Feb. 13th, belatedly

Dear dear friends,

I was supposed to post yesterday but it didn't happen - apologies! 

This weekend has been, dare I say, one of the very best of my life. As most of you know by now - Micah and I got engaged last week. Wohoooooo! We made the big move while traveling in Costa Rica, and this weekend was our first opportunity to celebrate with our community of family and friends, new and old. It was profoundly moving to hear other people in our life reflect on our relationship, and share what our love has meant to them. The people closest to me have shown over time that they support our partnership by giving guidance and encouragement in various tough or confusing moments along the way, but it felt SO DAMN GOOD to share that we want to be together for the long haul and see that other people are as excited as we are about that. I said to Micah as we were heading to bed last night after many hours of partying that I am amazed at how whole and integrated everything feels, and especially at how whole and integrated I feel as we make this step. What huge and crazy blessing. And getting to reflect on this with all of you, here on our blog, is one more piece of that whole. 

This has been the least "February"ish February that I can remember. And that is not an accident. I felt drawn to bring this jolt of joy into February, to remember that we have the power to bring life and color and light into places of death and grayness and darkness. To witness what happens when we layer these things on top of one another, and feel into and admire the pattern it creates when the two co-exist and bring each other meaning. To bring warmth and heat into the coldest part of the year and feel in our bones what a difference it makes. It feels good to change the (my) February story, and to sprinkle into the mix the profound joy and and giddiness and gratitude I feel at having found and committed to the love of my life. I have a feeling I may dread February just a little less from now on. 

I am pretttty delirious as I write this, after many short nights and long days and a house overflowing with guests since we stepped off the plane. So not sure if anything I just wrote will really make sense, and it is the tip of the iceberg of what I'm feeling right now, but to write about anything else would have felt silly. So, this is what I've got today.

I'll leave you with a short Hafiz poem that Micah shared during davening this weekend.

I rarely let the word “No” escape 

From my mouth

Because it is plain to my soul 

That God has shouted “Yes! Yes! Yes!” 

To every luminous movement in existence.

Big, huge, ever-growing love,

Nomi