Last month, I had the pleasure of taking my friend Carey to see my favorite film, Frank Capra's 1946 classic "It's a Wonderful Life"-a film that, astonishingly, he had never seen.

For those who may have avoided all television and media for the past 75 years, "It's a Wonderful Life" tells the story of George Bailey, an average small-town fellow who reaches middle age without accomplishing a single goal he set for himself when young. His dreams thwarted by family obligations, financial hardships, and simple bad luck, he finds himself facing ruin and possible arrest on Christmas Eve. Embittered, hopeless, and at the end of his rope, he decides to commit suicide-only to be stopped by a bumbling guardian angel who gives him a great gift: the chance to see what the world would be like if he had never been born. What follows is something of a nightmare sequence. George sees how his absence would have profoundly altered the lives of his family members and friends as well as the lives of others they, in turn, impacted. As the angel points out, "Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he's not around, it leaves an awful hole."

After the movie ended, as Carey and I sat wiping away tears, I contemplated how the angel's words resonated with a Greek proverb my friend Dr. Bill Austin recently shared with me: "Your heart is wax, and people make an indention in it that never goes away."

The start of a new year is an ideal time to contemplate those whose lives have touched our own-those whose words, deeds, and, perhaps most importantly, character have made enduring indentations on our hearts. As much as we may cherish individualism, the value of self-sufficiency, the virtue of hard work, and the idea of self-made people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, the simple fact is that each of our lives is intricately intertwined with other lives. Indeed, a genuinely solitary soul unconnected to anyone else would be the quintessential tragic figure.

It's understandable that each of us, at times, should want to escape others and be free of obligations, commitments, and social restraints. It's not always comfortable having one's life touching so many other lives. Often the indentations that others make in our waxen hearts can, on initial impact, feel like heartbreaks. But as time passes and the living of life continues, we may realize that our hearts are much more pliable than we once supposed. The Greeks were wise in choosing wax as a metaphor for the human heart. Wax doesn't break; it gently gives under pressure and is reshaped into something new.

Let us begin this new year appreciative of those who have made indentations in our hearts and mindful of the impressions we make in the hearts of others. May this understanding help us to greet whatever challenges the year may hold with a sense of awe, connection, and fearless grace.

Rob Lauer is an award-winning, nationally-produced and published playwright with over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. His national credits include production work for MGA Films, Time/Warner TV, The Learning Channel and The History Channel. Locally, Rob has been producing, directing and hosting three TV series for PCTV (the City of Portsmouth’s official channel) since 2011.