The Moon was New again at 5:27pm on December 30. The last New Moon of 2024, and now we begin a new year – not quite with a clean slate, but at least with opportunity.
The last focus was Hills – where I explained how one of the elements of my personality I am most fond of is my penchant for wandering off to climb a hill to see what’s there. I closed the last post with a quote from the companion song – “I’ve got my hands and my head full – A cautious step but I’m hopeful. I leave the station I go up into the Hills”
I am still very much working on finding my self; understanding what inspires and motivates me. I was blessed enough to travel to London with my sister a few weeks ago, and while I was away, I tried to find moments to sit with my thoughts in a comfortably unfamiliar environment.
The only thing that really came to me was the urgency of staying in motion. I savor quiet hours at home without interruption – but I realized that during those hours I am not chasing the dopamine hit from movies, books, or video; I am more often bouncing from project to project, trying to make order from the chaos that is usually the state of my life. Being away from it all, I came to realize just how much is on my plate. I am known to say, “It’s all good stuff,” and it is – but where are the priorities? What’s there because it really serves me, and what’s there because it’s either assumed or expected?
A life spent in service can be a beautiful thing – but even those who serve need to be motivated by what serves them. Trudging through the days simply “doing the needful” (thanks to my South Asian friends for that turn of phrase), working for some elusive goal without the requisite satisfaction from the moments spent, is not enough. It should never be enough. There are too many stories scattered in my history of people who worked to fulfill some dream of retirement, only to not be able to live that dream.
I was reminded of this just a few weeks ago when a friend passed away suddenly, having just recently wound down their workload in anticipation of retirement. Life is too short, no matter what your age or condition. I wish I could go back to my fifteen-year-old self. Or my eight-year-old self. Or any stop along the way from there to here. Live with integrity, live with compassion, live with gratitude and kindness – but also live for your own dreams and desires in each moment. Not for someday – but for right now.
So the focus for this cycle is Movement. More specifically, the simplicity of Movement. It isn’t difficult to live – it’s challenging to live well. Cast off that which burdens us, or no longer serves us, and unfurl the sails. Breathe the air, feel the salt spray, and set a course for the horizon. It’s just another Hill after all.