Fowler Trail, Eldorado Canyon – Colorado, U.S.A. Jabu and I once tried to ring in the new year among the heaving, confetti-dusted crowds of Times Square. It was cold and blustery that night. We’d traveled from Washington, DC, to be there. But, by the time we finished our meal in Brooklyn and made our way to the festivities, we were tired and unmotivated. We just wanted to welcome the new year as we’ve done nearly every year since–together and quietly. We caught the train south, with pleasure.
It was around that time, in the spirit of reflection, that I began setting resolutions for the new year. Simple things, like celebrating the small, beautiful stuff and dancing to my own music. I love the new year for these moments of introspection and aspiration, even when I don’t quite live up to my own hype. Embarking on a new journey around the sun is deliciously symbolic and inspiring.
The threshold–a point of entry or beginning. I’d learned its importance in a former professional life, while observing the work of master educators in public schools serving tough neighborhoods. The school’s front door, the circumference around a student’s desk, the entrance to the assembly area–these were thresholds held sacred. There were rituals associated with crossing them–like students shaking the principal’s hand each morning before entering the building–which symbolized their weight and signaled transition.
And as thresholds signify what is ahead, they also tell of what is behind.
On the threshold of 2018, I’m like Janus–head forward and vigilant. And head to the past in reverence. The past year was one of my most challenging and one of my best. It brought about a near total reorientation of my professional and personal outlook. Crossing the symbolic boundary into 2018, then, is as much about honoring and building upon what brought me to this point as it is about beginning anew. I have, really, just two aims for the new year, both drawing upon gains made in 2017:
- Complete the pivot. I started something special in 2017. Out of my career sabbatical grew strengths and dreams, which I did not know I was large enough to hold. Even as I return to the workforce and an exciting new job, the hard work of transformation and pursuing my dreams continues. I am still in pivot and I will finish.
- Remember the mountains. It’s hard to believe that I relocated to Denver from Miami exactly a year ago today. When I arrived here, I found my happy place, in the mountains. With sabbatical behind me, life resumes a degree of busyness and complexity. Completing my pivot and remaining true to the spirit that inspired my career break will require daily embodying the peace of the mountains and regularly seeking their inspiration and solace. If pivoting propels me forward, the mountains will be my anchor.
The prospect of renewal in the depths of winter is irresistible. I’m starting fresh by nurturing seeds already planted.
What are your resolutions?
Happy new year!
