A Time for Reflection and Choosing Positive Intentions

I woke up this morning and spent a leisurely morning corresponding with friends and answering e-mails after a big breakfast and my favourite dark roast coffee.  I was searching for an idea for a blog posting since New Years Eve seems the time for thoughtful contemplation of the year just ending and finding hope and inspiration for the coming year.

I talked on the phone with both old and new friends and messaged with my muse who is off on her own ride this New Years.  We will be physically apart. But, like all deep friendships, we will still be tied and together in thought, spirit, and emotions this evening as we enter a new year with nothing but unlimited hope for ourselves, our friends, and the intention to be ourselves while living life to the fullest in the coming year.

As I reflected on friends and the real ones who are still with me today after all the trials and heartache of the past year, I recalled a poem I had written in 1999 during another time of major upheaval in my life and another time when the support of friends and loved ones carried me through to a Brand New Day.

Bless me with your presence in the twilight

A silhouette of your essence

Cast against the wall of my garden

Bless me with your quiet persuasion

When my steps falter

Under the burden of our separation

Bless me with your serenity in the turmoil

Of our crazy love

That rages through my soul

Bless me with your view on life

A balance to my views

That makes me look deeper

Bless me with your unconditional love

That knows no borders

That transcends my own limitations

The poem starts in the twilight that is aloneness and the garden is the walled state of being constrained by my attachments to the past and what I pre-conceived what the future should be rather than what it could be.  The presence of love and friendship in my life though relieves the darkness and I am comforted by the knowledge I am not really alone but have those dear to me also in the garden.  I can see them in silhouette.  Friends and the presence of love in our lives is a Blessing.  And today I am doubly Blessed with friends and with Love.

The words and the thoughts our friends hold for us in their hearts help keep our perspective and inspire us to keep moving in the direction of our dreams hopes and aspirations.

Significant changes in our personal lives can be tumultuous.   Loves unbounded energy and joy can also create its own form of chaos as we seek the alignments and timing that will allow the love to grow and flourish into a mutually rich and enduring experience.  I am Blessed with a Dear Friend whose serenity and calmness grounds me in this time of great joy and change.  I am grateful to have such a beautiful and understanding soul in my life.

Remembering the lines from the Jackson Browne song Two of Us, Two of you, the need to see beyond my own views to the views and the values of both friends and loved ones is acceptance to create the space for the “Two of You” so rather than split apart the love or friendship, I create space for healthy growth.  Yes I am Blessed by another point of view that causes me to look deeper and be more accepting so I can get rid of those damn attachments.

I am particularly Blessed at this time with a Dear Friend who has a deep unconditional love for friends and loved ones.  I am Blessed to be her friend.  She is opening my heart and mind to think and feel past my own limitations and attachments.  Reading my Facebook messages and on BON I am also Blessed with beautiful friends who are there for me.  Good and real friends and family love in a manner that is unconditional because it accepts the “me” in “I” for what I am; warts and all.

So as 2010 draws to an end and 2011 is at the door, I see the New Year as a Brand New Day; Listening to Sting last night and remembering his concert I saw at the Mountainview Shoreline Amphitheater, I hear the words:

How many of you people out there
Been hurt in some kind of love affair?
And how many times did you swear
That you'd never love again?
How many lonely, sleepless nights?
How many lies, how many fights?
And why would you want to
Put yourself through all of that again?

"Love is pain," I hear you say
Love has a cruel and bitter way of
Paying you back for all the faith you ever had in your brain
How could it be that what you need the most
Can leave you feeling just like a ghost?
You never want to feel so sad and lost again

Many of my friends are going through tough times in their lives and love can seem elusive at best or no longer desirable at worst.  The symbolism of the New Year and the chance for rebirth and formulating new intentions for a happier and completely authentic “you”  is a call to action for me and I hope all my friends who may be hurting at this time or feeling alone.  It is a time to form new intentions and to offer thanks upon reflecting on your past year and the experiences that have come your way.

We can turn this ship around
We'll go up instead of down
You're the pan and I'm the handle
You're the flame and I'm the candle

Stand up all you lovers in the world
Stand up and be counted every boy and every girl
Stand up all you lovers in the world
We're starting up a brand new day

And some final thoughts in a verse that is just flowing now:

I count each memory and experience

With you like pearls on a string

Each with its unique hue and lustre

As I reflect on our times together

And the times that will be

As we search for the path

Past the bend of New Years

To that final pearl on our string

To all my friends, family, and to my Dear Friend who I cannot be with tonight, I am grateful for all of you and I am indeed Blessed to have each of you in my life and I know 2011 will be for me a Brand New Day.