The back end of vacation time, resolutions, and life as we know it (or wish it)
A dear friend suggested that I do a year end wrap up (oops, I’m late) or better yet a message for the new year.
What can I say?
Spending the last 10 days sunning and funning, eating too much, napping, reading and doing very little writing has been a sheer delight. Thanks to my apartment in the sky above the sea which I so often gloat about.
Trust me, you would, too.
My slice of paradise is on borrowed time but I can assure you that I’m enjoying every ticking minute. So, what does this having to do with the brazen year ‘09?
Brazen. You gotta love that word.
That’s what I see ahead. Living deliberately. Out loud. With vitality like never before.
Why not?
The news is depressing. We’re all holding our breaths each day we get to spend in our offices. We see well groomed girls begging for money at busy intersections. We listen to the infinite noise about the Middle East. We watch gas prices go up. We watch them go down. We see waste all around us.
What do we have, but now?
Living in the moment has been a slogan bandied about for quite some time. Zen masters may have been early advocates yet present time calls for this prescription more than ever.
So, in addition to the personal and more specific goals I’ve mapped out for 2009, many which I’m sure grace your lists, I am choosing not to simply live in the moment but to revel in each and every one.
No more self-pity. No more blame. No more over-judging every iota of life.
Celebrating life. How ever cliche that may sound, and it does, I feel like there is no alternative.
Then comes the sharing of the celebration. With friends. With family. With those less fortunate. And, with that one who stands beside me.
The celebrating needs to be a happy infection. It must proliferate and resist every strain of antibiotic known to man.
Permanent. No turning back.
And, inside of the celebration, we must remember to feel our feelings. Are you going into diabetic shock yet? Don’t mock, take heed. It may also sound trite, but trite it is not. In fact, feeling our feelings is something that modern man (and woman) spend a lot of time avoiding, medicating, denying or just plain ignoring.
Trust me on this. A little feeling goes a long way.
Try it.
It’s what put Chicken Soup for the Soul books on the map. A safe haven was brilliantly erected for just that reason. People didn’t know that’s what was happening to them. It was a blessing they may still not fully understand.
Stand up and cheer. Run wildly through the streets. Hug someone unexpectedly. Sob like crazy at a movie. Sob like crazy not at a movie.
Most of all, laugh.
It’s a fleeting moment, this life, and taking it too seriously can be hazardous for your health.
Laugh more.
Love will indeed chase you.
That’s my wish for me and for you.
Happy New Year people!
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Ms Kim – it may seem corny but so true and I’m with ya!
Smile at people
Wish everybody well
Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive.
and dance like no one is looking.
Hope we do that reunion w/ Bob this year.
Happy New Year – Pete
Hooray and Happy New Year. I am all for celebration and reveling (great word)in the moment. As for feeling our feelings, I just published a poetry book that is all about Feeling My Way. And for sure let’s take it easy on ourselves and banish once and for all our inner critic with her pot-luck portions of mostly nasty nothings. Sounds like a plan. Now the trick is to remain true and accountable.
My new year’s day ponderings came at the same question of what to do with all the depressing news. The ponderings turned into a poem. Here goes…
what’s so new
about a new year
so much hoopla
and hype as we watch
the clock handily tell us
with one final sweep
that all is forgiven
forgotten or reformed somehow
in this brand new moment
like the arbitrary
crossroads where one country
becomes another
so much hope crammed
into an instant
as we resolve that this
is our year our
time our moment
for redemption perhaps
or reinvention
or simply for letting go
letting up or moving on
updown the road
but on the continuum of life
the twists and turns
are more arbitrary and
less predictable by far
and opportunities
for releasing old habits
and over-worked beliefs
are instantaneously available
as are attitude adjustments
and lucky chances
so what’s so new
about this new year
is that I get it
now
get the idea
that any punctuation
point can puncture
and deflate the worst
as we let bygones be bygones
as we choose to erase
the disgrace and disillusionment
that has sullied this past year
and embrace
each other
with hope in our hearts
and possibilities on our minds
≈ from the heart, mind, and pen of Minx Boren
author of Feeling My Way – 99 Poetic Journeys
© 2008 Minx Boren – All rights reserved.