Look Up!
I have been, as usual for January, in deep reflection about the year past, and the year ahead. I have started to write this blog several times, but it never felt right when I would try. I am one of those that writes from the heart most of the time, and that means I am not always able to express what isn’t yet worked out. Today, I am here, and it feels right. I feel ready. However, I am not writing what I started the month out thinking I might be expressing. My reflection and some drastic situations have changed my focus. Today, I am writing about… today.
When we enter a new year, it is a gift to pause and look at all the year before has given and even what the year has taken away. There have been several years painful to leave because I wasn’t bringing a dearest loved one with me physically into the new year. To reflect on things of that is a deeply private, personal, moving experience filled with joy and sorrow. To then begin to reflect on goals, dreams, and hope of the new year is also quite private, personal, and moving, as it comes with so much unknown and requires the ability to let go and trust what is ahead before we can really even know what that is. I tend to be very visionary and I can see complete pictures of the goals and dreams, and sometimes the hardest part is allowing the space between to exist with patience, peace, and purpose. Think Miley Cyrus…”It’s the Climb.”
But today, I am not thinking about last year. I am not thinking about the year that is now a month into motion. I am thinking about right now, today, this moment. It’s been a long week for our country. So many people feeling so many things for so many reasons. But what has me writing today is American Airlines flight #5342 and the Blackhawk Helicopter. I have not been able to get them off my mind. I have thought about how they boarded those aircrafts, fully expecting a normal event, like we all assume each day, yet nothing was typical about that day for them. The unknown that was coming, stayed unknown until the last seconds of their life and now their loved ones… and the whole world… watches the aftermath in shock, trying to understand what is not comprehensible. Much like the many other tragedies that play out across our globe.
How easy it is to fall into fear, helplessness, and paralysis of hope. The sadness is all-consuming at times, from the news standpoint. This week, I have really felt it. I tend to be one that tries to be aware, but I never sit and watch the news. I’d rather get a short recap, then go about doing what I can where I am. Feed an animal, brush a horse, hold a session, laugh with my family, love a stranger, clean a toilet…. And always chase the sunset.
Last night was awe inspiring. I see beauty almost every day there isn’t cloud cover, but sometimes they are extraordinary. Last night was one such sunset. I took it in, watched it transform from oranges, to pinks, to purples, to heavy shades of blue and I took a deep breath and was so thankful for that gift. The tangible reminder that in every day… in every season, there is beauty that will come even in shock and sorrow if we allow space to see it.
As you look ahead, whether in sorrow or joy as you are a month into 2025, please remember to pause the noise, the pain, the fear, the busy schedules, and sit with something that reminds you that joy comes in the morning and there is hope. Allow the pain, but don’t let it be the end. Let it be a part of the climb, and know that even in the deepest sorrows, hope exists, even if only in a sunset that makes you stop and catch your breath.
I am rooting for you.
Robin