Every End is a New Beginning!!

I started writing a blog this November — 2024. I got entangled in my thoughts and writing and found it very difficult to untangle…. I gave up. Then there was another entanglement — I skipped the November blog, should I now skip the December blog too?

Anyway, from the experiences of earlier years, my viewership and readership fall in December. I have not analyzed the reasons — could be the themes were not interesting or it could be the holiday season and people are taking a break from reading, especially someone else’s blogs! My heart and mind said, ‘Give December a miss’ for after all there is Christmas Cake & Goodies to make and planning the menu for Christmas lunch.

Honestly, the real reason, was that I was making excuses for a bad case of ‘writers block’.

Something happened then, I was looking for books for Diya, the very same Diya of my Diwali wish, when peeping through the stack of books was this long-forgotten one. I pulled it out and reread it, then and there. I found what I thought I had lost, the urge to write again and a theme for the December Blog.

I wrote the blog, utterly pleased with myself for a job well done. I joyfully emailed it to my son, who is the manager and ‘sensitivity editor’ for my blogs. Within a few minutes, I received a call from him, to tell me that we cannot post the blog.

I couldn’t believe it! ‘Why’?! I asked. It was because of a phrase consisting of a couple of innocuous words that I had used quite a few times. A phrase that I took at face value, now has a different meaning. I felt so very old and so out of the language of the younger generation/s.

The strange thing is that each of the words of the phrase taken individually is quite acceptable and fine. The problem arises when they are put together. Just like a couple who are divorced or separated. They are great individually, but together the relationship just does not work.

Did you notice that I did not give you the name of the book? Sshh, I couldn’t, the phrase is in the title. I am sure now that your curiosity has been aroused, you are going to try to guess the title. Please don’t email me, or WhatsApp the title, it will get you and me into trouble. You can telephone me and if you guess correctly, maybe, just maybe I will give you one of my well-liked Christmas cakes as a reward.

What do I do now?

Do I just remove the phrase every time it occurred in the blog. Not possible as the story or actually the fairy tale was the ‘hook’ for the blog.

Do I abandon the blog?

Like the surgeon did with the laparoscopy for my ruptured appendix and then went in for an open cut. So that is what I am going to do, I am going to use a surgical cut and come up with something better.

So here goes;

December being the last month of the year is an ideal time to look back at the year gone by, to introspect and reflect on endings and beginnings. (I am not talking about New Year resolutions)

I was reading an article by Alison Fallon titled, ‘What no one ever says about New Beginnings’ in which she shares a poem by Billy Collins called Aristotle

This is the beginning.

Almost anything can happen.

This is where you find

the creation of light, a fish wriggling onto land,

the first word of Paradise Lost on an empty page.

Think of an egg, the letter A,

a woman ironing on a bare stage

as the heavy curtain rises.

This is the very beginning.

This blew my mind. Imagine what can happen when you commence something new. Every choice, every decision, every event, every beginning is made in the hope that it will end well. One can only hope, as we do not always get to choose our endings.

• The birth of a baby
• The couple on the threshold of marriage, ready to make their marriage vows.
• The job one takes up, the business one starts
• The career choice, the choice of vocation
• The property one invests in or gets as a gift
• The husband-wife relationship
• The parent-child / teen / youth relationship
• The sport I put so much effort into
• The performance on stage
• The examinations all through the year and year after year.
• The fitness programme to stay healthy
• The choice of school / college
• The choice of doctor/s and hospitals

These and so many other decisions and choices all made with high expectations.

Let us go back to the poem and the first 2 lines:

‘This is the beginning.

Almost anything can happen’

Anything can happen for we soon learn that life has the ability, when one least expects it to be robbed of an ending that we hoped for and expected.

• The loss of job affecting the finances of the whole family.
• The reality of knowing that the partner I looked at with stars in my eyes was not what I imagined
• War & Violence leading to loss of life and destruction of all kinds.
• The investment in stocks and shares that were not the best
• A teen, a youth, a spouse gone astray due to addictions
• Corruption and manipulation that took away my place for promotion or even a place in the squad
• Ill health when least expected — Physically, psychologically or emotionally
• A pandemic
• Rejection
• Injustices
• The cheating spouse
• Failures or perceived failures

What then fills the empty spaces when things don’t turn out the way we wanted or hoped for?

Should we give up on the choices and decisions and events that we started out with, because the ending is not what we hoped for?

The answer to this question lies in another question. Who or what is responsible for the state of affairs?

The reasons could be many. Some not in our control at all.

But if it is me — myself, I need to look within and out too, and with it will come the realization that I still possess more than a measure of grit and resilience, helping hands with compassion, a listening ear, love and prayers all ready to find the ending of Hope, Faith, Joy and deep abiding Peace.

The best gifts that one can receive in the Christmas season and at the end of the year.

I hope you feel compelled to think of and write your own New Beginnings, for

“The magic of New Beginnings,

is never about the beginning itself.

It’s about,

The momentum your action generates

The courage to overcome uncertainties

The strength you’ll gain from

stepping out of your comfort zone.” (OurMindfullife.com)

And so, wishing each and everyone of you and your families — A Happy, Joy filled Christmas. May 2025 be fruitful and filled with contentment.