New Beginnings - a scrapbook of lessons delivered from the universe on starting again

At love,, as we shift through each season and look ahead at the year to come, Kelly thoughtfully curates inspiration that captures not just the time of year, but how we are relating to it as individuals and what we want to bring forth into the world. 

The concept, New Beginnings, was penned months ago.  Since then, the universe has unfolded with lessons and signs of what it means to start anew.

New Beginnings 

Peter and I love an escape from the cold winters of Pittsburgh, and our favorite way to do that is with a sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands.  We've had a lot of great boat names in the past (Defying Gravity one of my personal favorites), and when we found "New Beginnings" available for charter, I knew it had to be our boat. 

We landed on one of green gems floating in the Caribbean sea and made our way to the marina.  In the calm quiet harbor of Nanny Cay, we hopped onto "New Beginnings," for a night of rest before starting our journey the following morning. 

Just as soon as we saw open water the winds picked up, a shock from the well protected marina that had hosted us the night before.  The conditions instantly tested our skills as sailors.  We were learning new equipment on the fly, and didn't get the break we expected when we moored in an unsettling first night's anchorage.  There seemed to be little relief from what would end up becoming one of the most challenging sailing weeks I've experienced in my years of travel to the BVI. 

Recovering ourselves from the unexpected stress, Peter and I both resolved, a few times on that trip, to begin again.  There is truth in the saying, smooth seas don't make a skilled sailor.  For us, these seas provided fodder for personal growth and achieving a new level of closeness in our relationship.

After returning home, feeling satisfied by my aptly named boat experience aligning with our seasonal concept, I was either primed to find more new beginnings, or the universe believed I was ready for them.  

Reinvention

As I read the book Unreasonable Hospitality, it struck me how important "reinvention" was as a key value of Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant elevating itself from brasserie to the number one restaurant in the world. 

This realization was reassuring and exciting to me, as I often felt a lot of pressure to "know what we are" as a brand, and to have it all figured out.  It's common to imagine that other brands and businesses have a clear sense of what exactly they are doing, and are immune to the ambiguity of normal mortal humans and our hummingbird brains.  To have an uber successful brand to look to who has become uber successful not in spite of reinvention, but because of it, is thrilling as Kelly and I are at our best when we have something new to pursue.

Morning Light

I have been a huge fan of the poetry of David Whyte ever since hearing him recite his beautiful work through my favorite meditation app, Waking Up.  One of the best gifts of poetry is that each time you experience a poem, you may have a different, new experience with it, as was the case when "Blessing for the Morning Light" was chosen as the Daily Reflection, in the app's dashboard.  

Curated for it's timeliness of the season, the poem is welcoming Spring and the traditions of Easter that the Irish poet was familiar with.  Within the poem, it was striking to examine how many new beginnings we have in life, and to accept that somethings must pass in order for the new to take it's place. 

There are constantly passages through life.  Our adolescence must come to an end to allow us to form into our growing selves.  One relationship may end to bring forth a new one.  Releasing something that we once were is the necessary step in the unfolding of our lives. These large shifts may happen slowly, almost imperceptibly over time, or they could be abrupt, and jarring. 

One beautiful way to experience the essence of new beginnings every day, with the morning light.  As we put ourselves to sleep at night where our mind rests, our bodies recover them selves, and our dreams file away our thoughts so that we can start fresh, welcoming a new day.  The passing of each day can be a reminder to release what transpired, perhaps a stressful situation, worries about something to come, or even the delight of a well-lived satisfying day, because if we do not allow these things to pass, it is delaying the new beginnings we have yet to know.  

I hope that you find your new beginning, in whatever form that takes for you.  Welcoming it as you do each new day, and releasing the past version of yourself so that you have the joy of discovering what has yet to unfold.