A few days ago I spent the evening with my girlfriends watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, Love Actually. No matter how many times I see it, my heart responds to its romantic sappiness and its poignant moments. I cheer for those who find love in the most impossible and ridiculous circumstances, Hollywood style, and cry for those who feel love’s heartache in ways that real people experience every day, but is somehow amplified at Christmas time.

A recurring theme in the movie is the idea that Christmas is the one opportunity you have each year to take a chance and express your love to someone who, despite your best efforts, or in some cases really lame efforts, may not know how you truly feel about them. For some reason this year I find myself mulling over the possibilities of what our Universe would be like, if all of us, in the spirit of the season, took a chance…