calming traffic ahead

9 pm December 31, 2015

As the clock nudges closer to the New Year, I am feeling pressure to come up  with wise words, some pertinent thoughts and perhaps some lessons gleaned from these past 12 months. And, of course, a lengthy list of personal wishes and goals for the year ahead.

Wait a minute... January 1st is simply a single day following December 31st, truly a random time to spout forth lofty promises to our selves!

My friend, Jean, understands the futility of this, when she tells me that her New Year's resolution for 2016 is the same as the one she holds herself to every year:  'I won't take up smoking this year.'

 Perfect!

That said, I have found myself thinking once again about how I am living my life. As I have become more & more engrossed with my photography, focusing with ever- increasing love upon capturing the world close to me, the doing, the busyness of life seems less relevant. Yes, I still 'need' to make my bed and go shopping for the food I will cook for dinner. Yes, I still wish to volunteer for causes I'm passionate about and take walks with friends who are dear to me.

I am choosing these things consciously, they are not simply filling up my day with the busyness of doing.

The light & the shadow, the mist & the wind, the smell of the sea.  The bend of a branch & the fallen leaf edged in frost. These are seen by the quiet mind.  If I need a reminder, I think of Kierkegaard's words;  'busyness is a decision.'

For many months I have been following the wonderful blog of the photographer David DuChemin (a Victoria native).  In his Christmas Eve post he listed a number of wishes for all of us this coming year.

These are two that I have chosen:
- 'Let it be a year of beautiful light and finding joy and mystery in the shadows.
- And let it be a year of joy in seeing the world and the moments around us, knowing that the brevity of life makes those moments all the more precious. We have this brief, astonishing, beautiful, life, let it be full and honest. May you look back with gratitude and forward with hope, and live right here, in this moment, with both.'

In addition to these, I'm adding three reminders of my own:
- The message on a road sign near South Chesterman beach in Tofino - 'Calming Traffic Ahead'
 - From Brain Pickings,  'Seek out what magnifies the spirit'
- And, finally, a heart-felt reminder to embrace magic

                                               happy new year
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