Pete's Dragon, A Movie that reminded me of us.

As Aleppo falls, and many of us who once considered ourselves brave run to higher ground; I sit here on this Northern winter night, full from Boston Pizza and wrapped in the magic of dragons and childhood memories. Looking out the window I see the hoar frost crusting the glazed road, and admire its beauty. Nestled in front of the fire place, a virtual strangers puppy wrapped in my arms, Petes' Dragon flies across the TV screen. I remember the dragons of my childhood, and the dragons of my adult life, and know how hard it is to say goodbye to adolescence, and to imaginary friends.

I know for many of us that are paying attention life has been a bit scary lately. Some of us are feeling stressed, some of us are feeling angry, and some of us are just feeling a bit disappointed. Can I say that this is OK. Because truly it is OK, and you are not alone. The world will turn for one more day, no matter what, and change and loss are not always easy. This I know. Do you know what else I know? I know how to keep putting one foot in front of the other and find a solution for the little things, and eventually if we put enough of these together once again, everything will be alright.

So many people in my life have taught me this skill, leading by example, so let us keep doing this. Some days it is OK to just keep on keeping on. If that is all we can do, that is what we will do until we can once again breathe easy. And this also, is OK.

Tonight as I watched this wonderful story about a young boy who lived in the forest for six years with the help of his trusty steed, not a horse but a dragon, I did not find a solution to all of the problems that are engulfing our world today. What did happen though was that I remembered that no matter how scary it might seem at times or how alone we might feel, we truly are never ever alone. Not in our neighbourhood, not in our towns, not in this world, and maybe not even in this Universe.

When Pete says to Elliot, "Please don't hurt them Elliot, I need them." ,it reminded me of the vulnerability that we often feel as people, not children, but people, young and old, and how often in our bravado we hide this vulnerability. When someone hurts us, or takes something from us that they should not have, for whatever reason, we need to remember that someone hurt them, and maybe they did not have the tools to heal. We all have a story and one that we need to all be a part of, whether we like it or not, we need each other.

Some of us were raised in the forest by wolves, and some maybe by dragons. As Trump ramps up the American Nukes, and blood is being spilled in countries and cities that we can not even pronounce, remember what your favourite thing to do was when you were a kid, and go do it tomorrow, and if you can't find a friend, invite a stranger, and if there are none around, invite your imaginary friend.

Tonight when I go to bed, I am going to dream of sitting in my father's lap as he turned the pages on the book he had bought me about the gnomes that lived in the forest, and maybe if he is lucky I might invite him to go for a walk with me.

Thank you for David Lowery for creating that movie. I have made some promises along this souls journey and as I lay here cuddling that dog in my mind, the mantra rolled through my mind that has been there since the beginning of time,"Forever and Always". I meant it then and I will mean it always, my soul knows what I mean...Happy Holidays everyone...may the Universe bless us for one more day, one more turning of the season, one more breath. We are blessed, may we remember, forever and always, forever and always.