Take a Deep Dive

Circles

“Within the circles of our lives

we dance the circles of the years,

the circles of the seasons

within the circles of the years,

the cycles of the moon

within the circles of the seasons

the circles of our reasons

within the cycles of the moon.

Again, again we come and go,

changed, changing. Hands

join, unjoin in love and fear,

grief and joy. The circles turn,

each giving into each, into all.

Only music keeps us here,

each by all the others held.

In the hold of hands and eyes

we turn in pairs, that joining

joining each to all again.

And then we turn aside, alone,

out of the sunlight gone

into the darker circles of return.”

Wendell Berry (Earth Prayers, p.286)

For me, Wendell Berry is unmatched in the humanness of his poetry. This is a fine representation of his understanding of the natural cycles, for one year's end and another year's beginning. We do, whether we're aware of it or not, and whether it's acknowledged or not, live within the circles of life; of time and season, of life, death and rebirth. Rather than being a linear movement, as time is often depicted, it is circular and in the form of a spiral, beginning at the bottom, and moving upward. During our ascent, many people and experiences come our way, we join and release, we gather and disperse. In all of it, we are one lone human being, and at the same time, many. From each encounter we gain a new perspective—become a different person. I am reminded of an ant-line in which the ants move along in both directions, and as they pass each other, they momentarily touch antennae. That's what we do. People come and go. Some join longer, some shorter. The year's end is a good time to remember the people who, whether our joining was long or short, have touched antennae with us along the way.

I like to think back—simply because I have many decades behind me—to each period of my life. Who was there? Who influenced me? Who gave me life, who broke my heart? What gifts did each of them bring? Whether their influence overall seemed positive or negative, what did I learn from the touching of our antennae? If you believe that there are no mistakes, that everything happens for a reason, then these encounters have meaning and in figuring out the gifts, we create even more meaning for ourselves.

Just as Thoreau wrote in Walden that his purpose for going into the woods was: “I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,” we can live at that deeper level too if we choose. This day, the final day of the year, and of the decade, is a perfect time to reflect on the lessons learned, the lives entwined and released, during this decade. A new cycle begins tomorrow.

                                                                In the Spirit,

                                                                     Jane