It is already mid January 2012, the start of another year and I have been thinking a lot lately about what kind of year this will be. Or what kind of year I want to make it. Last year portended difficult times from the very beginning when I missed the first day of the kids’ school back after winter break-scrambling and mad dashes are not the way to begin a year. Then multiple disasters that hit Japan in March cast a watchful and wary pall over the year. I can’t remember it being cloudier than usual but there were days that felt so. Mind you, there were also great trips last year– in Montreal for the book launch, driving to Vancouver via Glacier, kayaking on Cortes Island, seeking art in New Mexico, and rediscovering New York with a pilgrimage to the Whitehorse Tavern and the High Line in November. Actually, a lot of travel.
So what kind of year it will be, this 2012? More reflection and less hurry. Less thinking about what I didn’t do, or need to do, and more where I am at the moment. Writing, drawing, being present. One recent weekend I was listening to NPR, the On Being program. A panel of scholars and religious leaders from three main faiths had come to honour the Dalai Lama. The topic was happiness, what it means and how it can be found. Happiness, said one, is behind us and all we need to do is slow down to let it catch up with us. In other words the potential for happiness, fulfillment, peace is with us always. Listening, watching, breathing, calming the mind, being still while moving forward one step at a time -that is what I hope for this year.
(Photo of dawn in Quemado by T Brooks)
