Living with an Open Heart

Gift of Memories                                                                                Catherine Al-Meten

As New Year, 2013 begins, we are again at a threshold between the past and the present, yesterday and tomorrow. Turning points are times that offer us stillness and time to pause and reflect, if we are so inclined.  New Year's is always a time for me to reflect, clear out, and prepare, to process what has happened, and to wonder about what lies ahead. New Year's, the holiday, follows a nearly two-month period of holy days and celebrations, and the accompanying expectations, stress, and building levels of anxiety and concern for "getting it right" for some, and for finding a way to 'get through' for others.  I too have my own set of expectations, and stress-related anxieties. We have arrived at an end to the year and most of the celebrations. My own experiences of the holy days differs year to year, and this year I found a peaceful way to embrace the fullness of the holy withouth driving myself or anyone else over the edge. Each year, I discover a little more about how to live in the present, and to deal with my own unrealistic expectations of what life is supposed to 'be' like. Now the passage of time brings us to another turning point in time, the end of last year and the beginning of the new.  

Threshold times revolve around passages. We pass from one year into another, or we embark on a new journey. We might begin or complete a project. We might alter the way we live, or set out on a course of discovery or set off on an adventure. At the threshold, we consider what we are leaving behind, and what we have gleened from the past that we can carry forward with us. We notice what has left our lives, or what we have accumulated or chosen that now needs to be integrated into our lives. We look at what about ourselves, we need to repair, tend to, nurture, heal, strengthen, or love more tenderly.  We search our souls and psyches to ask the questions that matter most to us as we prepare for a new start. For some, it has to do with taking better care of ourselves. I've heard from many who are begining dietary cleanses, or starting new diets. Others are getting prepared to get more fit. Still others are looking for creeds, codes, and omens to guide their paths. What is it that you are gathering for your journey into 2013? 

This morning I awoke with several thoughts humming through my brain.  "listen more closely", "count your blessings", "walk more mindfully in each moment", and "open your heart to be more receptive to what gifts are coming your way". "Focus on the little pieces of each big day, each big project, each big event, and capture the elusive heart of each matter." I read my friend Carlos' blog this morning, and he beautifully captured a series of simple blessing times he had experienced over the last year. I recall him talking about each one, and I thought as I read his piece, "Being grateful is the key and the real motivator that propells us forward and gives life  its wholeness." So before setting forward, I plan on looking back to create my own blessing list, and to be grateful for all that my life has blessed me with on the journey this past year.

Next, in preparing for the future, I know it is important to identify not so much what I hope will happen, but how I am living in each moment.  What I have learned about life is that no matter what my expectations, plans, or dreams be, life unfolds in its own singularly special, magical, and beautiful way.  When I put my intentions out, I must do so without knowing exactly how what I desire is going to return to me. If I hold onto too tightly to a vision of how a wish, desire, or dream comes into being, I block my way, and may not notice how I am receiving just what I need in just the right way. The special moments in our lives come about in surprising, unexpected ways and at times when we least imagine they will. By opening our minds, hearts, eyes, and consciousness to what is on the path with us, what is right in front of us, and what is within us brewing, bubbling to the surface,  waiting to be born into being, we miss the fragile truth of the present. 

So as this new year begins, my desire is to be more present in each moment, the be grateful each day for what is and is not part of my life, and to notice and affirm all the blessings that are already creating the magic of life, love, creativity, and connection for my life. As I dip my ladle into the bubbling cauldron of love, beauty,  and relationship, I am nourished and filled with purpose, connection, and gratitude. 

Life is full of purpose, fulfillment, and meaning in direct proportion to how I acknowledge and embrace how blessed each day, each moment, and each connection is.  The ongoing birth of Creation is in part, what we make of the wonderful gift we each have to rise each day to a new chance to live from love, compassion, and a willingness to honor the gift of Life we have been given. We are each special, filled with magic that only we can express. The sooner we discover our special gifts, the sooner we can open them, put them on, and share them with the world as a way to bring more beauty, peace, hope, and love into being.  My fellow photographer and writer friends understand this. We speak through images that show what we love most or share our adventure for life. Through our art, our music, our writing, we express something of the Divine, something of majesty, to sing Alleluja and say "Yes!" to Life. 

Setting forth on a journey, beginning a new adventure, or starting a new relationship guarantees that the change in our life will be fraught with surprises, challenges, and twists and turns.  At the threshold, we invoke, through prayer, the protection, guidance, and insight needed on the path we are on. Through prayers, reflection, and meditation, we place ourselves into submission before the power of the Divine, the vastness of possibilities, and the daily surrender we make to whatever lies ahead. We know we have what we need for the journey, and we know we will learn, grow, and blossom from the challenges, knowing in our hearts that  "As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end."
We may not know what lies ahead, nor may we know what we are meant to do each day, but we know we are gifted and blessed for whatever the journey holds for us. 

Today I begin anew, living from my heart and from a place of love. I live with the gifts of grace that we each have if we listen to our hearts and notice what blessings fill us and our lives already. Open yourself to receive what gifts are meant for you, and live without having to know the way it will all turn out. Live with the adventure and surprises of Life, and have a wonderful New Year.