Black-eyed Peas and Paradigms

On New Year's Eve, the warmer weather  was passing, with a cooler front coming in just behind it. This clearing is just a portent of the new front.

I ate my three spoonfuls of black eyed peas on January 1st, claiming a promise for the year with each one. I dutifully consumed a fair portion of collard greens to assure prosperity.

A favorite old wives tale is that New Year's Day's activities is the beginning of how the year will be.

Accompanied with lunch and a solitary toast with the leftover champagne, I reflected on what I was doing that day that I would be doing all year. I really had to dig because I was out in what is left of the wilderness of Florida, doing some of the heavy chores for a friend who had just had surgery,  and watching NCIS reruns, while the guys" were off hunting and checking out the 60,000 acres.

There wasn't too much I could do about the external situation. As for the rest, I was depressed and didn't want to be where I was. I didn't want a year of waiting on someone else's agenda and neither did I want to be off doing my own thing - alone as usual.

And most of all, I don't want to have to be spending the year wishing I was somewhere else, doing something different.

Last year, everything I attempted and accomplished, was a checking off one more slice of unfinished business on my bucket list. Lots to be done. Endless list. 

Last year, the doors of the past opened wide. Gratitude ruled every waking moment.  A great "No Matter What - You are Accepted_ reigned.  The Hallelujah Chorus was never performed with such passionate resolution.  

And here I am still alive to venture into another year.  Not what I had expected. Must have been that new pacemaker. This year, therefore,  there will be no bucket list to check off.

The edge of the two fronts on the northwestern horizon on New Year's Day

This year is an adventure into the unknown. Whatever I do, it will be because I'm enjoying the journey. I will only partake in that which makes me happy.  Selfish?  I do not believe so. Adventure and happiness are valuable dynamics for Spirit's health.

This shift in consciousness is like throwing away a perfectly good pair of shoes because they hurt my feet and are totally distracting me from the fullness of the moment.  I wouldn't want to wish that on anyone else, so I wouldn't even give them to the poor.

I'm going to explore being really happy this year. Increase the old bliss tolerance level, as Joseph Campbell would put it. That begins with having no expectations or conditions on what constitutes or doesn't constitute happiness. At the same time...

You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation. - Bette Davis

I'm on a treasure hunt. Just imagining a treasure hunt makes me happy.  I will go where I feel drawn to go and breathe in what feels right. I'm sure I came to this intention by the guidance of one of two of the maps my favorite spirit giants have shared. I am grateful for their gifts to the world and for the role model for happiness they provide.

What do I have to loose? The end of a paradigm. The adventure into a new one. Same journey. New dance.

Many friends have expressed this kind of shift occurring in their lives right now. How has it been manifesting in your life right now?