It is the end of the year, second to last day, as I post this blog. All that time in the dark last week afforded me beautiful as well as poignant reflections on 2011. I just finished an extensive journal entry which enfolds me in the patterns, transitions and personal growth of this past year. In this spirit, I would like to offer some simple ways in which you can participate in your own reflections and lettings-go for the year just now closing.
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| Stargazer lily |
In vision quest circles and other earth-based traditions in which I have engaged, we use the four directions as a way of understanding a life in balance and harmony within ourselves and with all beings. Very rudimentarily: south, west, north and east correspond (respectively) to body, psyche, mind and spirit (and are symbolic of a whole lot of other things, too). (For a comprehensive book on the topic, check out Foster and Little’s The Four Shields which you can obtain from Lost Borders Press.) Being present to these four aspects of your life can help you to stay in balance throughout the year-review process.
I list below some simple rituals for closing out your year and moving into the next one with clarity, lightness and freedom. (By “ritual”, I simply mean a non-harming activity done with intention and focus.) Feel free to choose one or several of the following, modifying them in whatever way you deem enriching. If you have other practices that hold more significance for you, please consider engaging with one of those instead.
· Light a candle while you ponder the year. When you have identified some things you would prefer to let go this next year, blow out the candle in trust that you will do so.
· Walk a labyrinth; moving toward the center focus on the past year, and spiraling back out shift your focus to your offerings to the world for 2012.
· Write down something that has been part of this past year but which no longer serves you, your life, and those around you. When you feel ready, tear up the paper and burn, scatter, bury, set afloat, compost, or recycle those old, unneeded bits.
· Write a journal entry that reviews your past year in regard to body, psyche, mind and spirit.
· Create an altar. (An “altar” can be as basic as placing a few meaningful objects on a special table, window sill, or the corner of your desk. Add a candle or a stick of incense.)
· Take a walk or short hike. Like the labyrinth ritual, spend the first half reflecting on what has happened in your life over the past year. During the final stretch, spend some moments taking inventory of those aspects of your life you want to begin shedding in the year to come; take note, too, of those which you would prefer to augment in your life.
· Go to a natural place (beach, forest, park, meadow, desert…) and build a cairn, a stone pile. With each of four stones, reflect on the four directions of your life: body, psyche, mind, spirit.
· Make a drawing, collage, painting that represents key aspects of your past year. Share the piece with somebody when you have finished it. (You need not be an artist to do this one! Stick figures, hunks of torn paper and glue, lumps of paint on the page can be as useful and inspiring as something more “refined”.)
· Compile a list of the major events of your 2011. Sit with this for a while and then group them into categories that seem meaningful to you (e.g. blessings/gratitude or challenges/areas for growth).
· Clean up and rearrange your existing altar, removing items that you do not want to “carry” into this coming year.
· Dedicate a daily activity this weekend to the year 2011. As you hike, walk, bike, sort papers, take out the recycling, dismantle the holiday decorations, swim, talk with a trusted friend or family member, or just sit in your favorite place in your home (with a favorite hot beverage is even better!), ponder/reflect/ruminate on the year; see what emerges.
· Gather enough stones so that you have one for each aspect of 2011 with which you feel done, complete, worn out, used up, or whose use has run its course in your life. With gentle meditation, hold each stone for a minute before tossing it into the nearest water body (ocean, lake, pond, rain puddle). You can modify this activity by using a bowl of water and dropping the stones in one by one.
· Gather sticks, branches, tree boughs, pine cones, fallen leaves, rocks, or whatever other natural items you can find in abundance in your area. With intention, place them one by one into a particular shape that symbolizes 2011 for you (heart, square, circle, spiral, line, peace sign, rhombus, infinity sign, yin yang…get clever!). Do this activity outside. You can let the earth reclaim these items when you are ready (either by disbursing the heavier items yourself, or by allowing the elements to scatter or decompose them for you).
· Re-pot a favorite plant that has been needing attention. (Don’t forget to enjoy the feeling of the soil on your hands; do the work without gloves or gardening implements.)
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| Luminary handcrafted by Corena's Creations |
If you are reading this blog post after the last day of the year, please do not be shy about trying some version of these rituals. Remember that calendars, new “years”, and time are just symbols for the daily engagement, moment to moment, that we are actually living.
May your reflections on the past year offer you peace and blessings, clarity and focus, for 2012!
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| Glass candle holder crafted by Racquel's Mosaics |
All blog photographs taken by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted.
