

PLACE

While looking for quotes about time, I came across this watercolor painting with a quote from Louisa May Alcott. It was on a page of messages and quotes about ‘quiet time,’ and I found it to be still and comforting.

‘It is an excellent plan to have some place where we can go to be quiet.’

Reflection: Do you have a place like this where you can go? Somewhere indoors like a work room or study, or some place in nature where you can think and dream without being disturbed? A place to have quiet time, a place where time slows, a place where time feels elastic, exponential in its valuable, more precious than gold?

Leave a comment

My Freeform Journaling Reflection:

When I was a teenager, I remember hearing adults say that ‘time goes by fast,’ it passes quickly, that ‘time flies.’ That scared me very much and I made a pledge to myself in writing and in mind that I would never allow that to happen to me, that I would never allow myself to experience the world in that way while I am here. Now I am 36, and so far, I have been true to my teenage self, always finding moments within the moments, never allowing time to feel anything but elastic and surreal in its sensation, like a perpetual and everlasting dream. I also felt the same way about anyone asking me if I was ‘bored,’ and took it as an insult. I remember thinking, ‘how could someone ever be bored?’ I didn’t see how it was possible. Maybe it’s from growing up in Michigan, finding endless hours of fascination by turning over my favorite rock to see the bugs, watching the activity in a puddle in the yard, or on the surface of the water on the canal. Of course this doesn’t mean that I’m not aware of the great and precious value of time, the greatest gift we have - it’s actually the exact opposite. I will always remind myself that life is precious and life is fleeting in its form, so we must make the most of the time we have. I like to think about two things in particular. This one quote that I’ve heard expressed in all different ways, from a 19th century writer to Jo from The Office. The quote is about marking your name on the day, asking yourself if you can feel good about the day you’ve had, the things you’ve accomplished, and if the answer if ‘yes,’ then its’ time to close up shop. I always think of this at the end of the day, and that’s whether the day was meant for work or rest. It’s good to check in, to see how you feel about it. The more extreme version is to ask yourself, ‘if this was my last day on Earth, would I feel good about today?' Is there anything else I want to do before I go to sleep?’ This is more of a good general code to live by, though sometimes on tougher days it’s not so helpful to think about. Sometimes we don’t want to think at all. All of these codes and rules are full of nuance and exceptions. It doesn’t have to be so rigid and black and white. They are more just helpful reflections, moments of pause, ways to check in with ourselves and see how we are living, if there is anything we would like to change, that we need desperately to change, to make our time on Earth a little better. I wrote a song during Covid lockdown about a friend who was unhappy with his life, about things that were well within his control, that he had the ability and resources to change, with all this untapped room to bring more happiness to himself, his children, and to those around him. The only thing that seemed to be standing in his way was Fear. So I wrote this song for him, and the chorus said: ‘What are you waiting for? Life is too precious to live without magic anymore. Why don’t you step outside into the summer and see how the snow can fall on you forever? It’s only a matter of Time.’ I never actually showed this song to him, but singing the lyrics many times over, it became embedded for me as a permanent reminder, playing in my mind at different moments when similar conversations or situations arise. Some things are out of our hands, and sometimes life is very overwhelming and heavy, with our only task to survive. Sometimes we don’t have the luxury to live exactly as we would love to, and sometimes we find ourselves dreaming of a future we hope to find someday. Life looks different for everyone on earth, and it looks different at various moments. Let’s remember that always, let’s look at our own time differently, to realize how lucky we are to hold it in our hands like elastic magic. If we have the ability to slow things down, to reflect and ask questions, to find our quiet place and pause, then we are very blessed in that regard. Let’s honor these blessings with each new day, and always check to make sure we are at peace and accepting of the day we’ve had, that we would write our name on it with pride, whether it was tough or smooth. A new day, a whole day, what a gift that is. <3

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Thank you all for sharing in this Leap Day reflection with me. Please share any comments, journaling, ideas, anything this post reminded you of or that you would like to share or talk about. Thank you so very much. <3