Celebrating milestones in life (and creating rituals that sustain you)
Part one
Welcome to the New Year 2015!
I am fascinated on how we (society, culturally) created this whole New Year thing, and how it managed to land on January 1, the middle of the winter. How odd is it that we make resolutions about the time to come, how we are going to change stuff, do healthier things, make more money. How is that going to happen, really? Isn’t this just an extension of the things we have already done, over and over and over? How is this really a clean slate and time to start new and fresh?
I feel like to Dec 21, the longest night of the year, when the days start getting longer, as more of a time to celebrate the optimism of a new cycle coming. I also feel that admitting that, yes, this is a DARK time in the cycle of me life, and, how am I living these dark days?
Dark days are inward days, time to reflect. In the way back days of farming and living off the land, the dark days were about storing seed for the upcoming spring, repairing and making new tools and clothing. Telling stories, tending to the farm animals during the cold, freezing days. (yes I am a northern girl, probably have been for lots of lifetimes)
The first part of my winter celebration/ritual is to be thankful for what I have experience in the previous year, what I learned, what I created, and the people I loved. Included in this part of my musings is: what do I have stored away? What is my fiscal picture? (yes, it’s also called closing the “books” and getting ready for tax time.)
It’s only after the first part of these “musings” that I begin to plan, or project into the upcoming spring, when the light returns and I can “see” my way around a bit better. I build on what I know. Was my health declining? What are steps I need and want to take? Is the fiscal picture not up to par? What’s up with that?
Then I muse what steps can I take, and need to take to support a better outcome for the year ahead. Each step needs to be considered realistically from every angle, mental, physical, emotional and spiritually. Using just my brain and brawn to will myself into a different outcome last for about a day.
Really: where is the river of my life flowing? How am I navigating the current? What vehicle am I traveling in? These are all good questions to ponder during a long dark night.
Creating from the tools you already have in hand is the first step to changing your end outcome. Sometimes changing your outcome is as simple as learning how to use the correct end of the hammer, or knowing which side of your car the gas cap is on.