New Year - 2014

I always try to write a nice little post for New Years, but honestly, this year, I kind of feel like this:

Ha! On one level, nothing really changes at all as one year ends and a new one begins. And the idea of setting resolutions for the new year is a nice gesture, but one that I'm a bit worn out on...it seems to have become a bit too cliche. It is definitely good to set goals, though. After all, if I didn't set goals, I would never get anything accomplished. However, setting them at the beginning of the year hasn't really been all that helpful for me. To achieve one's dreams, action and awareness really needs to be present each and every day...incorporated into our everyday routine.

I like the idea of a Sankalpa, as opposed to a resolution. Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning "will, purpose, or determination." In my opinion, that  is the formula for real success anyway. Success comes from setting an intention in regard to a desire or goal that one authentically wants to achieve. This year, I'm asking myself what is most important for me to focus on and accomplish. I'll write it out or create a picture or other reminder, and post it somewhere where I will see it every day. With effort, determination and focus, we can accomplish just about anything. Resolutions often fade away because we don't put in an effort on a day-to-day basis...or we resolve to do things that really aren't that dear to us at a deep level. Sometimes we also overwhelm ourselves with too many resolutions, which are not realistically achievable. 

This year, I just want to kick ass. I want to get closer to my goals than I did last year and stay focused on what is really important to me and what I really want to achieve; things that I hold close to my heart and soul. The new year also marks a good time to reflect back on the year, lessons learned, challenges faced, the good times, the bad times, holding gratitude for it all and then letting it go to start anew. A symbolic "death and rebirth." And this is a good thing to do all year...the cycle of death and rebirth is necessary and constant in our lives.

For 2014, focusing on just a few intentions, but doing so everyday, will hopefully help me to achieve some things before another year passes and time slips away, as it has a tendency to do. Also, as Buddhism teaches, I will try not to focus too much on the future or dwell too much in the past and remember the importance of the present moment. Things are constantly in flux and impermanent, and so all of our goals and dreams become an unknown dance, in which the journey is often just as important, if not more so, than the outcome or the expectations that we may hold. Setting goals is a necessary part of the path towards reaching our dreams and desires...but it is also important to be mindful of the journey itself and not just the end result. That is often where the lessons are and where the growth occurs. 

Finally, being the "quote whore" that I am, I cannot close a post on the new year without some quotes:

“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” ~Brad Paisley

 “For a new year to bring you something new, make a move, like a butterfly tearing its cocoon! Make a move!” ~Mehmet Murat Ildan

“The journey is the reward.” ~Steve Jobs

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” ~Henry Ford

Happy 2014 Everyone!!!!

Write your life

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” 

~ Benjamin Franklin

Reminder to myself - at least one action a day

Winter Solstice 2013

Winter Solstice (Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere): the event when the sun's direct rays hit the southernmost point on earth that they ever do (striking the Tropic of Capricorn). In other words, the northern hemisphere was tipped as far away from the Sun today as it gets. After this day, which is the shortest and darkest in the northern hemisphere, the direct rays of the sun begin traveling northward again toward the equator, at which time the spring equinox occurs. The sun's direct rays will then continue the northward journey until arriving at the northernmost point on earth, marking the summer solstice. All of this occurs because the earth sits on an axis that is tilted at about 23.5 degrees. This tilt is what gives us the seasons throughout the year. To me, it is fascinating and a reminder of how everything about earth, including its orientation to the sun and its tilt, has such a profound effect on all that takes place on this amazing planet. We are intricately impacted by this, but we often fail to think about it.  

 It is my belief that on some level, the human psyche is connected to all the cycles of our earth. Astronomical events and cycles have an impact on human nature and the human psyche. Not only are there astronomical events that make up the solstice, there are also many spiritual events associated with the solstice; rituals and celebrations, and I wish there were more. For me, winter is a time to reflect and look inward, to tap more into the spiritual level of my being. In contrast, I view summer as a time that is more focused on the physical. A lot of this ties back to what our ancestors have done for centuries, being so strongly interconnected to the seasons, to harvests, times of abundance and times of rest and restoration.

Below are some quotes about winter that I find quite lovely:

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
~ Anne Bradstreet

“Your path is illuminated by the light, yet darkness lets the stars shine bright.”
~ J.L.W. Brooks


“I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” 

~ Og Mandino




"The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory."
~ Gary Zukav

“Look round and round upon this bare bleak plain, and see even here, upon a winter's day, how beautiful the shadows are! Alas! it is the nature of their kind to be so. The loveliest things in life, Tom, are but shadows; and they come and go, and change and fade away, as rapidly as these!”
~ Charles Dickens 

“One kind word can warm three winter months.”
~ Japanese Proverb 

“People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.”
~ Anton Chekhov 

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”
~ Yoko Ono 

** Blessings **

Tea Tag - December 20th

Choices

...I  need to remind myself of this EVERY DAY

True Love

Some may argue that nothing is forever...and maybe nothing is, but that is a philosophical opinion. It is my belief that we are energy and energy never dies, it only transforms. That is also the way I see love. If it is true love, it survives all boundaries, even the one between life and death.

Falling

“The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. 

The good news is there’s no ground.” 

~Chögyam Trungpa