Last night as I sat in bed, I held 2013 in my hands. It was a sphere, thrumming with promise. It felt familiar, akin to my days contemplated most mornings between dreaming and waking. We have so many beginnings.
I used not to bother making anything of the yearly changeover but I increasingly see it as an opportunity (albeit a randomly human-assigned one) for reflection, a hinge between times that invites a pause.
Today I loosed the new year to unspool in front of me. I know something of how it will unwind but I shall be both shaping it and surprised by it. One contour I know already is The BB’s and my move to England in March. I shall write of it here amidst my travel reflections and Porridge updates.
In the meantime, I consider. Ideas are handed to me. Both The BB and a child happened to note, over the last few days, how I am, things I do. Three things right there that benefit no-one, even impinge on one, to which I can attend. Self-knowledge and change are a service to oneself and to others, as well as a pleasure.
This day I contemplate goals, a hallmark of change. People who achieve much, plan, as far as I can discern. They are organized. I have been distrustful of goals as things that restrict but I see that if the thrumming is not to dull, I need to embrace them whilst honouring that part of me that desires to roam unfettered by such prosaic matters. Living this is the liberating tension that the clarity and regeneration of a new year brings.
So, I take what this time offers: a vantage point, a moment.
Thank you, thank you for ‘reading me’ in 2012. Your visits – commented, liked or silent – mean a lot to me.
Best wishes and let us live by our own thrumming in 2013.
These images are from my daytrip from San Francisco to Yosemite.
The World is My Cuttlefish 
That whole thing about being organised. It’s a challenge, isn’t it!? Love the reflectiveness in this post 🙂 All the best to you for the path ahead.
Alarna Rose, I recall the words of my high school physics teacher, “The natural state of life is chaos. Everything returns to it.” Now, I’m not sure what the mathematicians say about that (something to research in all my new-found, newly-organised time) but some days it really does seem to be the case. Happy and fulfilling 2013 to you.
What a lovely piece this is; thoughtful, generous and full of kind-heartedness…..
(From Frip, someone who ran another blog before, about Lyon, France. We used to follow each other before I stopped that blog for one reason or another (see your response th the post you commented on yesterday (this morning?) It’s lovely to be back on your site again, and I wish you a wonderful 2013…)
Oh, that is you! I wondered when I saw the mention of Lyon. How nice to have you back. Best wishes for 2013 and thank you for your encouraging words.
Your photographs and words offer you vantage points, and this post is thoughtfully composed. The last image seems a good summary–showing reflections that ease through us and yet add to who we are. This beginning has inspired you. I’m fortunate to be able to watch your journey.
Words used to be my vantage point but I see photographs creeping in and beginning to play a role. I didn’t expect that but you may have, since you use both to great effect in your blog.
This “blogging” journey that we travel brings serendipity and helps to steer our direction. Even with my focus from my blog’s inception it has (in some ways) been reinvented. It’s a marvelous experience. Thanks for your comment.
Ha, organisation, my downfall every time. However, spontaneïty is a real plus in life, too… I think we are all the way we are for a reason, and have given up on trying to be a filofax on legs. Have a lovely 2013, and keep the beautiful photos coming!
Lol, yes, though, maybe just a touch more of the Filofax for me. Happy new year to you too.
Thank you for the journey to Yosemite whilst reading and digesting and very largely agreeing with your thoughts. What pricelessly beautiful photos . . .We are all individulas: what works for one need not for another. Goals never restrict me, they give me a base, a security . . . and I have plenty in the category for 2013!
“Goals never restrict me, they give me a base, a security.” Perfect summing up, Eha. This is how they feel now to me. I have to be more organized and disciplined in working towards them. Do you have a method? (And, of course, I am most curious about your goals themselves. Anything you can share?)
[Laughing] When you are the only child of a an army officer lawyer and a rather wellknown accountant, you get organization and discipline drummed into you from the time you manage to stand on your two feet 🙂 ! And you must remember that famous saying ‘Give me a child for the first seven years of its life . . . .’ Inborn, inbred, but am not neurotic about it! After some humongously difficult years just past my main goal actually is to balance life better this year and take time to ‘be kind’ to myself, never mind what is happening elsewhere just at that moment 😀 !
Lovely thoughts, Cuttlefish, as always. Sounds like big changes are in the works for you – for us as well. Looking forward to ‘reading you’ in the coming year. Cheers!
Thank you, FNFF. I’m going to pop on over to find out what is afoot for you.