NEW CALENDARS

To begin with, I've decided I need to get myself out there into cyberspace a little more than I have of late. So here's a couple of links to my creative and crafty showcases:           3Cs Shop on Etsy.com    and my Facebook site

Now that shameless self-promotion has been dealt with, let's get onto to our next post here...

First Month 

Do you remember learning the months of the year? Was it in school or at home? We always had a large calendar on the kitchen wall near the phone, as I recall. It was just white and black, no pictures of waterfalls or cats or anything, just the days and dates with enough room to scribble important events and appointment times. It was a handy thing that I don't see around anymore. A pencil dangled from a string in front of it, which was even handier. What I'm getting at is that I KNEW of the names of the months but hadn't really LEARNED the months of the year until I was taught it in school. 

I don't think I'm alone in that I tended to imbue everything with a personality when I was very young, even words and numbers. For example, the number 5 seemed a bit cross to me, while the number 2 was an affable sort of fellow. Silly? Perhaps. The months' names seemed to suggest something to me as well. January's name (before I knew anything about root words or semantics) meant happy times to me; February - a bit severe; March, a mixed bag; and April, very fresh and lively. May is my birth month, and it seemed a gentle and kind one. June was freeing for so many reasons (summertime, no school,swimming) not the least of which was the letter J appearing again after nearly half a year (I always liked the letter J). I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but you get my drift, I think. 

This January of 2014 (personally, my 59th January) again makes me think "happy times" even though so much has gone on that could certainly argue for a different view of things. I remain estranged from my nursing career; I remain overweight and not in the best shape; I continue to struggle with my writing, finding all manner of excuses to leave manuscripts unfinished or needing "touch-ups" so I avoid the submission process and subsequent rejection notices; I continue to have a conversation with myself that never seems to end regarding what my passion in life truly is. So, the "happy times" that January tells me it is bringing is based more on faith and trust and hope than reality, in my life anyway. 

What about a new year is new anyway? 

Aside from the addition of one number to the date, what makes anyone think January first brings us anything new? Lots of people make those resolutions. They get on the band wagon for  new diets and more or different types of exercise, eating healthier, vowing to get outdoors more or take the stairs instead of the elevator. You know the routine. In my 59 years, I've broken more than my share of resolutions, so I quit making them years ago. Not that setting goals is out of my repertoire, I just don't set them to the timing of the coming of January first. But to those who do, I wish you the best and most success. 

To me, every day is new. The sun rises, the birds start singing and the day begins - anew! Each morning is an opportunity to thank God for it. To be grateful for the power to be all we can be if we put forth the effort, is a feeling that dawns with the light of day. As a former nurse, I know not everyone is on such a schedule; but I can imagine a night nurse who opens her "morning" eyes to a nighttime sky, full of stars and constellations, arousing the same emotions of gratitude and humility that the sunrise does in me. It's all relevant, in that respect. 

Here's what each new year brings, in my mind: 
Another opportunity to plant in the springtime, weed and tend all summer,and harvest when the time comes. This is how my earth sign (Taurus) brain works.
And I  think about sowing seeds of love and hope in the world outside of the garden in my yard. Sharing what's great about my life with others in an effort to bring about good things in the garden that we call our neighborhoods and communities. As with planting seeds, we rarely end up with a fruitful harvest if we don't revisit those seedlings and do some cultivation and weeding, occasionally watering. Often, in our absence, insects or scavengers invade and decimate all within the garden walls. 

Actual seeds sometimes plant themselves. No help from the gardener/farmer, but with help from rain, wind, birds & insects, animals and unknowing people. Similarly, seeds of love are planted  - rain as tears, shared in times of trouble; wind as words, spoken in peace and to comfort the hurting; birds & insects as a spirit of caring that allows us to discern those in need ; animals as things done for the greater good without thought of reward; and people as a vehicle for bringing forth goodness, whether meaning to or not. If growth and goodness can come that way, how magnified it can be when the gardener/farmer makes the effort to do so! 

Vigilance is necessary when tending a garden, and even with that, no harvest is 100% assured. Yet, we still choose to grow things from the soil with our own two hands, don't we? And we still hope that our words and actions somehow make the world a better place. Most of us are eternal optimists, gardeners or not. Thank God for the optimists, thank God for the gardeners and farmers, and thank God for the new year in which to bring more goodness, more peace, more caring to all the world, near and far. Happy New Year, everyone.