New Year's Eve 2010

The death of the old, the birth of the new.  Each year, each day, each breath we take is an opportunity to start again.

2010 may have been a difficult year for many, but no matter how challenging, there is always the possibility of turning things around,  of beginning anew.  We are evolving , just as the world we inhabit is evolving, and our wellbeing depends upon the wellbeing of everyone else, and of the universe itself.  We are all interconnected and part of the whole.  As the poet Francis Thompson put it - 'One could not pluck a flower without the troubling of a star.'

Old habit patterns can keep us stuck and prevent us from living life more fully - we are unavailable to both the present and the future.  Letting go of restricting beliefs and behaviours, and adopting nurturing ones, frees us up to experience the world in all its richness.  As the old year draws to an end,  let us say 'yes' to life and all its potential.

If we want to feel truly alive and awake to a  future brimming with possibilities, we need to create time and space in our lives to connect with the source of life.  Nothing could be easier - it's as simple as breathing.  Consciously watching the breath rise and fall, just like tuning a radio, we shift to the divine wavelength and allow a deeper spiritual consciousness to flow.  When we find the time to do this on a regular basis, our perspective on life changes and our world is made new.

Crises that we may have experienced this last year can be seen as wake-up calls prompting us to review our lives and perhaps put more balance back into them.  Hopefully as more and more people feel this is what they want, and begin to live with greater awareness, our world will become a more compassionate one and we will fulfil our destiny, shining like the stars we truly are.

Wishing you health, happiness and peace for 2011.

Winter Solstice 21 December 2010

Rare astronomical event

Not since 21 December 1638 has there been a total lunar eclipse coinciding with a solstice!  This rare cosmic event sees the Earth casting a shadow on the moon which will be visible from 4 continents. In the past such an event might well have been viewed as a blessing.  So why shouldn't we?

With the Northern Hemisphere in the grip of winter, and snow, ice and freezing fog making us shiver, another  way of looking at this Winter Solstice is as an auspicious time to renew ourselves. We can let go of negativity and what no longer works in our world and look forward to the future and the birth of the new.

Signs of positive change

It's been a challenging year for everyone, but however insurmountable the problems may seem, there is no reason to be downcast.  All around us there are signs of positive change.  A natural process of death and rebirth is unfolding on our planet today.
  


The Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, was celebrated in Britain long before the arrival of Christianity.  Many cultures recognize this time as one of great significance in the annual calendar, marking it with rituals, festivals and holidays. Birth and rebirth are common themes of these celebrations.  Amidst the darkness the light emerges, bringing hope for the future.

We have a choice

As we move towards the celebrations of Christmas and New Year, it's vital to keep alive meaningful traditions whilst at the same time embracing new and different ideas.  So many people are longing for a ray of hope amidst the gloom.  As surely as the sun rises each morning and eclipses come and go, we can put our trust in life's processes.  All we have to do is to look at things differently and reframe the problems and crises.  We have a choice either to hold on to the past and the old ways that aren't working, or to open ourselves up to new ideas and possibilities of a more compassionate way of living.

May your heart be filled with peace and love this season of theWinter Solstice.

An opportunity for change

We're living through extraordinary times of change, with economic uncertainty, climate change, social unrest and political upheavals never far from our news screens.  But chaos is nothing new - we always face uncertain times. Nothing stays the same for long and there is little we can rely, on external to ourselves, as constant.

But as the yin-yang symbol in Chinese philosophy reminds us,the opposite is always enfolded in the other, thus  within the darkness there is always the seed of light, and vice-versa.  Out of chaos and uncertainty something is always being born.

The seasons are constant reminders of the ebb and flow of life.  Looking out on my garden - an unusual snowy panorama for the UK in November -  I'm aware that much is taking place in the ground that I cannot see.  Roots and new growth are there if not visible, while Autumn's decay has been cut down and composted for next year's blooms and produce.  So too our experiences, however difficult and painful, can be transmuted into the rich matter of wisdom.  New life can be born out of old.

We are continually in a state of evolution.  In each moment there is an opportunity to change ourselves in some way.  We need courage to adapt to a changing world, and vision to make it a better one.  The crises we face are a wake-up call to a saner way of living.  That path begins with us turning inwards and connecting with the source of all life.  Only then can we hope for a better future.

The Happy Planet Index

The combination of icy blasts from the Arctic and a tightening of our belts for a period of austerity is hardly likely to make us feel happy.  That's if we think happiness is about things external to ourselves.  Even if we lived in permanently sunny weather, had plenty of money, good friends and family, and a rewarding job, ie. all the things that many people wish for, we could still find ourselves unhappy. 

Happiness is by its very nature elusive, and can really only be appreciated if we have experienced unhappiness.  Like two sides of the same coin, or light and dark, or heat and cold, duality is the nature of our existence. 

There has been much mocking from the cynics about the proposed 'Happiness Index' - a shame really since this is a step in the right direction.  Why not GWB (general wellbeing) instead of GDP (gross domestic product) as a measure of a nation's success?  It's worked in Bhutan and Costa Rica, two countries where the populations are happier than the rest of us, according to the Happy Planet Index.

The self-help movement has also been derided, but many people's lives have been changed for the better by books and teachers who have shared their insights.  No bad thing to learn that real happiness is in the end down to us.

Happiness is not dependent on how much income we have, or how beautiful, successful or famous we are, as our materialistic culture so often encourages us to think.  Whilst happiness is not a human right and the pursuit of happiness per se is pointless, we can certainly find happiness, but only if we look for it in the right place - within ourselves.

Meanwhile, let's welcome new initiatives that encourage debate and make us think about how we might have a society that puts less store in materialistic values.