I found this haiku online many months ago, and put it in my calendar on today`s date as a treat to myself….
Year’s end, all
corners of this
floating world, swept.
– Matsuo Basho
I love the idea of sweeping out the corners of your own individual world to welcome a new year. To begin a new year with a sparkling new perspective and a gleaming home (whatever home is to you) seems much more productive to me than our traditional resolutions. Resolutions seem to imply that everything about you is less than optimal and needs to change, while a thorough `sweeping` feels like you have removed your barriers and your excuses and the debris of the past and you alone stand ready to face the challenges a new year will undoubtedly throw at you.
For myself, I see this as both a literal and a figurative thing. I am already in the process of removing all extraneous objects from our home, and the pending move (just a few more weeks!) has just kicked that impulse into high gear. We will be starting a new year in a new home and I don`t want to drag any meaningless luggage from the past with me. On a more cerebral level, I will try to stop wasting time thinking about past mistakes (mine and others) and past decisions that no longer apply. We all know you can`t change the past, but it takes real effort and conscious awareness to let it go. May 2014 be a time of productiveness, and awareness, and a chance to surround yourself with love, simplicity and beauty.
So, Happy New Year to you all. If you have any traditions or rituals or something brand new to ring in this new year, I would love to hear about it.
Bettermental 