December 30, 2012 ~ Welcoming the New Year

December 30, 2012 ~ Looking Back & Looking Forward: Welcoming the New Year

 "And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

~Carl Bard

That's Janus, the ancient Roman god of gates, doorways, beginnings and transitions, depicted with two faces, one that can see into the past and one into the future. He was worshiped at harvest and planting times, at marriages, deaths, and other times of beginnings and transitions, and the first month of the year was named in his honor. What an apt symbol for these final days of 2012, as we reflect on the harvest of our thoughts and actions born of the past and envision the seeds of our intentions for the coming year.

Last week my good friend Diana and I created a ceremony to honor and appreciate the beloveds in our lives. I had requested this ceremony because I had had a realization of my tendency to have difficulty in receiving positive reflections, in really letting love in. There has been some resistance. That's the shift I wanted to experience for 2013—to open to allow more love in—and I know that gratitude and acceptance are the keys.

We created a little impromptu altar area with lavender and sage, lit a candle, and we each took a turn laying out photographs, cards, mementos and gifts that we had received from friends and loved ones over the years. We shared with one another how each person has touched our lives, how love has been expressed through each one, appreciating the unique qualities of each person and how we had been inspired or had grown as a person through their presence in our lives. What a heart-opening experience it was to be able to get in touch with those feelings and to have a space to share them.

Looking back into the past with abundant gratitude for all of it—even the losses, the "opportunities for learning" that were challenging or painful—we were also looking with new eyes toward the future. We were preparing the soil, planting seeds of intention for new ways of being in life and relationship. Knowing that we are authors of our own life stories, we are opening to the possibility of creating a whole new story. With hearts full of gratitude for all that has come before, we are "starting from now, making a brand new ending." 

Wishing you many blessings in the coming year. May the stories that unfold be filled with adventure, rich learning opportunities, and abundant joy!

"A happy New Year! Grant that I

May bring no tear to any eye

When this New Year in Time shall end.

Let it be said I've played the friend,

Have lived and loved and labored here,

And made of it a happy year."

~Edgar Guest