Reflections at the Edge

I’m fascinated by the time of year between the Winter Solstice and the New Year, when the current year is drawing to a close and the new one hasn’t yet arrived. Since I can remember, I’ve made it a point to seek quiet in these days to notice what it feels like inside myself and outside in the world around me.

People coming from other traditions mark the New Year at different times. Growing up Jewish, we marked this in autumn, with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. Having spent a lot of time with people from Iran, I had the joy of celebrating their New Year — Nowruz at the beginning of spring. I loved how the calculations that are done for this celebration align with the ancient Persian solar calendar, and the moment of the New Year is different each year and calculated to the minute. Growing up near New York City, I was able to witness the Chinese New Year arriving with fireworks and dancing dragons in the streets of Lower Manhattan, in February. I don’t think the time of year “when” the shift happens is so significant. Each culture one has its own unique inner logic steeped in story and history, each being beautiful and consistent in its own way. What does feel deeply significant is “THAT” this annual shift occurs in many, if not all cultures.

Marking annual cycles is a great gift. It allows us to take stock of endings and beginnings. It reminds us that life on earth has a cyclical nature governed by the way our planet rotates in space, how the light comes and goes, how the weather and seasons shift, and it reminds us that we are all experiencing these cycles together with other people as well as with all other beings in nature.

The marking of the year, also provides an opportunity to stand for a moment between time, my favorite time, between what has been and what’s to come. This is a time when reflection is in the air. By standing on this threshold and imagining myself literally with one foot in each year, I become aware of recurring patterns, and notice things that are completely new to me, and those that seem to be coming to an end. It is comforting to go into this time with intention and attention on this. One of my favorite practices works like this:

I draw parallel lines on a paper and imagine a river. I take time to note down important events and ideas within those lines and note them as the…