To be present – A new beginning

As the world’s timer switch marks the end of one calendar year and the beginning of a new one, we automatically enter a position of temporary pause, in anticipation, a crossing, a threshold that has to do with experience. Our personal and collective rituals and all that we habitually do at this point in time become perceptions, turn our vision inwards and into the future, depending on our vantage point. Collective moments of a ‘ritual’ and a kind of initiation process, coordinated with greater intensity with two extreme poles of experience (togetherness and distance). The experiences that unite us, that bring us closer, and those that divide and alienate us. Those we move away from, or leave behind, and those we are going to or wishing to encounter. So, this moment, regardless of the proximity and distance that distinguishes it, is an in-between space, surrounded by wishes, with several messages; some seem fake and superficial, some hold true meaning. Nevertheless, the end of the year feels like a good moment for personal decisions or resolutions to be made. We feel more strongly that the future is in front of us, and the question of how this may be viewed, predicted, controlled and defined becomes more pertinent.

Astrology does not necessarily align with this timer as it studies celestial bodies that are in constant motion, represent energy, the way it is expressed, and how this may correlate with terrestrial events and human behavior. Astrology is more closely aligned with the changes of the seasons, the Solstices and Equinox points. A marked change of temperament and the way life is organized and lived, is certainly more evident at the start of every season.

Therefore, the end of each calendar year holds as much of its own unique significance as any other date in time, in the same way that each birth or beginning captures something potentially unique. Through this perspective, nothing really ends, yet something new is born that carries potential and evolves over time. Every moment in time is telling a story about a potentiality. If we truly feel the significance of this, then every moment we potentially have the power to change something, it can be as small as our mood, and as big as a radical change in our mindset, relationships, vocation or lifestyle. What is required for this to feel meaningful, is being present, heart, mind, body and soul.