New Year Perspective

We're a week into the New Year, and a lot has already happened. I've studied and talked and written about positivity and a new perspective, and then Ice Agents shot a Mom in her car.

My neighbor asked me, what do we do? I said, we do what we can - write letters, work at legislation, talk to people, but I understand how she feels. The events are too heavy for us to carry. How often can we rise up in grief and protest, and put our own lives at risk? 

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective"

2. Identify a past failure

3. Inner peace practice

4. Kitchen blessing

1. Read "Perspective":

Today I am reading this book by Meridith Elliot Powell, subtitled Reignite, Reinvent, Reframe (2025). This is the work I am dedicating myself to this year.

I'm on Chapter three, The Power of the Past, which explains that the past has shaped me - perhaps with wisdom, and perhaps not. Do I carry my past like a burden, reliving every trauma or mistake and letting them defeat me? Or do I reframe the past and mine it for insights and resources?

"Leaders who thrive don't drag their story behind them like an anchor -- they pull from it like a toolbox. ... A toolbox is something you carry with intention. It's organized. It's built over time. ... An anchored leader plays not to lose. A toolbox leader plays to grow."

So the shift here is from avoiding risk to embracing the strength of learning from the past. I need to stop re-playing my mistakes in my head - and also perhaps the traumas of history - (which only reinforces a negative mindset) and train my brain to look for the growing edge.

2. Identify a past failure:

Each chapter has an action step, which she calls the Thrive Cycle, and this one is to Identify a Past Failure. Hmmm. So many to choose from! The process is to ask-

1. What exactly happened?
2. What part of it was in my control?
3. What did I learn?
4. How have I applied that lesson since? 

She suggests I make this reflection process a monthly habit.

3. Inner peace practice:

My theme this year is Creative Perspective: 

Creative perspective: To keep a positive and broad perspective; shift my perspective to help myself find equanimity, and also expand my perspective (think outside the box), having the courage to take experimental risks and express myself honestly with words and art.

On Saturday I plan a new narrative to re-frame a mind-set.

I am still contemplating this quote from "Present Moment Awareness":

"Whenever we feel overwhelmed by emotions, a shift in perspective becomes our salvation. When we take a step back and feel the still and quiet space that is always within us regardless of whatever else might going on, we can reduce any emotions we might be feeling to their proper importance." 

 

When I feel attacked, I tense up - because I'm trying to avoid the feeling - but I only manage to amplify it, as the pressure builds up behind the dam I'm creating with my body, and it will inevitably overwhelm me and burst out.

I wrote this Zen Grandma practice to use when I feel under attack: 

• Take a big breath and notice where the attack is hitting me. (Touch my heart.)
• Relax the tension and really feel the feeling. (Say "ouch".)
• Open my mind to find the inner peace place, and see a broader perspective. (Say "Love matters more") 

5. Kitchen blessing:

The Orthodox Church has a tradition of blessing homes within a few weeks after Epiphany. The family prepares by cleaning the house, and then a priest comes to sprinkle holy water and pray for each family member, living and dead.

So what is a blessing? The Church recognizes a blessing as a statement or prayer that invokes God’s favor and power, and prepares one to receive grace, or in the case of a house blessing, prepares the space and those within it.

My own understanding is that the act of cleaning itself is a blessing on the house, and that sitting still in a newly cleaned room is a good way to remember that we are each blessed, always and forever.

But I love a good ritual! My custom is to bless each room this month, first by cleaning it, then with a ritual, and then by remembering the blessings of life.

This week I've done the physical cleaning of my kitchen: sink, mold, woodwork, windows, and refrigerator, and I've tidied the shelves. But my house also holds emotional "dirt" that needs clearing, lingering psychic odors of angry words and melancholy thoughts, and the bad vibes of political debate heard on the TV.

For a simple house cleansing ritual, I use a twofold approach: Salt water and sage smoke.

Sea salt is an ingredient used in Christian holy water, and also in water used by Pagans for cleansing and blessing. I keep a small bottle of water with dissolved sea salt for this purpose. Sprinkling salt water is known as asperging. Salt water covers the elements of earth and water.  

 

Sage smoke is tied to the element of fire and air, and will scatter away negative vibes to the winds. I use the Old World culinary sage that my ancestor shamans may have used, and which I grow in my garden. I dry it in the fall and wrap it together with sewing thread.

1. Set the intention to clear out bad energy and invite in blessings.

2. Light a candle, and from that ignite the sage. Once it catches, blow it out so that it smolders. (Leave the candle lit, though.)

3. Walk around the room and waft the smoke into every corner. (In the kitchen, I even open the cabinets and drawers, and waft smoke inside.) As you walk, think about the intentions you set.

4. Pour a little salt water into a small bowl, dip your fingers in and lightly sprinkle it as you walk around the room a second time.

After the ritual, I'll sit quietly at the table with the lit candle, and savor the blessing of a clean kitchen. I may also say a short prayer to the Spirit of the hearth and home:

Blessed be this kitchen, the food, the herbs and spices, 

and the pots and pans used to prepare our meals.

Peace be to this house and to all who live here, 

and to all who visit.