Happy New Year: Hope, Honey and the Humble Bee 🐝🍎🍯❤️

I’m no scientist, but a thought came to me today about honey and the humble bee.

On Friday night, as the Jewish New Year begins, Jews around the world will dip an ordinary apple into honey and wish for a sweet New Year.

It is such a simple tradition. Take something completely ordinary and add just a drop of sweetness.

Perhaps there is a message in that for those of us living with PSP.

I’m not going to pretend PSP is anything other than terrible. It can take away independence, movement, communication, and so much of the life we once took for granted. It impacts all those around us too.

Honey doesn’t change the apple. And hope doesn’t change the reality of PSP.

But both can add a little sweetness.

A kinder morning. A moment of laughter. A successful attempt to communicate. A little independence preserved. A loved one’s patience. A small achievement. A reason to keep going.

Drops of honey. 🍯

They don’t cure anything. They don’t make a terrible situation wonderful. But sometimes a drop of sweetness can make a difficult day a slightly better one. Sometimes that is enough.

And then I thought about the humble bee. 🐝

What an extraordinary little creature. Small, ordinary-looking, and easily overlooked, yet it helps pollinate the world around us and plays its part in producing something wonderfully sweet.

And it has a bit of attitude.

I know that personally, having once ended up in hospital after an encounter with one!

Perhaps there is something in that for us too.

We may live increasingly restricted lives with PSP, but that doesn’t mean our lives cannot still have purpose, meaning, contribution, and a little attitude.

This New Year, I hope, please G-d, to lead my community in prayer—something I wasn’t sure I would be able to do again. It is a goal I set myself, and simply attempting it reminds me that purpose can survive even when so much else changes.

Our purpose will be different for each of us. It doesn’t have to be dramatic. Sometimes maintaining a little independence, communicating with someone we love, making somebody smile, or simply getting through another difficult day with dignity is achievement enough.

And for a loved one or family member, perhaps the drop of honey is finding the strength to keep offering love and care to someone who desperately needs it. That person may be changing from the person you once knew. They may no longer be able to show you what they feel in the same way. But inside, they may be desperately trying to tell you just how much they love you.

So this is my New Year wish to everyone touched by PSP, whether you live with it, love someone with it, or care for someone with it.

Whatever your faith, religion, race, or creed, I will be carrying all of you with me in my prayers this Jewish New Year.

May we each find a drop of sweetness when life is bitter, purpose when life becomes smaller, hope when things seem dark, and perhaps just a little of the humble bee’s attitude.

🍎 A little apple.

🍯 A drop of honey.

🐝 A bit of attitude.

❤️ And plenty of hope.

Wishing you all a sweet(er) New Year.