Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.

He is rich who owns the day,
and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded
with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities,
no doubt, crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can,
tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Dear Friends,

Happy 2019!  The image of the fresh and open Newborn taking the place of the worn-out Elder so poignantly symbolizes the turning of the calendar page to a brand new year. For me, it’s a time that brings up a savory stew of paradoxical emotions—anticipation and regret; eagerness and anxiety; curiosity and certainty; wonder and dread.  I appreciate Mr. Emerson’s counsel to forget the “blunders and absurdities” of yesteryear and to cherish the new day’s (and year’s) hopes and invitations that have arrived.

THE YEAR’S WATCHWORD

January is when I choose a Watchword for the year and then make a SoulCollage® card to represent its energy.  Here are two links that explain the Watchword practice.

https://www.martibeddoe.com/blog/2018/1/10/2018-watchword-allow

The Watchword Practice

It’s a powerful practice I learned from my wise friend Marie in which you choose a word that will serve as a guideline for the year.  A Watchword helps answer the vital question, “What is my life about this year?” 

Ideally, a Watchword emerges from meditating and tuning into one’s intuition.  My 2017 Watchword was “Enough” and 2018’s Watchword was “Allow.”  These were chosen in response to the relentless Inner Critic part of my personality who shows up quite reliably to do me violence.  Its voice is especially loud at the beginning of the new year, admonishing me to continue on that unhappy quest for continual self-improvement.  “Be/Know/Do Much Better than last year,” it rumbles in my ear.   

During 2018, it was interesting to observe how attuning to the energy of Allowing transformed my experience.  So often this personality struggles to overcome the toxic seeds of self-doubt sown by the Inner Critic. 

With lovingkindness, my Watchword encouraged me to find contentment by trusting that All will be Well if I let go and Allow.   Sure enough, the Watchword worked its magic on my consciousness because at year’s end I was more relaxed, content and open than I’ve ever been able to be in my life!  In 2017, I had a similar experience as the energy of Enough offered me a deepening and ease-filled acceptance and compassion of myself and others.  Perhaps it was the cumulative effect of both Watchwords… 

What we call the beginning is often the end.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.

T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding, The Quartets

A WATCHWORD REFLECTION

Today is the time of the Capricorn New Moon, a symbol of setting one’s sights on steadily climbing to the top of the sacred mountain where true contentment dwells. This is a time of new beginnings, re-doing, and starting fresh. I invite you to give your soul some quiet time to ponder and ask yourself… 

• What were the significant events, highlights, turning points and lessons of 2018?
• Who were the important relationships I had?
• What am I grateful for?
• What might I acknowledge about myself?
• How did I do violence to myself with my thoughts, words or deeds?
• What “old nonsense” am I willing to let go of from 2018?
• What name would I give 2018—The Great Year of ______________?

• What events do I anticipate in 2019?
• What events do I NOT anticipate in 2019?
• What will make me happier, wiser, and more content?

  • What actions might I take to achieve this?

  • What new patterns and habits of lovingkindness do I intend to create this year?

• Who are the people I intend to cherish and nurture?
• Who are the people I might want to distance from?
• What will my life be about in 2019?
• What Watchword is emerging? (To activate its power, I encourage you to make a SoulCollage® card to depict the energy of your Watchword.) 

SIMPLIFYING emerged as my 2019 Watchword.  When someone says, “it’s simple,” I draw a blank since my mind has a habit of complicating matters!  It feels like a healthy stretch to be attuning my awareness to an unfamiliar new habit and energy as I slowly enter this beautiful New Year.  I’m eager to gather images to make my Simplifying SoulCollage® card.  I’m curious and open to discover where my Watchword leads me in 2019! 

I’ll check in with you at the January 20th Full Moon in Leo to reflect further on the Watchword practice.  I’d welcome hearing about your Watchword!  You might post a comment below or write me using my Contact page. 

Until then, may you walk in Beauty today and all the days of your life. 

Love,