A New Year, a Path So New!!

Let’s start with a poem — Another Year, by Garnett Ann Schultz.

(Suggestion: Read it aloud)

A page unmarred,

A path so new,

An hour unspoiled,

A sky of blue,

A dream to dream

A book unread,

A bright new dawn,

A word unsaid,

Beyond this day,

Another still,

A valley fair,

A windswept hill,

A time of hope,

A treasure dear,

A bright new chance,

Another year.

I loved this little poem, the imagery is so vivid.

Just consider the lines –

A page unmarred,

An hour unspoiled.

Wow! A whole year filled with possibilities and opportunities — up for grabs or to gently hold on to or even to let them pass by.

A reminder too, in the lines –

A valley fair,

A windswept hill

It tells me to be prepared for good days and bad days and possibly even turbulent days. At the same time — there is hope and promise that the treasures can be bountiful for I have been given another chance. Now it is in my hands what I do with this year — one day at a time.

Where do I begin?

A good place I thought would be with all the New Year greetings I received. So, I scrolled through all of them and here is what I was wished –

• Loads of happiness
• God’s abundant blessings
• Good health
• A fulfilling year
• A blissful year
• Cheer
• A grace filled, peace filled, hope filled and joy filled year
• Wealth and wisdom
• Peace and prosperity
• Glee and glow
• Love and laughter
• A year in which to realize my dreams
• A safe year

To each one of you, Thank you for the warm wishes. I felt good that 2022 was going to be great with a bouquet full of wishes.

I read through the wishes a few more times and the wishes set me thinking —

In every wish the ‘outcome’ was the focus, for example, loads of happiness, or peace and prosperity or even a safe year. None of the wishes told me what was necessary for me to do in order to achieve the outcome or the wish.

How do I achieve happiness, or peace or prosperity or how do I have a safe year?

My thoughts went off at a tangent. I thought of all the wishes I have sent over the years and the wishes I have received.

Most of the time the wishes were not personalized and often mechanical, a sort of, ‘marking of attendance’, be happy that you have been remembered.

I have erred even as a receiver of the wishes, while taking note of the person who has wished, the message or wish was often given a cursory glance and may be at times not even read. For how long did I remember the wish — a few minutes, hours, a day, a few days!

I have also found, that I go through WhatsApp forwards to send as a wish. Do I lack the time to write one or possibly think that I am not capable of writing a wish as good as this, so let me just forward it as it says what I want to say.

Another thought made me sit up!

Do these wishes fall into the realm of ‘wishful thinking’?

I believe it could, as these wishes can be very pleasing to imagine and help to form a belief without any evidence or rational thinking — more in the form of fantasy thinking.

Wishful thinking can be good and motivational as it can provide an aim to achieve. However if it is merely ‘thinking’ without the work and perseverance to go along in fulfilling it, then it will remain an ‘ought to’ thus wasting a lot of precious time.

Sorry for the digression.

Let me go back to wishes as outcomes. If any of the wishes are to reach fruition, then I have to take charge of my choices, my decisions, and my life. Keeping in mind, this beautiful line of the poem –

‘a book unread’

And so I have to fill up the pages and make it worthwhile for me and others to turn the pages of a year well lived.

So here is my plan –

I got the idea from a group on FB whose passion is to do embroidery. I do not embroider but it gives me great joy to see the beautiful work of others — all works of art. So the idea is to make a collage, one different embroidery stitch a day for 365 days. Some are doing embroidery for each month of the year.

Now that is an idea that can be translated to any activity.

During the pandemic, I started writing — somewhat sporadically. My plan now is to write for 15 to 30 minutes every day, one episode per month (this is not a New Year resolution) and thus I will get the much promised book written.

This is one of the activities that is going to make me happy.

And with other activities through the year like making wine of one seasonal fruit every alternate month; I will fulfil the wish of ‘wishing you loads of happiness’.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead — make the plan and execute it.

Don’t forget to keep room for the unknown events and treasures that will come your way, for every year is a mystery!