2009 A Retrospective

Usually at this time of year people are all focused forward making lofty lists of the things that they will accomplish in the coming year. Listmaking has never worked for me. I see that whole long list and it overwhelms me to the point of stasis. Instead, I take a single task and work on that until it is done and then move on to the next thing. Generally I start with the one I want to do the least - the biggest toad. Once that toad is out of the way, things get easier and the toads smaller. And whatever I get done is exactly what needed to be done that day. I don't know why lists bother me like that, but they do. So I don't make a list. But I do set intentions for the upcoming year. I do that in July near my birthday as the wheel of MY year turns anew bc that makes sense to me. Once the intentions are set I don't obsess about them, but kind of let them ride, goosing the intention when it feels I have drifted away.

This time of year for me is about letting go. Winter is the best time for deep internal work the kind fomented by less outdoor distraction and an overwhelming desire to hibernate and skate thru winter in the Dreamtime. A mental/spiritual house cleaning if you will. What have I acquired this year that I don't need? What am I no longer using that should be passed on? What have I outgrown? Whose crap did I scoop up that wasn't mine? The past few weeks I've been digging around in the back of the closet making decisions about some of those things. Lots of help from my peeps and my friends. It seems things were discarded more gently this year. Even the most suck ass things were dealt with compassionately. When I reached the end of what I could do (not what's on the list), I felt lighter and happier. Of all the things I discovered on my interior archeological expedition I decided to keep only 3 things. I kept the laughter. I kept the joy. And I kept the love. Because one can NEVER have enough of those. Not ironically those are the three things that are part of my every day intention setting (think of it as the Physics of Prayer 101). Good to see how many times those intentions have brought exactly what I asked for this year. I have been especially blessed with an abundance of laughter this year.

My intentions are set and in place. My house is clean (at least my spiritual house). And I am ready to face 2010 head on.