Last Sunday, I went to the UU church again because of that day's topic - letting go of something you don't want to carry with you into the new year. This week between Christmas and New Year's Day is an ideal time to reflect on the past year and look forward to what you want to be different in the approaching year. There was a bowl of stones at the front of the church and we were invited to choose one, invest it with an image of whatever we felt we needed to leave behind us, and drop it into a bowl of water. I picked a large smooth gray pebble, and stood there for a few minutes thinking about relationships not just in the past year but for the past few years. And how I do not want the weight of them traveling into the next year with me. I don't believe in making New Year's resolutions myself. I understand the allure of them, but I don't want to set and announce goals and then feel like I've failed when life takes me in another direction. So instead, I try to look at intentions and openness to new possibilities. Not just relationships, of course, but in life in general. Just letting myself be available to what the Universe has to offer and staying aware that I can't know in advance what that will look like. The letting go also helps me remember more clearly all the truly wonderful things I am thankful for. And to remember that whatever does get thrown at me, one way or another I deal with it. The little ritual with the rocks was just symbolic - more the beginning of a process than an immediate magical cure. But as I let the stone slip under the surface of the water, I took a breath and started letting go. Somehow, I feel like 2014 has something good in store for me.
i like intentions...was reading someone else with the same thought...
ReplyDeleteits a new year...a new day, much like any other you know.
have fun tonight, but be safe. smiles.
And the beauty of that is you can re-start on any day at all.
DeleteI try and practise what a shaman once taught me: life is a series of subtractions and not additions. I can get too swept up in the additions. I need to simplify. Everything.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Happy new year dear blog buddy.
Me, too. Working on that.
DeleteSame to you!
I was at the local UU church on the 16th. They had an art sale and I bought some jewelry for my wife.
ReplyDeleteLots of coincidences here. You like Purple I like Purple. Hmmmm.
Well, it stands to reason we Agents would have some similarities.
Delete"So instead, I try to look at intentions and openness to new possibilities. Not just relationships, of course, but in life in general. Just letting myself be available to what the Universe has to offer and staying aware that I can't know in advance what that will look like. "
ReplyDeleteMe as well! I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions. I just try to stay available to what I am given, and go from there.
Beautiful post, my friend!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!
Cheers and X!
Non-attachment to outcomes makes more sense, anyway, but it can be hard not to want things a particular way. But that's what I'm trying.
DeleteI like the idea of intentions/goals rather than resolutions. Seems more doable that way I do believe. I do also think it is a good idea to let go of things as we transition frm 2013 to 2014. I might need to do some of that myself tonight!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
betty
It sure feels more doable to me. Letting go is a hard one for me. Not material things - that I do fairly easily - but other sorts of letting go.
DeleteSame to you!
If I make any NY resolutions, it is only because I like lists. I always set myself up for failure, though. This idea with the stones sounds a refreshing alternative.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE lists. Make them all the time. Just not for resolutions.
DeleteHappy new year,cs. Thank you for the words and images and intentions here . Very wise.
ReplyDeleteLove
kj
Thanks, and happy New Year to you, too.
DeleteI set goals for myself all the time, but there's something formulaic about doing it for New Years that doesn't appeal to me. If I do it, it's generally because I was stiff-armed.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of dropping the invested stones in water, but I've already left behind those things that I can and want to. Still, I'll keep it in mind for things I should let go but haven't. It's a good image.
My usual ritual is fire - I write whatever it is down and then burn it. It feels more fully gone that way.
DeleteI like that idea of letting go of something before the New Year. I'm actually quite good at letting go of things I don't need any more, things that just complicate life, but I'm sure there are still things I could leave behind. I shall think about that.
ReplyDeleteThe only New Year resolution I make is to be less anxious. I make it every year but the anxiety is just too ingrained....
I'm not sure you can just say "Be less anxious." But maybe challenging yourself to confront what makes you anxious and learning different ways of handling the anxiety.
DeleteIt appears the the thoughtful, intelligent thoughts have been well expressed already, so.......
ReplyDeleteI'm finally willing to admit that while I've got a good jump shot, I don't have the speed or height to make it to the NBA. It was tough, but I'm finally giving that goal up.
Happy New Year.
Took you a while to get there, didn't it?
Delete40 years isn't that long, in the grand scheme of things. Just takes some folk longer than others.
DeleteWishing you a new year filled with happiness.
ReplyDeleteThanks, same to you.
DeleteI was at a church retreat once and we wrote down things we wanted to let go of and put them in a box. The box had a hole in the bottom and it was freeing. I like the symbolism of the rock. Wishing you all the best..............
ReplyDeleteI like that idea, too.
DeleteAs I am catching up here I feel like in some ways I am in a similar place emotionally that you are though our circumstances that put us there are different. I too had a contemplative christmas and find myself asking what do I need to leave behind and what do I need to carry forward. I have a little stone ritual too when I go to the beach. I find one that fits my hand as a worry stone. I rub it while I sit on the beach and hang on to it for the whole time I am there. before I go home I toss it into the water as far as it can go. I am glad your pebble ceremony helped in this way too.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are celebrating all the parts of your heritage and making peace with them. and I am sorry for the loss of your blogger friend. I am so glad to have met so many face to face but even those I have never met hold a very dear place in my heart. May your heart and those of Laura's friends and family be comforted.
Oh, that's a good one. I will do that next time I go to the beach. Oceans are such healing places anyway.
DeleteI tend to ignore the concept of New Year's resolutions. I know myself too well to anticipate success with them. But I have made a few changes in my life over time and very slowly. Perhaps letting go is a gradual process for me.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the life changes you are working toward. For some reason, 2014 seems like a more positive number than 2013.
Lasting changes are generally made gradually, I find, and letting go happens a little bit at a time for me.
DeleteI wish you all health and happiness in 2014! If positive thinking and hard work could ensure such a thing, it would be yours in spade-fulls:)
ReplyDeleteThanks - I sure wish it worked that way!
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