Monday, January 1, 2007

New year, new blog

The new year, an ending and a beginning. Or is it? Why is it we believe this day, in particular, brings the opportunity for a fresh start? I know little about the origins of the Gregorian calendar, but I assume it is linked to the change in seasons. Why, then, is winter solstice -- when daylight begins to grow again -- not the day the world turns over and begins anew? Or, even better, the spring equinox -- much more symbolic of rebirth?

I don't know. I just know that it's always refreshing, the idea of starting over, and so why not now?

Quote of the day, and every day (thanks to he who shared it with me!):

"Every day you must say to yourself, 'Today I am going to begin.'" -- Jean Pierre de Caussade

Or a wordier version, a constant reminder posted throughout my snowbound little house:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” -- Emerson

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Today has been spent, after saying goodbye to last night's last guest, in solitude -- the welcome kind. I have picked up the detritus of last night's gathering. I have washed dishes (another fresh start, like the promise of a new year or a blank sheet of paper). Laundry (if not a fresh start, at least a fresh-smelling one). I have napped (oh, the decadence of a midafternoon nap when one has already slept well!). I have stood in the window, examining in detail the tangled blanket of snow draped over my backyard. I have repaid the relative who dared to break the new year's silence by calling at an ungodly 10:30 a.m., by returning his call during "the" game. (Apparently, "we" are losing.) I have read with the abandon of a day that brings no obligations. I have stared into space. A day well spent.

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The New York Times website today has a couple of op-ed pieces on new year's resolutions. One citing two types of resolutions: "those that are reasonable, and those that are not." The supreme example of the type that is not reasonable: the resolution to be happy. Yet isn't that the reason behind any resolution, behind any human drive? First, to survive; then, to be ... well, if not happy, at least content. Yet we can't will ourselves so; "happiness has a knack for indirection, coming in the middle of the most ordinary day or disappearing at the height of one’s career. It is a matter of luck, almost of grace, a visitor who enters the house unexpectedly and vanishes on tiptoe."

I was joking, last week, about making a certain resolution -- something I rarely do, at least not linked to January 1 -- and a friend asked why I would set myself up for disappointment, suggesting that's exactly what resolutions do. It's a good point.

Maybe not resolutions, then, so much as a "wish list" of things I could and can give myself:

I wish to be kinder to myself, more forgiving. I wish to be healthier, in the foods I ingest, the physical activities I undertake, in the people I share my time with and the outlook I adopt. I wish to stop looking backward, and I think I am finally ready. I especially wish to let go of the time-wasters so easily succumbed to in daily life, and give myself up to what I really want to do in the moment -- whether it's to write more or to meditate or to simply lie here and *be*.

And yes, maybe it's too big, but I wish to find what I'm looking for out of life, or at least the next incarnation, and I'm not afraid to say that of *course* I'm iso happiness, wherever it may pop up, in moments large or small. Plenty of reasons to be optimistic, I think.

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Don't know why I feel compelled to start another blog. Why does anyone? What could anyone have to say that hasn't been said, and who do we hope will hear it? It seems I remember someone saying that each writer is writing only for a future him/herself ... or maybe that was just something I told myself.

I had good reasons for abandoning the last one, and I'm leery of my abilities to resist temptation in avoiding those old pitfalls. Maybe this is a test of strength ... or maybe one of priorities.

Or maybe I am just like all of the other billions searching for a voice, yearning to be heard, for to be heard is to be acknowledged, and perhaps even understood.

This time of year, with its long, slow, dark evenings, and especially now under a heavy white drapery that forces us to slow down, gives us time to think. Not such a bad time for new beginnings.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just made a resolution to own the first posting on your blog, and I just fulfilled it. This year can only get better!

I'll be in Lincoln for the next three weeks living in a hotel, and I expect some attention. When do you leave?

Anna Jo

Lincoln Writer said...

You're too cute, little lady! Are you here now? I leave for Washington on the 21st. Miz K just moved back in, so La Casa de Lola is officially back in business! When do we get together?

Anonymous said...

Yeay! I'm so happy I get to read your words again!

Wow. A new year again. I spent the the first moments of 2007 all by myself---a first ever. I slept and celebrated being with the coolest person in my world...me.

KristaJoy said...

miz B!

i am so very glad that you have started to blog again! it will be a great outlet for your creativity and an even better source for your friends to keep up w/ you.

i do have one quote to share...in regards to the search for happiness.

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." - Albert Camus

i take from the quote that so much more contentment can be found if we let go of our "idea" of happiness and focus more on fully enjoying the moments in which we truly feel happy - and spend less time trying to create moments of happiness. i have hope that if we fill ourselves up in those moments of feeling happy, that they will pull us through the length of time between.

anywho...glad to you my soul sister back on the blog. may the coming year bring you inspiration, adventure and much travel....Miz K

Anonymous said...

Hi Becky

Glad to see you back on-line. it's people like you who make me happy having chosen the profession I did.

2 quotes

"Sometimes I feel like my shadow's casting me." Warren Zevon


"The mystery of our times is the inability of decent people to get angry."
Eric Hoffer

Steve Rose

Lincoln Writer said...

I *love* the Zevon lyric! And that's so weird, I've just been reading about Eric Hoffer ...

and I'm thinking the unsigned Anonymous might be Miss Nealy???

thanks for the love, y'all.

Anonymous said...

becki-
I was so glad to find your email. It has been a while and I have to say I am so glad you are writing and sharing, it was inspirational and enjoyable, thank you.

As far as the new year and resolutions, I have been working with this idea, it's an oldie, but great.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." -Gandhi
Then you are crating your world just as you would like it to be.

I have much to talk to you about and would love to hear what you have been up to.
Happy New Year!

-Mary Wagstaff

jthmcg said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jthmcg said...

Becki--Thanks for the note announcing your new blog. Your comments and both thoughtful and fun. Keep up the good work. Love, Jo