Tom Sweitzer and Kim Tapper are the magical duo of A Place To Be in Middleburg and both have been friends for years. Late this summer over dinner, they asked me to join their board of directors and with no surprise, I enthusiastically said, "yes!"

I did so because our friendship, in part, has been born out of our deep mutual understanding of the power of creativity. This is not just the power of ideas, the power of visual communication or the power of expression in play here. It is just as importantly about the power of creative teaching, creative learning and certainly the most important of all, the power of creative healing.

I've always said and felt strongly that creativity is the ultimate freedom and while it can be suppressed externally, by law, aggression, opinion or even poor educational choices, it certainly lives on in every mind. Don't ever think you don't have a creative side, you do. As an artist I've been offered that challenge many times from those who think they are not creative and I've opened everyone of them up to an enlightened understanding of themselves. We all can be creative and to Tom and Kim's point, most certainly even those labeled as disabled. In fact music therapy, A Place To Be's specialty, is scientifically proven to work, which is likely why I feel so good when I see these kids sing!

The greatest thing that comes from this understanding though and spending time with those at A Place To Be, is knowing how able the disabled really are. It also allows you to take stock of yourself, your own health and blessings and perhaps this is a good time of year to do so. What those with challenges can teach us about how we live our lives, is not only an amazing holiday gift, it's an amazing life gift. So this year, if your ho, ho, ho, has become ho, ho, hum, load yourself up with those good old day to day problems and then call A Place To Be. Ask to volunteer for one hour there and watch how small your problems will have become and how big your heart feels. Everyone thinks A Place to Be is just for people with disabilities, when in reality, it's a place for everyone, especially those of us so called normal people. A Place To Be is a pretty good place to reboot the reality of ourselves. You'll find that the challenged at A Place To Be are the real teachers and most of us could use the things they can teach us at one point or another throughout the year. So, do you want to really feel blessed and relieved of stress?

Want to make that New Year's resolution look 100% obtainable? Want to give thanks this year for the goodness in your life? Spend an hour at A Place To Be and you'll think you were shot out of the cannon of goodness. Here, I'll make it easy for you, just call 540-687-6740 and tell them Santa's artistic helper sent you!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Tom