Slowly the snow is falling upon Edmonton, soft and fluffy. It covers all of our greyness in white. On windows of homes, the frost is drawing ornaments with iridescent gray and silver. When the snow is falling, when looking into the skies, sometimes it becomes hard to understand whether the snowflakes are coming down, or you yourself are flying up. Snowflakes are small touches of the heavens. Winter was created in a white background so that we may begin our lives anew.

With the arrival of winter comes the most wonderful holiday season of the year. On those days, goodness is coming down from heaven, and light is shining in the darkness. Each person is celebrating those days in their own way, but one thing unites us all: the faith in miracles, hope, and magic. At this time of the year, the heart of each one of us is filled with the anticipation of miracles. 

Once on Christmas night, we were sitting around the table in the kitchen and drinking tea. My mom asked me, “What is your dream?” I said, “I would like to become a teacher and a writer.” My mom replied, “If you have a dream, hold it strongly to yourself and never let it go. Then your dream will turn into reality.” 

Christmas is a time of forgetting about yourself and thinking about others. It is a day of joy, kindness, and reconciliation. On this day, we might ask for unusual gifts, such as some kindness, a bit of good health, a jug of joy, or a pack of happiness. Christmas is an invisible string that ties together our hearts. Christmas is a day when all families are gathering together around one table. It is a holiday in which Santa is bringing gifts and laying them underneath the Christmas tree. It is a day when candles are burning without sound, but are simply giving themselves to the people. Christmas for children is a trip to a miraculous country, and for adults, it is new plans and new hopes for the future. 

Following Christmas comes the wonderful holiday of New Years. Every new year in a person’s life is fragile and unique, like the pattern of a snowflake, leaving great moments as well as shortcomings in memories of the past. Every new year in my life is the best gift from God. When the new year arrives, there opens a new book with 365 blank pages, and I always ask the question, “What would be written in them?” I would like to fill them with good deeds. Each day I would like to share at least a small bit of warmth with those who truly feel cold and lonely. 

I have always believed that we should not complain about the cold surrounding us if we haven’t put a bit of warmth into this world ourselves. This holiday season will be fairly difficult for many, but I have hope that things will get better in the new year. At the moment, the world is facing many issues. Living in peace is the most important thing in the world.

Like many people, I have made goals for the upcoming year. I am planning to write my third book, continue writing articles and publishing them in Academia.edu as well as the Rat Creek Press, and read more books than I have read this past year. 

In this holiday season, I wish that this year may easily enter the lives of each of us and give a sea of positivity, vitality, inspiration, love, creativity, and stability. And most important of all, health. Since without health, none of our goals or aspirations will manifest in the new year.