CEREMONY

In ceremony the pictures of my heart could be seen without my having to speak much about them, and I sighed with relief at being deeply known.    

                                                                         Kissed By A Fox by Priscilla Stuckey

January 1, 2014 is a gift I still am receiving. A blessing to sit in circle with friends tucked in our respective places of nature, engaged via the modern miracle of media conferencing. As a gift, Andrea tells this year’s story in A New Start. On our call, she said, "We always get a do-over;" I felt a chill. We all get a do-over; none of our best efforts gone awry trashed? We all get do-overs. That is the beauty of January 1. 

I have been in the business of granting others and myself do-overs. But, I was unprepared for my recent do-overs. Ready to ramp up reorganizing my work life, I was halted. Move in a new direction something deep inside urged. Friends and mentors told me to write poetry and stories. I told them that my life is serious; I have obligations. Writing needs to wait. Not so said the poems and stories that flooded in. In my holiday blog, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE BREATH, I did write of my trip to Sacred Camel Gardens. It was interlude.

That is what my life begged for, more interludes. What is an interlude? "A short piece inserted between the parts of a longer composition." 

I had been in the practice of giving forth my best contribution in answer to needs requesting to be met. Somewhere in the middle of a sentence, a hand was placed over my mouth and that practice curtained. 'Receive more give less,' was the message. Huh, I thought I was both receiver and giver. Not so was the reflection back. 

New Year's Day, a wealth of gifts, all unexpected pours in. My neighbor’s best Vegetarian Pazole. My niece and nephew and families present additional holiday gifts. Home late, I discover a gluten free brownie hanging like an ornament on my door handle. A host of fire logs on my back porch just because she told me. Add to this being whisked off the following day by another friend to our favorite Indian restaurant gifted more with Tibetan incense, to start the New Year off right. My heart is full from New Year Day Ceremony and the accompanying cornucopia.

This magnificent interlude: gifts prancing in from all fronts, a compelling break from old life, in the midst of its vast do-over, is this bridge to 2014. I said, "yes" to these gifts like the little Shih Tzu, who stayed with me recently, shyly creeping down the hallway when invited in for a cuddle. It’s like that you know; receiving is delicate business. It is an unbridling interlude to new life.

That is how my new year is progressing. How about yours? I don't know what 2014 holds. It is clear it is secured and full of abundance.