New Year's Eve

Tonight is New Year's Eve - a big night for many people. W and I have made our annual trek north to see family for the New year's weekend.

Agenda today:

1. Christmas retreat

2. Kwanzaa principles

3. Read from "Wheel of the Year"

4. Celebration goals

5. Resolutions

6. Make noise!

1. Christmas retreat:

I am again celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas with a mini-retreat for myself, and using the Soyal Way of Being as a guide for my days; that is, I'm keeping Mother Earth in my thoughts as I move quietly and respectfully about my days, in order to establish the right mood for the coming year, and reach a unity of everything in the universe. 

I'm also doing some reading and writing every day, focusing on my priorities and what I'm called to do (or not do) next in my life. My plan is to contemplate, honor, and practice a different one of my life priorities on each of the 12 days, and set some goals and resolutions for 2023, based on guidance from God.

Today I'm honoring celebration. I'm fascinated with seasonal celebrations and customs from around the world, and with creating my own simple ways to mark the wonder of passing moments: Food, art and craft, ceremony and prayer, study and social action. I find that celebration connects me to the cycles of nature; brings me clarity on my inner cycles and seasons; reminds me to lighten up and be spontaneous; puts me in community with my friends; and strengthens my connection to the universal Spirit and to a life of virtue and integrity:

How can I remember to celebrate each day as a sacred gift, with attention on Love, Truth, and Creation? How do my celebrations become an expression of my life, my land, and my inner cycles and seasons? 

What is my personal sacred calendar? How do I become indigenous to the place I live, and connect deeply with the unique cycles of the seasons here in my valley? 

How can I celebrate the seasons and transitions of life with simplicity, creativity, and integrity? How can I express my love of folk customs, crafts, ceremony, and foods and without practicing appropriation?  

How can I remember to lighten up and be spontaneous? How can I share my celebrations better with family and friends?

2. Kwanzaa principles:
The sixth day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to the principle of Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah), which is creativity. I can use my creative energies to build a beautiful and vibrant home and community.

3. Read from "Wheel of the Year":

I'm reading today from a book I've had for years and years, "Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life", by Pauline and Dan Campanelli (1989).

My own Earth-Quaker beliefs have been largely influenced by the pagan Wheel of the Year. My belief about God are different, but my beliefs about the cycles of the seasons are the same. "The eternal ebb and flow of human life - the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth - is reflected in the annual cycle of the seasons. ... The method we use is to perform rituals that at once express the seasonal condition and its implications for human spiritual growth." 

They go on to say that the "rhythms of nature are ever changing" and these gradual transitions - the blossoming of certain trees and the ripening of certain fruits - are each a sacred moment to be celebrated.

4. Celebration goals:

My theme for today is celebration. Goals for celebration might be to connect to the cycles of the seasons, share my traditions, bond to my community, strengthen my spiritual understanding, or to explore and develop my playful and imaginative qualities.

My ideas for celebration goals so far:

1. Take time to notice and celebrate the signs of the seasons with daily cycles of reverence; 
2. Incorporate them into a sacral calendar and Wheel of the Year that is true to my valley and not appropriated; include personal symbolism, traditional crafts and recipes, and Unity Art that connects us to nature, and honors my heritage and my Quaker beliefs.
3. Plan and organize shared celebrations with my family and friends. Connect to my lineage and my community with ritual and service, and build synergy to tend the earth. 

5. Resolutions:

Ah, January resolutions! As usual, I'm ready at the New Year to upgrade my health habits, take control of my moods, and have more discipline in general. I know I'd better start with small steps that I can easily maintain, and stick to just a few specific, well-defined intentions.

My resolutions for 2024 are:

1. Walk: I intend to take a walk most days, because I want to spend more time outside to notice the seasons, and because walking calm and centers me, and because I need to reverse these sedentary habits before they damage my health, and so that I can keep up with my grandchildren for years to come.
2. Celebrate unity with nature: I intend to notice and record the signs of the seasons of my valley and the personal symbolism, and practice the traditional crafts and recipes, and Unity Art that connects us to nature and the circle and honors my heritage and my Quaker beliefs, because this is the Work of my life, and how I show reverence for the Earth and for God.
3. Speak up: I intend to study witness habits (how to share my values and passion for the earth from a place of love and spirit), and practice them diligently, because learning how to tolerate my fears and speak up, will allow me to transcend the anxiety, impatience, and indignation that sabotages my witness to the world.

6. Make noise: 

Noise-making is considered an effective way to drive off the spirits of the old year and awaken the sleeping new year. We will gather horns, bells, pots, pans, and whistles, throw open the door at midnight, count down the final seconds of the old year, then let loose with whoops and cheers, bangs and toots, to welcome in the New Year!