We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploration
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
~T.S. Eliot

Beginning Again: Walking Down the Path of Renewal

As I return from leading a group of women pilgrims on the Sacred Paths of Japan and as we enter Winter and soon begin a new year, I am finding myself with the impetus to start again. This Fall, the pilgrimage route started at Mount Koya where it ended in the Spring, and ended at Tajikiri-Oji which is the first Oji (or shrine) that I encountered in April. So, just like the year, I have come full circle with Kumano Kodo: there is a sense of accomplishment, of a tangible ending, as well as of an emergent impulse and need to start again. Without any real knowing of what is next on my path, it’s clear that renewal is called for. Do you have that sense too as we near the end of 2019? Or do you feel it when you have completed a project that was close to your heart? Or is there something you have always wanted to do that is asking to be attended to at this time in your life?

In his song Anthem, Leonard Cohen says:

The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.

In meditation, we practice starting again every time we get lost in our thoughts and re-focus on the anchor we have chosen, may it be our breath, one of our senses or a mantra we are reciting to ourselves.
Every morning we wake up to a new day and start again. Poet and philosopher Mark Nepo writes: “The truth about morning is that it is the small light of the beginning breaking through, again and again. It is a wisdom so large and clear, one which carries us through our lives so quietly and completely that we seldom see it … ”

Is renewal energy emerging for you? Has a new beginning been quietly forming waiting for you to emerge as John O’Donohue so eloquently writes in the poem For a New Beginning? What help and support might you need to allow this new beginning to fully flourish?

Most people need a structure to help them channel their aspiration, test and gain distance from their big assumptions, and steadily build a new set of ways to bridge the gap between intentions and actions. Consider hiring me as your life coach to guide you through this transition time, so you can gain insights, receive accountability and follow-up in a supportive and transformational personal relationship. If you are interested in further exploring what’s next for you, please contact me or schedule a discovery call.

Revisit my other end-of-year blog posts:
New Year’s Resolutions or How to Make Change Stick? and
Self-Reflection For the End of Year.

Enjoy the poem Itadakimasu by John Brugaletta: it’s my way of saying thanks to each and every one of you and of expressing gratitude this Thanksgiving. 

Warmly,

Anne-Marie

Poem: For a New Beginning by John O’Donohue