New Year . . . A not so new “us”

As the rain falls to close the year, it feels hard to grasp that today is December 31st. It just doesn’t feel like December much less New Year’s Eve . . . and it’s not just the warm temps, but the situation we still find ourselves in with an unrelenting pandemic and all the levels of gratitude and hardship that comes with it. It is understandable why so many people have described this past year as the longest year ever – I can’t disagree with that. It has felt like a long year. A hard earned year.

So today, I took a walk in the woods near my home in Bloomington – rain, mud and all. I clogged through the mushy path and you know what? The forest hasn’t changed much since last year at this time. Sure some trees have grown and some have fallen, but the path, the view, the energy has all remained constant. And so have we . . .

We are still the same at our core. Yes we have grown, and we have felt loss. We have been challenged and have challenged others. We have had tears of sorrow and joy, and moments of bliss and moments that blistered. And here we are . . . hopefully with even more open hearts and minds, but at our core, still the same soul that started the year. And that gives me ease. And hope.

I don’t know what 2022 has to offer, but I am ready for it. We are ready for it. We don’t need a goal or a “new” us to navigate 2022. All we need is what we have . . . today. And the choice to be awake to all that is around us. And to take it in, intentionally decide what to do with it, and keep moving forward – moment by moment.  

2020 and 2021 were like any other years in that they brought high and lows. What made them unique to me is that they showed us, in real time, day in and day out, how connected we all are as a global race. Whether you want to be connected to the human race or not, you are. And we can’t unsee or unfeel that. And I hope that we all embrace that as a gift. A gift that we have choice around . . . how do I want to show up in that connection? What do I want to contribute to it? What energy do I want to direct toward that universal collective?

Those questions occupy my mind a lot these days, in ways they didn’t in previous years. As my family and I celebrated the arrival of my 6th great niece, Ellie Jensen, who followed her cousin, Mabel Jane, by only a few months, I wondered what kind of world will they experience. From Piper at age 4 to Ellie, I wonder what choices my little volleyball team of great nieces will have in their human roles.

Much of their opportunities for choice depend on our collective choices now and that feels immense. As it should. While we are all here for a limited time, we can have great impact on the world around us – both positive and negative. Again, the choice is ours. Not just when a new year begins, but with the beginning of each new day.

What will you choose? If you notice that you are contributing to a pattern of complaining, of belittling, of gossiping, etc., what might you shift about that? If you are noticing a pattern of kindness, how can you make that even more contagious? If you feel you are entitled to more than those around you, how might you explore that? If you want to give more to those around you, how can you gather others to join you?  

So many choices. The same choices we had last year and will have again and again in 2022. We don’t need a new year or a new you to create a space for everyone to thrive. All we need is all we have . . . today, and the choices we make in the present. I believe in the wisdom and kindness of the human collective and I hope we all choose to give to it the best in us – moment by moment.     

Happy new year, and happy choice making . . . let’s do all we can to open up choice for each other in this new year.