Wrapping
Up
“The
life in us is like the water in the river. It may rise this year more
than man has ever known, and flood the parched uplands; even this may
be the eventful year which will drown out all our muskrats. It was
not always dry land where we dwell.”
Henry
David Thoreau
It is typical this time
of year to feel the after-Christmas-let-down. We go at such a
break-neck pace for weeks, and our wonderful bodies provide us with
the proper chemistry for that speed, but the aftermath is often
exhaustion. According to Sarah Ban Breathnach, we sometimes come down
with nasty colds and respiratory infections post holidays. Possibly
because our prolonged pumping of adrenaline has shut down our immune
system sufficiently to allow opportunistic bacteria and viruses to
get a foothold. She writes in Simple Abundance: “Practitioners
of Eastern medicine expect these ailments in winter; metaphysically,
the lung is the organ that processes grief.” If we've
encountered loss in the past year, and this was the first holiday
season without someone we loved, it may be a time of great grief. Or,
if we know the new year holds some difficult change we don't want,
change that will cause our lives to be topsy-turvy for a while, we
may feel apprehensive and on edge. We had to keep up that monstrous
pace before the holidays, but once the dust settles, the full weight
of it is upon us.
Someone gave me a
Christmas card this year that said, “I hope 2020 is a better year
for you than 2019 has been.” I wondered to myself whether 2019 had
been a worse year than any other. There were some gains and losses,
some sickness and pain, but also some unexpected successes and
precious moments. Isn't every year like that? Do some of us actually
get through a whole year without difficult times? I can't remember
when that has happened in my own life. As Thoreau wrote in Walden,
life is like a river. It rises and falls, it floods and recedes, it
stirs the land and carries away tons of debris. Years provide all of
those things, too, and honestly, I'm glad they do. I need a little
grit in my oyster shell to keep me awake.
If this is a down time
for you, if your river of energy has receded to a trickle, by all
means, be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to rest and recover until
you return to your optimal level. This is a good time of year for
wrapping up loose ends, for counting blessings, and looking forward
to the new year with hope and optimism. Allow that encouragement to
come to you. As for me, I hope that 2020 will be a year of robust
change; and I hope all of our muskrats survive as well!
In the Spirit,
Jane
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