Calendar

Each year begins with unwrapping a new calendar. Hopefully, I have located one with the moon phases and signs. It usually takes me a few trips to find just the right version. Next, all the birthdays are added and a note a couple days ahead to remind me to buy cards on time. After the birthdays, the calendar is taped onto the side of the refrigerator where I can see it when I am doing dishes or making the coffee. Dentist appointments, upcoming birthdays, and social events accumulate on the once pristine squares.

The calendar from the previous year is difficult to part with. Flipping the pages, I go back to the rafting trip on the Middle Fork, the party in the hops yard, trail rides in Herron Park, my daughter’s wedding on the Atlantic, the long awaited visit from my sister, a retreat in California, the Halloween costume party and the Christmas Stroll in Kalispell, to mention a few. These events were initially just a note on the calendar to reserve the time in a crowded schedule, then came the planning and arrangements. The laughter and joy are now a memory, a few notes in my journal and a scribble on the jam packed page. Yet, the recollection lives on in my heart with related tastes, aromas and sounds.

Every year has its ups and downs. It’s unavoidable. It’s a part of life on this side of the turf. In spite of any loss, these scratches on my calendar help me recognize how lucky I am. I had more opportunities to join in activities than time to do them, more invites by friends than days in the week. My life is brimming with potential. Not reflected on these pages were the quiet mornings with Aries at the lake and the evening rides with Lakota. These treasured moments need no reservation. The solitary wish I have is more time with my daughters. Lately, our calendars have intercepted around holidays, weddings, graduations and birthdays. I am humbled by the amazing women they have become and grateful when I have even a minute to share with them. This too, is a part of life once our fledglings have flown the nest. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

This blank calendar holds the promise of new adventures and untold stories. What will I be reviewing next year at this time? What color threads will I have added to the tapestry of my life? Will I visit somewhere new? Will I make a new friend? Will I find my new house? Will family find time to visit this majestic place I call home? Will I take up a new hobby or return to an old one?

My intention for this year is not the eternal lose ten pounds, keep healthy, call my mother more often. It is to be a light in the world. There is a great deal of strife and conflict on the planet right now. I look at it like an infection. How can anything or anyone heal if there is a festering wound that has been lying hidden, undiagnosed? It must rise to the surface to be treated. Hatred is fear. It can only be addressed with compassion. Let us all seek to be mindful of those right around us. Can we be more aware of our fearful, judgmental thoughts? Can we turn them around and be more understanding?

At the end of next year, when I look back, I hope that I have given something of myself each day to another person that benefitted them on their journey. Maybe it is as simple as a smile in the grocery store, gardening advice in the office or taking an aging friend to dinner. Let me be an instrument of peace. Allow me to be a part of the solution. I set my intention to be even more than I am this year, to continue to grow into the Divine Being I was born to be. Permit my freshly unwrapped calendar to reflect a life of goodness and joy, easily shared, continually optimistic, weathering the storms and loving as wholeheartedly as possible.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Pat