growth and new beginnings
this weekend, we’ll be spending time with our family of choice as they observe Rosh Hashanah. the calendar year is winding down and Samhain is just around the corner. New Year’s Eve isn’t far behind, and then Chinese New Year and finally, Easter pops up just a few months later. it seems every culture has its own recognition of the ‘new year’ but we don’t always agree on when one year ends and a new one begins.
i, personally, find myself in a constant state of ‘rebirth’. sometimes my cycle of shedding old skins and growing new ones is a slow, gradual, laborious process which marks my different ‘lifetimes’. sometimes i find myself in a state of renewal from day to day, hour to hour.
it seems we’re all conscious, on some level, of our ability, and nature’s, to renew and grow beyond itself. a friend of Corrine’s expressed her desire to send out her new manuscript to agents in the next two weeks to coincide with the phase of the moon (it being believed to be auspicious to begin new projects and endeavors during the new moon phase). her comment made me reflect on all the projects i’m working on, with blatant disregard to the phase of the moon, but aligning with my own personal cycles of growth ebb and flow.
lately, my tastes have been changing – drastically. historically, i abhorred the taste of olives, coffee, sauerkraut, and lamb. now, i crave them from time to time. that’s a pretty huge leap – from abhor to crave.
my new position as supervisor is initiating a huge growth spurt both professionally and personally as i have to be more conscious of how i interact with others as well as recognizing both my strengths and my weaknesses so i can do the same for others. i’m learning how to be gentler with myself as i learn to be gentler with others. i’m learning how to set and enforce boundaries in a firm, yet loving and compassionate way. i’m also learning what it means to promote the spirit of a team and collaboration, and balance that with the concept of remaining the head of the team. it’s a balancing act to say the least.
and this morning, a huge new self looms on the horizon. the self that will be biking almost 80 miles (in one day) in just 14 days to support a friend with MS. i view it as a huge personal challenge and i’m both intimidated by the idea of it as well as energized to meet the challenge. i don’t know who i’ll be on the other side of this ordeal, but i know i’ll be different, no matter what the outcome.
i am enjoying watching who i become through all of this.
