Yes. Onward. (To Tell the Business Stories about Sustainability. To Do Something that Endures, Like Ed. To Cause a Ripple, Like Betty.) UPDATED 1/3/12

In the early freshness of the first few hours of a brand new year, I realize there is no blank slate of January this year:

* Every patch of dirt pulses with something growing in it, the winter abnormally mild here in metro Atlanta so far. 

* My year-old blog, Hot Off the Vine with Pattie Baker (for Cox Enterprise's Kudzu), which highlighted home trends and tips while encouraging support of local service companies, fell victim to a tough economy (see A Look Back, Leaning Green, and Goodbye), but the creation of a Vision Board for my life and career (a fun exercise, if you haven't done this yet) has snapped my next steps into focus--a total concentration on telling business-related sustainability stories, starting with the relaunch of Sustainable Pattie on Tuesdays.

* Even the total destruction of my friend Ed's front-yard garden (which absolutely broke my heart to hear about, even though, fair is fair, Ed did sell the property--read the story here) a mile or two from the White House holds hope and promise.  The developer (Scott Zimmerman) has agreed to consult with Ed in adding organic garden beds as an amenity for the new condo owners (even though he has already destroyed all Ed's valuable topsoil). 

* And my very dear friend Betty Londergan, who two years ago today started a truly awe-inspiring blog where she gave away $100 a day and wrote about it (see this article about Betty in Whole Living magazine, including this beautiful photo), has a huge announcement coming any minute now (as in, today) that will change her life and the world.  And, in one small way to be announced at a future date, her actions will change mine. 

Maybe there never really was a blank slate of January. Maybe we never really start anew but rather just enjoy a brief moment where we step back and say, "Yes, onward."  And so, right now, today, as the sun rises yet again (as in this picture from a log cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains where I just was, yet again, with my husband and daughters, our arms full of passion projects), as we each attempt to bear witness, to make a mark that perhaps endures (like Ed's garden), or to cause a ripple in the big, fat, global pond (like Betty is about to do), I open the door to a new dawn's sun and I say those simple words in confirmation.  Yes.  Onward.

UPDATED: Betty is spending 2012 as a Global Blogging Ambassador for Heifer International.  Here is what she is doing, and where she is going.   And, um, yeah, I'm thinking of joining her on one or two legs.

Yes. Onward. (To Tell the Business Stories about Sustainability. To Do Something that Endures, Like Ed. To Cause a Ripple, Like Betty.) UPDATED 1/3/12