Monday, December 31, 2012

Old Moon, New Adventures In Being Human

The Full Cold Moon on Dec 28th
It's new year's eve and the light is just beginning to drain from the day.  A small deer stands in the meadow down by the pond. He stares strangely toward the house of a neighbour that hunts his kind. It's a strange behaviour that I've witnessed often on our property.  Can he sense something?  What catches his attention? Am I imagining this? Or are the roosters just making noise? I really can't know, in a definitive way.

His small gesture reminds me that this year I have come to more deeply appreciate that this world is alive with energy that I cannot see, pulsing with sounds I can't hear and filled with things I cannot understand with my linear mind. In short this year has convinced me that world is a magical place, full of mystery. It is a blend of simplicity and complexity that defies wrapping it up neatly in a ball.  It is what makes life truly tantalizing.



I have learned that to live in this world with some grace it is important to be able to hold opposing thoughts in my mind. While I have learned that I am not in control of what happens, I have also learned that there is power in my intentions.  So while I can relax and not push so hard for what I "want" to happen, I can also hold the good and beautiful in my mind in an unattached way. Maybe it sounds confusing when I try to reduce it to mere words, but when I can actually live this way it is strong and powerful.

I think I was born knowing that nothing is ever wasted if you learn something from it, but this year I've bumped up against this one in ways that have left me bruised and scraped and deeply humbled. I'm not at all as nice as I hoped I was.  Perhaps I need to get a dog so I can see myself through her eyes, but alas I am a cat person.  I've learned that anger can bubble up like a mad cauldron and that it can be hard to keep from getting burnt and burning others with it's fire.  And sometimes you just need to see those glowing embers to really get it. I've learned how tangled up with expectation, attachment, hurt and self protection, anger can be.



I've learned that so much hinges on gratitude and intention.  I've learned that I need to remind myself of that everyday, that I have the choice, to lift 5 lbs of gratitude each morning or let the muscle atrophy out of neglect. I've learned how these feelings inspire the beauty of the day to smile back at me.

And I hope I've learned a smidge about kindness and compassion. I hope that sometimes when people say or do something that seems unkind that I recall my own less than stellar behaviour and am reminded that we are all riding in the same leaky little boat.

And I have learned that sometimes I have more choices than I think, that I can find a creative solution when I think I feel like I'm backed into a corner. I like to think I have learned just a little more this year how to follow that still, small voice inside.

moon through rain on the window


So I would just like to say thank-you to 2012 for being such a rich year, full of learning and magic and beauty, peppered with the inevitable sadness that comes from living a life here on earth.

I wish you all a new year of great joy and health, filled with all the beauty this world has to offer (and a few excellent adventures). May you venture out past your comfortable boundaries, may you have some deeply satisfying conversations, may you enjoy the warmth of interesting humans and animals. May the sun of 2013 warm your bones and the breezes blow sweetly through your hair. May you be fully alive. These are my wishes for you as you step with gusto into another new year.


18 comments:

  1. These voiced thoughts resonated with me also. 65 this year and still lots to grow into...need to smile more...not wear my heart on my sleeve...be kinder to self and others. My oft used "have no expectations" is a very hard one to live up to.
    Happy New Year, Carole...(nice photos.)

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  2. so nice to be traveling this road together, Bernard! Just talking tonight about how to make our intentions more real in our lives! that is the aspiration for 2013! Many happy and fruitful days to you!

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  3. Wow - Gorgeous full moon photos! And - you've had a full year! - living the aliveness of life, living with paradox, and gaining so many wonderful insights listening to the voice of intuition! May your life continue to unfold abundantly, and may all your intentions come true!

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    1. Thanks, Christine! Several weeks ago I felt exhausted but just following that voice to rest has reinvigorated me. Many bows to you for your fine company along the path.

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  4. Simply beautiful and so well put. Thank you.

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  5. Thank you for a lovely New Year message. I read it earlier and came back to read it again. Happy New Year to you Carole!

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    1. thanks for your thoughtful presence and your new year's wish! it is exciting for us "wet" coasters to see the sun today on the first day of the year.

      Bet the sun is shining in your backyard!

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  6. "May you be fully alive."

    What a beautiful and wise wish. It is what we can strive for; to be aware and to pay attention with gratitude.

    All the best to you Carole in 2013. I thank you for the "deeply satisfying conversations" that you offer us here at your blog.

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  7. Hi Leslie, thanks for your kind wishes too and for engaging in the conversation! your wise, creative self is deeply appreciated!

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  8. as always, a thought provoking post - the photos are gorgeous, thank you!!

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  9. Thanks, Jeane! Going downstairs to check out my walnut oil and pigments right now! Hope you are enjoying these cool, clear days!

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  10. Beautiful, Carole! and thank you so much for your humble, honest sharing. I am in your boat as well . . . Anger is such a teacher! and a persistent one :) I have also learned that loving kindness, just like gratitude as you mention, is to be cultivated every day, or else the heart closes.

    May you be at peace, may you be at ease, may you find inner happiness during this new year!

    _/|\_

    marguerite

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  11. Hello Marguerite, so nice to see you here! I agree about the surprising persistence of anger! Thank-you for the kind wishes as we plunge into this wonderful new year.

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  12. Oh this last paragraph of good wishes is so wonderful...thank you! Happy New Year!

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    1. you're welcome and hope it is off to a swimming start for you. Must drop by for a visit too!

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