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The Magic of Beginnings

Here’s a thought I’d like to share…

And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. ~ Meister Eckhart

When I came home from work, the railings on the back deck were gone. Only the flat deck remained. No rails. No boundaries. No limits.


Jeff, a talented and hardworking craftsman, had removed the railings in order to repair them. I knew that was going to happen, but what I didn’t know, was how different it would look – how open it would feel – how the openness would make me feel.


All of a sudden, I had this burst of inspiration. I saw options for that outside space that I had not seen before (or at least not in many years).  I felt creative. It even inspired me to want to rearrange the furniture inside. It made me hungry to clean out, clean up, and open up.


Isn’t it interesting how clearing out makes us eager to start something new? Like the energy that is freed up when you clean out a closet, a garage, a drawer. Just making space where none was before shifts our energies.


I think it’s the same with the new year; we finish one year, it’s done, over, gone.  The spaces on the calendar are clean – open. The new year is replete with possibilities and potential. This is the impetus for resolutions and the fuel for change.


However, after only a day, I laughed at all the big ideas I had about changing the furniture, the deck, my world. And aren’t we like that, too, about resolutions and our drive to make changes? We laugh at our grand ideas, and we begin to scoff at resolutions.  We get cynical about the possibility of true change simply because we failed to act on an impulse of the heart. Our head stop us. Our past mistakes tell us we’re silly. We go “realistic,” shut down the inspiration, and go back to our same old – same old. (As if THAT is the more adult thing to do.)


But it doesn’t have to end like that. Magic CAN happen!


So, yes, I laughed at my grand ideas, but I did not laugh at the energy that was sparked. It was a good feeling and I wanted to explore it. I paused, truly paused (for me this meant meditation time), and listened to the old “bah hum bug” thoughts play out. I realized the habit energy of giving up, so I wouldn’t have to face the possibility of failing or not doing it well enough, was so strong and mostly unconscious, but not written in stone. I am more awake these days. I know that in the space of a real pause, I can make skillful and inspiring choices.


And although I didn’t revamp my world, a cool shift remained. I had a felt-experience of the importance of creating space in a very literal way, and it reminded me of what I know so well: It is only in emptying out that we are able to be filled. This is one of the basic premises of meditation – we get still, allow a settling of our minds, a clearing of the churning energy of thoughts, and we experience spaciousness, and in that spaciousness, creativity arises – an ability to come into a new way of seeing.


I know that I can harness the momentum of “new” if I get rid of some old. Jeff will replace the deck railing with new, clean, sound railings. I will clean out some areas that have been long neglected, and doing that will generate the energy to create newer, lighter, more sound spaces.


Harness this auspicious NEW that is inherent in the new year. Clean out something and see what opens up.


Don’t scoff. Don’t go cynical. Just get rid of some stuff. Create space.


Wishing you the energetic shift that comes with taking down what isn’t useful and getting rid of what no longer serves you,


Namaste, Augusta

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