Marking time by the year
Celebrating a moment to set our intentions for justice, peace, and love.
Dear friends:
It’s certainly been a year. And now, those of us in cultures that use January first as the start of the new year, turn the calendar page and look for a blank slate, a fresh start.
Of course, a completely blank slate is impossible. And of course, it is always possible. Every year, every day, every moment both builds on the one that came before, and changes everything.
Time’s signal quality is that it always moves. Mostly forward. We use art and memory, meditation and dreams, to play with time, and our experiences can feel like time travel. Walking into a childhood home after years away, one can fall into childhood emotions and behaviors. Gazing at the face of a child, one can receive a sudden flash of the future, an image of that child as an adult looking back at us.
Mythologies are replete with stories of humans trying to control time: go back to save a beloved, go forward to escape the now. These stories nearly always end badly; their lessons perhaps intended to convince us to accept the essential wildness of time and our inability to bend it to our will.
We humans do, however, invest a lot of energy in marking time. Calendars and clocks give structure to our tasks and rituals. They tell us when to show up at work and when to take holidays; when to declare we are older; when to vote for those who want to lead us, and how long they get to stay in office if they win. And when to pause, reflect, and take a deep breath before starting the next year, day, or moment.
If the past year brought you suffering and heartache, may you receive the grace to grieve with loving support. If the past year brought you joy and prosperity, may you receive the grace to share your bounty.
As we raise our glasses to the end of one cluster of three-hundred and sixty five days, and the start of the next, let us celebrate this beautiful moment: our opportunity to turn toward the good of all, to turn away from destructive selfishness and greed, to step forward onto a fresh path, to stick sure-footedly to the course of justice, inclusion, and peace.
A very happy new year to all: may it be filled with love.
Liz