Best Holiday Letter Message of 2012

I always consider myself fortunate to be on Kevin Kelly's (www.kk.org) annual holiday letter.  This year the family letter came with Kevin's journal/photos of his 1976 Himalayan Journey.  So cool.  But cooler was inside of his letter when he brought forth a close out of 2012 and look forward to 2013 message.

Thank you Kevin for your continued inspiration and friendship!

"We tend to think - and are often taught - that we determine our lives. We do, but only partly. Much is given us. Seeing how much of my father runs through me - and me through my children - throws a shadow on my compass. Not all directions are open. That means we can't be great in many things. But we can get better in everything. Life is about improvement, not perfection, and it is always measured from where you begin. It took me 60 years to figure out, but I am mostly what has come before me. I am mostly my parents, my friends, my society, my species. The truly original part of me is no bigger than my eyelash. So with all my eyelash I wish you a great coming year."

Here was his closing message from 2011 as well :

"Every song, odd costume, food dish, or bit of artwork is another data point in our collective definition of what it means to be human.  As we continue to expand the ways we live through technology and geography, we expand our definition of who we are. When a human somewhere on earth does something amazing, something we never imagined anyone could do (see YouTube), that shifts the definition of all of us. So in order to fully understand ourselves, we have to understand the greater circle of human achievements. Thus we owe it to ourselves to explore full diversity of culture, because it enlightens us individually.  We cannot fully understand ourselves without understanding the outer limits of who we could be. That variety of potential (for good and bad) is far greater than we usually think. Which suggests we should re-conceive of ourselves as more capable of amazement than we usually think. We need others - their fullest variety - to tell us who we are."