Renewal + Staying in the Now

I hope that you had a lovely holiday whatever you celebrate and that it was full of grace and love, and if it was difficult I send you so much love and a warm hug. This week between Christmas and New Year's is always a favorite time for me, it is quite "liminal", that in-between state of feeling some completion and a sense of renewal as a New Year approaches. If you are like me and are giving yourself some space to vision and dream you may be receiving a lot of ideas, visions, hopes, and you may be getting excited about what is to come. And that is fabulous! But remember this is still the visioning and dreaming time, not the "doing" time. Even if I am getting a lot of ideas I am reminding myself to stay present..in the now, because it is not time just yet to discern which visions and ideas are a "hell yes" (or a hell no or maybe so...in fact that discernment process is very important or we say yes to everything without really taking the space to see if it truly what our soul wants to put life force energy and our resources into AND that is what will throw up into overwhelm, stress and anxiety just a few short months from now. See the video below for some practices on discerning that.) But for now I am just letting the creativity flow, allowing the visions, messages, ideas, and synchronicities just bubble up AND doing nothing with them except journaling so I don't forget, and later I will do the process I share below and really feel into what wants to come into form in the next several cycles. I will also feel into which of my soul essences wants to really shine in this next year. (There will be a local class...save the date February 6th....and maybe an online one if it's desired on how to discover and bring your essences into your full presence). 

The Roman Calendar New Year definitely does bring a sense of renewal and a clean slate AND at the same time that doesn't mean anything we were working on in our inner realms (or outer), and struggles, shadows or problems we might be facing on December 31st magically disappear on January 1st. It just means we may be renewed enough to approach them in a new and different way, or look at things from a different and more "open" lens of perception, and at an advanced level TRUST more in the Divine plan that you are co-creating. But that only happens if we do give ourselves some space and go through a process of renewal and staying present, rather than visioning into the future and hoping for some state other than the one we are in right now. If we move too fast into the new "vision" we never stop to reflect on the knowledge we are currently receiving or that we received in the past year (and for many of us it was a tough one) and taking that knowledge and transforming it into wisdom. Knowledge becomes wisdom through contemplation and transformative practice. If we don't stop to reflect and be in the mystery for a little while without staking a claim on anything just yet, we aren't able to open ourselves up to the creativity and genius that is right around the corner....on the path...the one we often don't take because we are so busy trying to figure out what's next and create a laundry list of goals. And sometimes the path is the choice between the "known" and the unknown. Taking the unknown is more often than not the one where the magic is. 

So I invite you this week to resist setting goals and creating to-do lists. I invite you instead to continue to sit in the mystery, be present, be open to receiving wisdom and messages that you are just not seeing yet, AND then begin to discern where you want your time, energetic and financial resources to go..from a soul-led, renewed place. 

I also share with you a piece of writing from one of my favorite writers, teachers and mythologists Michael Meade. I highly encourage you to read his work, listen to his podcast, or take his courses which are inexpensive and is a non-profit. Mosaic Voices.

"Although there can be no quick fix for the troubles of this world, the aim of traditional New Year rites was precisely to end the reign of the old year and start everything anew. Not by denying problems we must face, but by returning to the beginning of time and seeing all of life as part of something sacred and renewable.

Never simply a matter of turning a calendar page, the essence of New Year rites came from seeing each year as a complete cycle. The seasons of each year were a reflection of the course of nature where life becomes depleted and repeatedly ends, only to begin all over again. As becomes more apparent in these troubled times, the year becomes worn out, depleted and empty. Since the damage to the old year cannot simply be repaired, it must be abolished in order to empty the present and make the potentials of both individual and collective life possible again.

Traditional New Year events served as an annual rite of passage in which time became renewed amidst the chaos and confusion of life. The underlying cosmological, mythological idea is that the old year, damaged by mistakes, losses and misdeeds, can be dissolved through a break in time that opens to moments of eternity that renew life and allow everyone to start over again.

Symbolically participating in year-end rites did not facilitate a return to some simple sense of “normal,” but rather precipitated a creative turning to connect to the capacity of life to renew itself. By participating in the mystery of death and renewal, people could enter “creative time,” be temporarily delivered from faults and failings and be restored to their original life potentials. This essential sense of rejuvenation and restoration becomes of great importance in these dark and exhausting times.

Traditional rites might focus on extinguishing and rekindling hearth fires or using candles to reflect the light of life hidden in the darkness at the end of the year. Ritual washings and purifications served to dissolve and remove the effects of mistakes and faults on both individual and collective levels. Practices of contemplation and/or dance and song were understood to be preparations for a re-generation of time, but also the core energies of life and of love." 

In Love, Rest and Renewal, 

Dina

PS. I always welcome questions, feedback, and any wisdom you receive if you try the practices I share. 

Here is your New Year's gift. A process to document and "feel into" all the ideas that come to you.