Which questions
can we ask to reflect on 2016—inquiries that hold juice, integrity, real
interest for the world and all beings?
Which questions
can we seek to explore during 2017—inquiries that guide us to live more deeply,
love more truly, discover more richly?
How can we make
a stab at:
questions that
aim toward expansiveness,
questions that
are from our depths;
questions that
place us in the center of all Life, and
questions that
call us to service and compassion?
That is the
quality of reflective question we can seek, explore, as this 2016 marker comes
to a close and we feel ourselves on the edge of 2017.
May we find the
courage to live into the questions, knowing that the only “answers” we can truly
offer are those compassionate acts that sprout from the roots of our nurtured souls.
Most years I
post reminders of the many ways we can review the year that is closing and hold
with a wide, loving embrace the one into which we are about to step.
Here’s a
distilled list:
Light a candle.
Ponder the year past. Blow out the candle.
Walk a labyrinth:
toward the center for 2016, back to the outside for 2017.
Journal, list,
write about the major shifts in your life this year.
Build a nature
altar: stones of one color for 2016, stones of a different color for 2017.
Create something
meaningful to honor one year gone, another year ushering in: poetry, painting,
story, weaving, drawing, splashes of color across a page…
Take a walk or
hike, repot a houseplant, add self-care into your daily schedule…
Dedicate one
activity over the holiday weekend to 2016, dedicate another activity to 2017.
Deciding on a
short intention to carry through the coming year is a simple way to hold us
steady on our path even as the unexpected, the as-yet unknown, blessings and
challenges of 2017 arrive on our doorsteps throughout the year. I like to write
down my intention and place it where I can see it everyday.
No matter how
you choose to honor the passing of one year and entry into the next, I send to you
goodwill, strength, and peace for this day and all days.
(Excerpted and
modified from past end-of-year blog posts.)
