new year

May You Continue... A New Year Wish

My wish for you is to claim witness to your own beauty
To continue to see yourself well beyond the filter of humanity
To nourish the subtle energy that flows through you
That sustains you, that transports you, that loves you
That is you

My wish is that you continue to offer yourself unfettered love
That you honor your practices of self care
The reverent practices of self sustenance
The practices that are kind
And may you splash that kindness outward

My wish for you is that you take your long spine out into your world
That you continue to stand proudly root to crown in your gracefully aging body
Releasing the petulant kinks that inhibit pranic flow
That you ground like the pines deeply and securely
Never toppling despite the threatening storm
Being a balanced inspiration for she who is untethered

My wish for you is that you continue to honor your unique power
By gently bestowing it outward
Pouring it into the inevitable pockets of weakness you will encounter
Continuing to be the steady unwavering beauty-drenched soul you are
These are my wishes for you today
And for the rest of your days

Tricia Schwaba 2024

For A New Beginning by John O'Donohue-- Preface by Maria Popova

There are moments in life when we are reminded that we are unfinished, that the story we have been telling ourselves about who we are and where our life leads is yet unwritten. Such moments come most readily at the beginning of something new.

To begin anything — a new practice, a new project, a new love — is to cast upon yourself a spell against stagnation. Beginnings are notation for the symphony of the possible in us. They ask us to break the pattern of our lives and reconfigure it afresh — something that can only be done with great courage and great tenderness, for no territory of life exposes both our power and our vulnerability more brightly than a beginning.

Maria Popova

For A New Beginning by John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

January

“And now let us welcome the New Year
Full of things that have never been. ”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
Blue swirls.png

“January, the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. Come, let winter weave her wondrous spell: cold crisp, woolen-muffler days, long dark evenings of savory suppers, lively conversations, or solitary joys. Outside the temperature drops as the snow falls softly. All of nature is at peace. We should be too. Draw hearthside. This is the month to dream, to look forward to the year ahead and journey within.”

From Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort & Joy Sarah Ban Breathnach