It's a new day, it's a new world. I love writing on the first day of cycles, to sense the energy, to feel into the coming waves, to set intentions. What do you feel?
Hello there, 2019.
Numerologically this is a Universal “3” Year. As the energetic landscape and backdrop, reflecting the consciousness of the billions on earth, the vibrations are lightness, play, joy of/for life, creativity, active … Coming from a 11/2 year, a pretty heavy energy for many people, the changeover may be a tad sluggish. It’ll be interesting to see what 2019 brings.
Of course on a personal level, we also look to our Personal Year. If you are interested, add together the digits of your birthdate, birth month, and the current year. So if your birthday is January 1 then it’s 1 + 1 + 2019. 5. A year of change.
For me, I’m coming out of a hermit year. And wow, have I been feeling restless and wanderlust-y. My last for-pleasure-trip was September 2016 to Bangkok. Well, I did blitz-drive down to Seattle for a day and ferried over to Victoria for another day-trip this year.
Having travelled at least once a year for as long as I remember, well, you can imagine.
What’s a hermit year?
The atmosphere is privacy, solitude, sanctuary, quiet – an inner voyage. It would not be a hyperbole to say it’s a journey to the centre of who we are, coming face to face with what we’ve been dissatisfied with and (re)discovering what we desire.
It’s serious business. Well, it’s only painful if we fight it. I didn’t. I couldn’t. This was the midway point of a 9-year cycle that began in 2012. The year of the separation that led to a divorce that finalized and completed this past spring. To get over that requires me to get through it.
Travel Plans 2019
Catching up with a friend this morning, we spoke about her upcoming trip. Her next travel plans – later this month – are via London, UK to Cork, Ireland and Paris, France. Then onwards to Lisbon Portugal for a week walking to Santiago de Compostela, where the relic of St James is said to reside at the cathedral. Then it’s Fatima, where the Virgin Mary was said to have appeared to three children. These are power spots.
Walking the Camino is on my bucket list. Last year she and her partner walked from the Portuguese-Spanish border to Santiago de Compostela. In recent years, more and more of my friends and people I know have walked parts of the Camino and it feels like my time to walk it is drawing close.
As we step into the energies of a new cycle, it’s natural to look back to see where we’ve been. Looking back to see what we’ve enjoyed to make *better* plans for the future feels logical. Not getting caught in this linearity of “the future is based on the past” is also crucial. We are not the same people as before and what sparks us tomorrow will reveal itself between today and tomorrow, rather than yesterday and today. Letting go of all of that, and feeling into each moment we live in the moment.
I feel blessed to have travelled to so many places. I am excited to inhabit those I haven’t, not to tick it off the bucket list though I have one, not to conquer the earth, not in competition. I won’t see everything and everywhere. I will likely miss out on “it” and “must-see” places. I never got around to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bhutan, and many more spots in Southeast Asia when I was living in Singapore.
I’m okay with that.
In these times, living intentionally and not falling into the illness of FOMO illuminates the seduction of clever marketing schemes and the shiny ball syndrome. Being engaged with where we are, each moment, happy to be doing exactly what we are, to me, is happiness. Well, if not happy, at least be accepting of what’s going on. Accept, rather than focus on denying, railing against it, throwing the tantrums. That’s contentment, a highly under-rated state of being. It’s peace.
“A New Day” mandala
New Year Wishes
As I was writing New Year wishes to friends, I was stumped. In the past, it’s been “wishing you happiness, joy, and dreams come true.” Perhaps run-of-the-mill, though ernest and sincere nonetheless.
The practice of well-wishing has been to bestow luck, blessings, and all the positive emotions onto others. I have been thinking, for a while now, who am I to be so one-sided, so arrogant to want these things for even my closest friends. Who am I to know what is for their highest good? Even the genie stories warn us of what we wish for.
Perhaps what they need – what their soul needs – is a journey to the underworld, to walk with their own shadows to bring light to all that has been suppressed and denied.
What if a person doesn’t actually want to be happy? By wishing them happiness, am I just part of the problem, part of the pressures to feel upbeat? Even when they are not or cannot, for a myriad of reasons.
Dealing with my divorce, I really disliked it when people told me to cheer up, and be happy. It’s not that I didn’t want to be and in my way I was. For me, I needed to feel the intensity of whatever I was feeling, to understand why – and really if – I was so unhappy with what was going on. We are often not allowed to feel – or at least show – anger, rage, and grief. A lot of it is gendered. Men get judged for crying. Women get judged for being assertive.
coddiwomple
– to travel purposefully toward an as-yet-unknown destination
So I guess this is a long letter to you to wish you the presence, compassion, self-compassion, resilience, support, and tools to deal with the waves of 2019. I wish us all the ability to tap into and express our greatest joy, love, and humour. I wish us happy coddiwompling.
