The NeverEnding Cycles of Renewal

As I taste the bittersweetness of the end of one year and the exciting possibilities of the first day of a new one, I am feeling so many different emotions at once. It is hard to take down the tree and put away all of the little decorations that I love so much. It's hard to unwind the swags, clean up the wreaths and replace everything with something else.

So, I play my music, and I putter and place and I am reminded of the spiral that you can see here in this lovely basket from Uganda. It was a Christmas gift from my youngest daughter. The spiral, like yin and yang, like the light and the dark, swirls and blends and mutates along its path from one element, one stage to another. Because, it is handmade and a fair trade item as well, I am able to feel the cycle of balance within its cycles and circles, even more. There is a trio of steps in this process, a trinity, if you will, of united balance. The one who created, the one who gave and the one who received.

Our lives, too, are like spirals. We live within the constant context of change...the neverending cycle of renewal. So today, I take down the old, and usher in the new, I will allow myself to grieve the loss of the old, but welcome with an open heart..the many blessings of the new.

I allow myself to be nurtured by the songs, by the gifts and I see myself as part of the cycle. I am grateful for the gift, for the giving and for this New Year's Day.