Choosing beginnings, wintering and the expansive quality of love
Thought Cookie, Edition 5: Volume 2
Thought Cookie, Edition 5: Volume 2
192 Words of This and That
“You may have a fresh start at any moment you choose.” This quote of Mary Pickford is one of my favorites of all time. Since I first heard it in grade school, it has been a mantra of mine. Whenever I feel I have screwed up, or things are moving off course, or I need more time to process something, I choose a new start. It’s comforting to me and spacious. I love that it’s about choice. It gives me room to generate a new attitude and perspective. The calendar year is not resonating for me, so I decided to choose another start. As I did my annual perusal of my calendar, I saw the lunar new year begins Feb. 12. That’s when this year will begin in earnest for me. It feels right. January is now a tumultuous and sacred transition time, a liminal space between what is and what will be. And I can let it be that. No one else knows when I need a fresh start, when one season ends and another begins in me -- or you. And so, let’s follow our own calendars of hope and choosing.
Reminder from the soul of truth: Starting anew or beginning fresh is reliant upon our ability to tune into ourselves and assess where we are and what we need. Beginning, arriving depends mainly on our willingness to see things another way, our ability to open and to reset ourselves for what we need.
Takeaway: “You may have a fresh start at any moment you choose,” says Mary Pickford. So do it. Choose it. It’s yours.
P.S. Quite often, people leave the Mary Pickford quote there. But it continues, “for this thing we called ‘failure’ is not the falling down, it’s the staying down.”
Inspiring morsel
Years ago, a thoughtful question came to me. I’m sure it was inspired by something I heard or read. The question was, “What season are you in right now?” I immediately became deeply interested in the concept of correlating seasons of life to seasons of nature. In our lives, they don’t have to appear in the standard order, they arrive when they arrive. Recently, I came upon a conversation on the podcast On Being with Katherine May, an English writer, about her latest book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. It struck the same reverberating bell tone as my first toe-dip into seasonal understandings of life. It’s a lovely interview, that gives us room to be in winter in order to replenish ourselves and our souls. Here’s what Katherine has to say: “Wintering is a metaphor for those phases in our life when we feel frozen out or unable to make the next step, and that that can come at any time, in any season, in any weather; that it has nothing to do with the physical cold.” Enjoy a listen.
From my bookshelves
This book has become a treasured companion for the last many months. When I read it, it always profoundly touches me, rearranges my heart and mind and gives me relief from the busy, squished life I live. Mark Nepo is an incredible human.
If Thought Cookie has helped you consider what season you are in and if you are ready to choose a new beginning, would you consider sharing it? And if you are moved to read more, please visit my full website. I’ll drop you another love note on Feb. 9.