Felice Capodanno! Happy New Year! You’ve made it through the clear vision halls of 2020, through the awaited corridors of 2021, and depending on where you live… into the year 2022. I almost typed 3022, and to be honest, that doesn’t seem that far away anymore. We are definitely living in the future, as we always have.
Every end of year many of us contemplate our lives and what we want to see manifest in the year to come. We go over lessons learned, achievements, disappointments, fears, habits, and so on. Before 2020 rolled around, many of us were really looking forward to it; to the year 2020. It somehow meant that we would have clearer vision, maybe clearer messages and insights from the universe as to what we were to do; who we were to be. I maintain that 2020 was a very eye-opening year in that it showed us how we deal with global quarantines & lockdowns, and the adjustments that come with that. It brought the arts to the forefront as something that could be shared from balcony to balcony, from Rome to New York. Music connected us through the common thread of humanity, and helped us feel less alone.
2020 brought us face to face with ourselves and our fears. That sounds like clarity to me. Was it wrapped in something we weren’t expecting? Yes. But you know how they say your wishes don’t always come true in the way that you may imagine? We wished for clarity, and we got the chance to gain tremendous introspection into who we are individually & as a people.
As the year rolled on and we adjusted to lockdowns, quarantines, curfews, and the rest, we’d hear us say “I can’t wait for 2021!” I felt both appreciation for the optimism in the promise of a better year, but also that 2021 didn’t make any such promises.
2021 came around. Awaited for with breath & ventilators.
2021 kept showing us more about ourselves: people & governments.
There were days when we were filled with hope, anxiety, fear, love, depression, trepidation, more hope, and some days on which people didn’t care anymore. There were days when we were reminded of how finite this human experience is, and how although it all matters….it also does not matter. Do you remember that book ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: and it’s all small stuff’? Not that this pandemic & its effects is ‘small stuff’, because in & of itself… it has been rather brutal. However, as a part of all existence and how small of a space planet Earth takes in this expanding universe… this whole human experience is small stuff. It’s beautiful, it’s grand, it’s felt…. through all the emotions you can think of…. and it’s also small stuff.
I keep thinking ‘human experience’ as something kind of vague; a reality that I am a part of because I am alive. Lately I have been thinking of it as an experience you and I have constructed & are now living out. So it isn’t this passive thing…this happenstance. It is an experience we, as whatever organism we started out as, or whatever being or creation we started out as… an experience we created and are now living.
In Heartfulness meditation they say to consider that a person is 3 things: The experimenter, the experiment, and the outcome. But to whom? To ourselves! We are the experience we are having based on the existence we created. All this, of course, is only based on the belief that we have divinity within us, which does not equate to there not being something greater than ourselves. Just in case that is too convoluted, I mean that my belief that I have divinity in myself & the power to create a physical & spiritual experience, does not mean I don’t believe in a grander power. Call it God, call it Gaya, call it Creator or Source…
So, with 2022 at our doorstep, I wish for you that you understand the power and responsibility you have, to create the human experience you wish to have. There may be trials. There will likely be obstacles & challenges. You might lose faith & you might need a reminder or two. But you have the power to at least attempt and live each day with intention. You do that purely, sincerely, for your own sake, and I believe you will cause a chain reaction for others to do the same. You might not even see it. You might not come to know it. You might feel it or see it in omens & signs; don’t ignore them or brush them off as you…trippin’. Energy is real and please hear me: what we think and do does affect all of us.
And if you fail, and fail, and fail again…guess what? Nothing! It doesn’t matter. Do it again! Do it differently. Try something new. Be honest with yourself and your intention. Ask yourself...what is my intention? Take baby steps or take giant steps. Be kind to yourself and your learning on this journey. They say the destination is not the point, and I think they’re really onto something with that! All the details of the travel seem to be the point, to me. The decisions we make, the people we meet, and the way we talk to our selves & each other. The wins, the trials, the fails, the rejections, the acceptances, …. the way we decide to handle each moment and the way we handle how we handled some of these moments. You know… the ones that don’t make us so proud…the ones we wish we could change. We can’t change them. You did it. It’s done. What you can do, is learn, forgive yourself, and be courageous enough to go at it again.
Last thing… I”ve mentioned kindness, but for real… let’s be kind to one another. We are all out here struggling! Social media stories are mostly a facade. We both want to spread optimism, love, and light, through social media, and we also don’t want to complain and tell people we are sad, depressed, abused, unloved, lonely, etc…. Why? Usually because it makes most people uncomfortable and we don’t want to cause that discomfort. We also have bought into the idea that it’s weak to say these things, or automatically a ‘poor me’ thing. So, knowing that we are all dealing with something…no matter what we look like, no matter where we com from, we can take that knowledge and use it as a foundation to just be kind to each other. A smile. A non-defensive reaction to something that truly isn’t personal. A compliment. You don’t have to do a whole lot, if you don’t want to, but your small kindness may mean the world to someone else.
Happy new year, everyone! I hope to see you shine brightly; so brightly that you fill your heart with light and surprise your own self with how fulfilled you can feel.
Here is a song I’ve come across: Kindness is Timeless
Much love,
Sophia