And finally…Card #52 of my 52 Cards Project! The theme for this last week of the year is Celebrate. And yes, like my whacky lizard, I am celebrating—both the new year (although most likely I’ll be ringing in the new year on the couch in my pajamas) and the end of this project.

As made this card, I wondered. What do we celebrate on New Year’s Eve? Are we celebrating the end of one year or are we celebrating the beginning of the next one?

And the question holds for this project too. Am I celebrating the finish line of a year-long endeavor or am I celebrating the starting gate of the next creative adventure?

On the one hand, there is this sense of relief at the end. Finally, this year is over. Finally, this project is over. I don’t know about you, but it seems like every year people always moan about how bad the past year had been and how the calendar can’t change fast enough. And, also true, I look forward to ending the creative struggle wrapped into the process of this project.

And yet.

What finish line are we celebrating?

The end of bad, ugly and truly terrible conditions on earth? Unfortunately, no.

The end of the creative struggle for this project? Again, no. As long as I keep creating (and I always will!) struggle will be part of the process to some extent.

But there was even more joy and and surprise! You can’t have one without the other—joy and pain—and I believe this is as true for life as it is for art.

No, what we are truly celebrating is that we each had the gift of Life this year

Another year to breathe and move in the world…to connect and love others…to break and fill our hearts. The joy and surprise—and heartache. All of it! And yes, I created 52 cards to capture some element of all of those weeks. What a gift to myself!

Do we also celebrate the gleaming possibilities of the new year? Or new art projects that gleam just as brightly?

Hell yes! I can’t wait to launch into the new year and into new art projects.

But right now my lizard and I are celebrating the supreme privilege and honor to live this year—with confetti falling with possibilities for the new year.

Cheers!

P.S. I’ll be back next time with a full wrap up of my 52 Cards Project—what it meant to me and plans going forward. But until then, party on!

Even if you’re in your pajamas.