Everything has a way of changing around the Holidays. The plans and schemes of men are given over to the twisted whims of family, friends and obligations. This is the way of things. Neither bad nor always good, in the end it is what it is. We endure.
Beyond endurance however, lies a land of peace and harmony. I've never seen it, but the stories persist. The idea that some truth lies at the heart of those tales is what keeps us going. The tantalizing thread of hope that one day we might just stumble upon such a place.
In so many aspects of my own life, I have found that land. After tribulation, trial, effort, failure and more lawyers than... well, best to leave that for another day. The point is this, I have tasted of that land my friends. At various points I've lived in its suburbs, glimpsed its white towers and smelled the wafting breeze of its glorious foodstuffs.
And this Holiday season, in the context of Eve or outside of it, I have one fervent holiday wish to share. It is my sincere desire that each of you, the carebears, the pilots, the wormholers, the hi-sec gankers, the mission runners, the transporters, the miners, the scammers, the Corp CEOs, the folks at CCP, everyone, each and every, have a chance to taste, to feel, to live - even for a moment - in the fabled land of peace, joy and harmony.
The book that is Eve is closed until next week. I'll be spending my time on-line with friends and family until then. And I won't pod a single one of them, I promise.
Next week we'll spend some time looking back over the past year, at some of the best and worst that 2011 brought us. Until then, whatever your personal beliefs might be, my sincere and heart-felt best wishes for you and yours.
Keep the courage.