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Winter Walk I got to spend the holidays in Finland with my family. On one of the first days of this new year, I went for a walk with my sister and her husband. The fresh snow and frost had covered everything with a white blanket. The sky was white too and it was hard to see where the horizon ended and sky started. My sister clasped my arm and exclaimed, "We are walking into a blank page – let’s see what God will do this year!" The visual in front of us could not have been stronger.
The change of the year marks a little pause and offers us a chance to reflect. It’s a reminder of the new blank page, another year here on earth, that is put in front of us and that we get to paint with God.
Rhythm for Reflection For the past several years I have gotten together with my prayer triad in a café around this time of the year. We have asked each other questions about our intentions, hopes and prayers for the year ahead. Last year I journeyed through an ‘Illuminated Life Booklet’ which a coach Claire Buswell authored, and as a result came away with a word for the year that provides intention and direction. My word for 2017 was ‘Cherish’. Oh, and there was so much cherishing to do! :)
This year I participated a Soul Care Winter Reflection run by a local church here in Denver. The way we were led to enter this year was by creating a 'vision board' magazine collage that reflects the vision or desire for who we want to be and become this year.
Life can get a bit crazy, busy and we tend to lose vision of what really is going on. Whatever it is that you do, I strongly encourage you to grab an hour or more and celebrate the gifts and grieve the losses of the past year. Then move to dream, envision and set intention for this new one. It doesn’t have to be a list of things to do or stop doing, or any other sort of resolutions. I have found that there is so much healing and power simply in the practice of reflection. In addition, a simple word, picture or other symbol that signifies some of your desire for the future can serve as a lamp post and do a lot in itself. Rather than a list of ‘should-dos’, what many of us need much more is a reminder of who we want to become.
May you walk into this year a heart filled with gratitude for the past and hope for the future.