Happy new start and new year 2026

I’ve learnt a lot this year.

I’ve learnt to let go of things that are broken, especially if it makes you sad to see the broken pieces.

I was burning a candle recently and at the end of the burn, I saw the crystal candle holder had splintered.

Yes some might say to keep it, fix it, but if it’s broken, it could splinter, shatter or worse and potentially hurt me. So why would I keep it if it’s dangerous? What if my grandson wanted to use it and it hurt him?

Anything broken can be hazardous. I worked in pharmacy for two decades, learning broken absolutely means danger.

Besides, what about all those reels of gluing a glass back together, it’s never quite the same. Liquid leaks out and remembers the quickest route to escape is through a hole.

And it would make me just a little sad every time I saw the splinter and remembered it was broken.

On the flip side, I have a vase, it’s gorgeous, glass and pink and silver sparkly and was a decor atop my bookshelf for years until it became a useful apparition in my new home as a utensil holder.

I never really did anything with it on the bookshelf, it was an expensive decoration that sat untouched, unloved, unused. Now I have been putting cookware in and out of it, and at some point I noticed it too was broken. Two huge cracks spiralling around the delicate glass. I don’t know if it was broken purposefully in my old house where emotions ran high or my home now where it was too delicate to use for such technical purposes. Either way, it’s broken but I keep it. Because this broken vase is a reminder, it’s a different type of broken from the candle holder.

It’s a reminder that if I want nice things, I have to use them and take care of them because a nice thing set atop a bookshelf where it’s neglected can just as easily be shattered.

So too, setting something under a bell jar to protect it from withering does not protect its integrity in one bit, only care and attention can protect things- or people, for that matter- that we love.

Happy new year friends,

Norma Rrae