Yes, that’s me, the reluctant blogger but here I am attempting to blog again!! As the rest of you have moved into 2016, New Year resolutions in hand, I’m still not sure that I’m fully prepared to join in. My friends look at me askance when I share my sentiments, vainly attempt to reserve judgment, and then wonder aloud if I truly have any other options. But hey, who’s in charge of my life, right?? Who the heck decided that January 1^st,  a date smack dab in the middle of winter, right after a hectic religious holiday, had to be the beginning of the New Year? Isn’t this a time when we’d all do well to rest, to move inward and settle into the slow introspective, reflective rhythm of winter? Instead there’s a mad dash towards creating lists, goals and resolutions about how 2016 “should” unfold for us. I know I’ve moaned about goalsbefore but I’m talking about something a little different here.  I think we need to seriously consider that winter is a time to surrender, to slow down, to delve deeper into the unconscious, instead of actively battling our natural rhythms. At least that’s what I’m saying to myself these days!!

You can thank Julius Caesar for deciding to move from a lunar calendar to a Solar based one. He originally introduced the Julian calendar to the world, and instituted January 1 as the first day of the year. This was done partly to honor the month’s namesake, Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. This calendar closely resembled our modern day equivalent, the Gregorian calendar that most countries around the world use today.

In the days of old however, think ancient Mesopotamia and Persia, New Year’s was generally celebrated around the Spring Equinox, which falls in the middle of March, a date also revered throughout the middle Ages.  My people (the Parsis) continue to celebrate the New Year (Navroze) on March 21^st, and I’m beginning to really appreciate just how much sense that makes. Spring signifies new growth, rebirth, renewal, creativity in abundance and a bursting forth of joyous energy into the universe. Isn’t that when we should be thinking about our intentions for the future?

 So instead of struggling to make our lists in January, what if we paid more attention to the natural rhythms all around us, and listened to our inner guides a bit more? I’m not suggesting you simply slumber through the winter, but I am urging you to toss aside those lists for now, and to simply slow down and relish the surrender to your more primal and unconscious sensibilities. Let February be the months in which you truly allow your unconscious to do your work and allow yourself to rumble into juicy awakening in March allowing your truest and juiciest intentions to bubble forth. The cycles of birth, death and rebirth are all around us and one cannot exist without the other. So join me in surrendering through the rest of winter and allow yourself to luxuriate in the moments of deep rest and renewal.

As you step forward in this journey of surrender, I do hope you’ll join me in the Spring for a half-day Visioning workshop to celebrate and intentionally create a vision for your very own life, or at least for the next twelve months!! So toss those lists aside pronto and join me on Friday March 18^th right here in Davidson. I plan to keep this an intimate group, so Callor emailme to get details and reserve your spot. Your journey to Joyful, Vibrant, and Healthy living continues, the Moodi way!!