The measure of a year

I am in the final throes of editing a collection of erotica. The collection consists of twelve stories, one for each month of the year. This afternoon I asked the writer of this collection what he saw as his vision for it, its reason for being. I have no doubt that he is pondering that question as I write this. Tonight, as we prepare to put to bed an old year and wake up to a new one, I am poised on the edge of a question: "what is the measure of a good year?" Here is my assessment. Life is built not of increments of time, of numbered squares on a calendar, but of experiences. There is a quote that hangs in my mind tonight, not unlike the crystal ball poised in Times Square. Paraphrased and unattributed as it may be, it goes something like this: "Life is not measured by the moments of breath you take, but by the moments that take your breath away." It occurs to me that a year of breathtaking sexual experience may, for some, be no worse a measure of a year than any other. We can assess our fulfillment, our impact, our grand accomplishments, but in the end it is our experience, the lives we touch of our own accord, and those that touch ours, take our breath away, that form our personal experience. After all, it is difficult to assess our overall impact on the world one meager year at a time. All we can ascertain, or contemplate, is whether we are on the right track. We can measure against benchmarks, and beat ourselves up when we inevitably fall short. And we will always fall short. If we did not, we would have little impetus to try harder next year.

So I propose stepping back from the big picture and looking inward, at the moments that have defined us, or inspired us, or made us feel something new, physically or emotionally, or even sexually. The brush of an unexpected kiss, the quickened pace of a heartbeat in reaction to the right words, the brimming of tears at a moment when one least expects it. A poem that speaks to one's spirit, or art that captures one's imagination. A friendship that fills one's soul and leaves one utterly aching. A liaison that inspires and soothes. Moments of possibility that truly take one's breath away.

My year has been rich with these moments. Perhaps all years have, and perhaps this is simply the first year I have been awake enough to notice. What are the moments that have stolen your breath, or ignited your imagination? My hope is that there have been many, and that the new year will be filled with many, many more.