#sparkchamber 122820 — Turn the Page

Another year of #sparkchamber wonder and whimsy, kismet and creative splendor is coming to a close. Stories shared this year feel all the more necessary, all the more nourishing amid the chaos and cataclysm that was 2020. For so many, the struggle to get through each day, looking to find light on the other side. Maybe a hidden opportunity was revealed, a different door opened. Or maybe there’s a glimmer of hope ahead, something almost in reach. Or maybe that darkest hour still looms. It’s all out there, all happening all the time.

But for sure, no matter what, whatever the objective reality of each moment is, the subjective perspective of it shades how it seems. Depending on how you look at it, things can appear brighter or darker. Glass half empty or glass half full. Pour that same liquid into a bigger glass and the same amount of fluid seems so tiny. Pour it into a smaller glass and your cup runneth over — and even that can be “good” or “bad” depending on the vantage point.

The one sure thing is that we’re about to rip off the last page of the 2020 calendar and turn the page to 2021. A year that has all signs pointing to better days. High hopes we have! But it doesn’t go from dark to light overnight. [Except, you know, literally.]

Last year, our year-end post was called Happy New Day. We had no idea what was ahead in 2020 — just like we have no idea what is in store for 2021. But the funny thing about perspective … all the words from last year still hold true. In fact, they may be truer than ever right now. Gentleness. Self-preservation. Keeping the pressure off. Finding your way in your own way.

And so, on this almost-a-new-year, we offer a little something from the long ago before-times, reposting from December 30, 2019.

It’s funny about a year. There’s something about the full circle. The earth traveling around the sun makes a year, and we all say, “Happy New Year!” There are resolutions and promises, goals and ambitions. And then, most of the time, nothing really happens. So much pressure on the stroke of midnight on one particular day! So much weight on big things announced in that moment for that year ahead.

But there’s no need to wait for New Year’s Eve to set a new course. We come full circle every day. “Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others.”

In the spirit of that Thich Nhat Hanh quote, let’s all say, “Happy New Day!” and make resolutions as needed. Tonight, tomorrow, next week … whenever is as good a time as any to resolve to move toward whatever change you want to see. It doesn’t have to be a whole big deal — change careers or re-paint the living room or write that novel — something that seems so impossible to finish that it’s almost not even worth getting started. But rather bite off just a day’s worth, an hour’s worth. “Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it,” wrote the philosopher René Descartes.

So maybe today you resolve to take a look at your resume. That’s all. Just find it, look at it. Tomorrow or the next day, maybe you resolve to scroll through some dream-job openings at an online site. No pressure, no action required. Or maybe today you resolve to get some paint swatches at the hardware store. In a couple of days, you can hold them up to the living room wall. Or maybe get a new throw pillow.

The idea is baby steps. Not being overwhelmed by the 365-day monster project, but the little-by-little doable chunks. And the joy that comes from getting each thing done. Because there’s no reason to wait to push reset. To daydream. To do the thing, or to undo the thing. There’s no magic about the first day of a new year. It’s just another day. Like every other day. The sun sets and then the sun rises — even on a foggy night and a rainy morning — the world turns and the next day comes. It’s always a new moment, and as T. S. Eliot wrote, “Every moment is a fresh beginning.” It’s always now, and now is good. So be here and look forward. Follow your light and take your time.

We are three days away from the eve of the start of a new year, and we wish each and every a happy next trip around the sun. But really, more importantly, Thursday eve starts a new day on Friday. And for that, we wish you all a happy, happy new day. And a happy new day after that. And the one after that, too.

1.] Where do ideas come from?

Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past, not from the abandonment of the past.

― Craig D. Lounsbrough; author, counselor

Reach forward to what lies ahead.

― Lailah Gifty Akita; author Think Great, Be great!

2.] What is the itch you are scratching?

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.

 — J.P. Morgan; financier, railroad magnate

Shine in any season of your life!

― Angelica Hopes; poet, lyricist, author Rhythm of a Heart, Music of a Soul 

3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth … not going all the way, and not starting.

— Buddha; teacher, philosopher, spiritual leader

Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.

— Robin Sharma, lawyer, author, speaker

4.] How do you know when you are done?

If I can’t stay where I am, and I can’t, then I will put all that I can into the going.

― Jeanette Winterson; writer, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished; that will be the beginning.

— Louis L’Amour; novelist

Rather than turning the page, it’s much easier to just throw the book away.

― Anthony Liccione, poet