My wishes for 2023

I used to rush headlong into the near year, brandishing a list of resolutions and goals as long as my arm. As my healing journey has evolved, so has my relationship with the new year. Nowadays, and especially as we start 2023 with Mars and Mercury in retrograde, I see this transitionary time as one for evaluation and release. January 1st feels like the start of a slow, winding process that will establish the tone and tenor of the following 364 days.

With that said, I usually take the last week of the year off from work, and I celebrate my solar return, so it always ends up as a contemplative and introspective time. I reflect on what worked well, and not so well in the last twelve months, and focus on how I can call in more of the good stuff as I move forward. And so as I've gone through that process in the last week, and what I'll call "wishes" for 2023 have emerged.

My wishes

To live a life of true love, balance, service, wisdom, connection. To feel rooted and at one with earth. To move my body in exaltation. To breathe deeply. To be kind, to be generous, to be fair, to be honest.

To feel safe and to help others feel safe. To feel inspired. To feel healthy.

To love and to be loved. To see clearly. To sleep well. To know I am exactly where I am meant to be.

On New Year's Day, I woke early and took myself for a long walk to mark the arrival of 2023. The sun stretched above the horizon after a winter storm, sparkling on roads still slick with rain from the previous night. Pearls of water pooled on the flowers, so eager to drink and be nourished.

Along the path, I came across a tree fallen in last night’s storm, its branches surrendered to the street and roots exposed in final rest. The same storm which gave life to the flowers had torn the tree asunder. A reminder of the violent dichotomy of creation— this ripping away that leads to renewal.

This is what we are here for; it is who we are, it is where we came from and where we return. On this first morning of the new year, I bow to the wisdom and wonder of the universe, and this reminder. I wish to forever feel it.