Here we are in the time of year that for our culture is filled with the rituals and habits. You may be considering some resolutions to help guide your way through the routine months ahead, and you may be reflecting on the year that has passed. The push to reflect, the urge to re-invigorate are powerful, and rather than fight it or deconstruct it, go with it. Use this energy and focus to your advantage.
Are you judging yourself on this past year’s performance. Let that go. Are you writing lists and setting goals and ‘pushing the envelope’ of what is available to you? Do you maybe have a (or more than one) spreadsheets on the go to track and align and leverage and synergise?
I empathise. I really do. It is all too easy to get swept up into the brighter, better, stronger, fitter, slimmer, smarter future the new year is promising. This confusing push is impossible to ignore as it permeates our popular culture and spins around us until we’re dizzy.
Should I be putting my attention on earning more? Should I be able to find time for yoga, as well as seeing my friends? The finite 52 weeks of the calendar year spread out in front of us and we can’t help but hold expectations of what they might bring. What treasures we’ll unearth in them, how we will master the flow of the year and return to this position in 364 days triumphant! Sound the clarions!
It doesn’t work that way, does it?
Let us be honest here, we are among friends. Life brings things we do not expect. It rolls along and we gasp and grasp as we can at what passes by or comes within reach. We steer our way, not from the front, but from facing backwards and watching all in a small and distorted mirror. Rejoice in this knowledge and free yourself from the pressure of perfection.
Rituals, when they lose their relevance, become routine. Routine breeds habit. Habit is the solace of the domesticated. Your soul remains wild. Let your soul dance with the wheel of fortune this year. As the tempo and rhythm change, so can your steps and your attention. Howl a little at the moon when she calls to you, for in your soul is a part of the universe that is untamed, that remains wild, that sings of passion and freedom. This year we will find that part of ourselves, and love it, and let it light our way no matter where our path takes us.
So as you navigate the resolutions and the parties and the remorse and the routine, look for the hub around which your own wheel turns. Your center, your simple truth. What is important to you? Be honest here. This is your fortune, your personal treasure. What few things are essential to your life? Everything else will turn around them.
Next week we’ll talk more about finding your center, honesty and the wheel of life.
(Thank you to everyone who contributed topics and questions for 2015 – what an eclectic and intriguing mix of challenges are in there. We will find a way to talk about all of them.)
Image credit: i Gatti tarot deck