In our lives, cycles open and close continuously. Like the new moon, we continually have the chance to crack the darkness with a sliver of light, and to start a new phase of our lives as time runs its course. That moment to close your eyes and step forth with fresh intention doesn't come once a year, but is the way of conscious living. It does not feel easy, but it feels true and right, and it can quiet inner doubt.
With so much disappointment trampling the society, with so much anger, hunger and exhaustion, it's hard to find our best selves. Yet, our best selves are our only hope. Amidst the noise and haste, we all have to nurture new ways of being ourselves to each other. Somewhere in the midst of all the recurring disdain that besets our relations, an ability to recognise the other in ourselves and ourselves in another presents a way out. The hardest idea to get your head around is that everyone is always doing their best, even when their best is terribly flawed.
What is the path beyond the flaws, faults and failures that will enable us to treat each other as if we are each doing our best, and to let all other starting points go? We must find our highest selves at that moment when we are most vulnerable or we walk the streets fragile and burdened, unable to be honest and forgive either ourselves or others or us all.
It's a way out that I need in my own life whether at work or in the women's movement or within family and friendships or simply within myself. We are a nation with so much potential and accomplishment, creativity and vision, and yet everywhere we seem guided by the petty tyranny of bitterness and pain. Perhaps, from the time we open our eyes, we can be willing to be responsible, careful and more patient with those whose hearts we carry in our hands. Perhaps, we can prepare ourselves to learn from the past and to recognise that all of us will make mistakes. Yet, we must be faithful to promises made, and know that all commitments are ultimately deals you make with yourself.
Each of us has to define our contribution to the world and to know well our non-negotiables, what it is impossible to live with and live without. All of us must also be prepared for the pains that accompany growing. Each one of us has had a difficult year. Each one of us has had moments we would not exchange for all the riches in the world. Each of us has to find a way to live in peace, but also to agitate against hunger, violence and injustice.
Each of us has to practice 'fasting of the heart', meaning learning to live with less and be happy. For me, this next year is about focus, balance, knowing how to transform myself and the world, and knowing when to let go. This is the real nitty-gritty stuff, always defined by the challenge to continue to see the magic in it all, particularly in the mundane of work, family and struggle, as if they are lit by that newly shining crescent moon.