
In a house we once lived in, the back yard had a length of fence that connected to nothing, and it had a gate in the middle of it. I don’t know the story of that, but it was a sort of whimsical feature. A gate that did not really open or close. I like the image of gates. How they are passageways, transoms, thresholds. The end and beginning of years are like that. It is a time to look both back and forward. Like the Roman God Janus. The god of transitions, doorways, passages. The two-faced God of beginnings and of endings, after which the month of January is named.
As this year winds down, I find myself looking forward, looking back. What were the events, people, places of value in the year now passing away? What do I need to remember? How does this year stand out as unique from other years? What might be coming in the year ahead? What uniqueness can I anticipate in 2023? What do I need to look for?
I like to choose a “word of the year” each year. An aspirational word. I word that calls me towards a better self. Often I have chosen the word “kindness”. I am basically kind, but I find that as I focus on it, I see more and more opportunities to be kind that perhaps I didn’t see before. I find it very useful to simply have this word simmering on the back burner as I live through a year. Other words I have chosen in the past were; positivity, patience, creativity…
This year I am drawn to the word “light-hearted”. Not to take things lightly, but to be better able to hold things more loosely, to give up my propensity to be critical, overly serious, and negative. I am also drawn to the notion of practicing seeing the glass half-full instead of half-empty. Not sure where I’ll come down. But all of these seem like good possibilities. I would love to know your “word of the year”.
May blessings trail you as you head out of the old year and into the new. I give you this song by Carrie Newcomer to accompany the threshold edges of the two years that will meet this coming week.
Click HERE to hear her version of Dona Nobis Pacem.
I have been thinking about a word for 2023 and I think I have decided on 'wind'. I am not sure where this word will take me, but it seems to have many dimensions: breath, breeze, tempest, eight worldly winds... I like your gate analogy for this transition into a new year. Something to ponder.