I feel qualified to go all “post-holiday” on you folks because we really don’t celebrate New Year’s here.   It all started when I was married to Paul and we began a series of absolutely the worst New Year’s celebrations on earth.  Every year seemed more accursed than the last.  

With Eric, it hasn’t always been awful (although there have been a couple of real squeakers), but mostly just completely uneventful.  Two stand out in my mind as particularly good.  One was in the first few years of our marriage and we decided to celebrate every US time zone of midnight, which was quite fun since we are in California.  We started the wave at 9pm and then just carried it over, feeling the energy as each of the time zones hit midnight.  

The other was last year, where we got together with one of our best “couple friends” and played pinochle and ate and drank until around 11pm, then went home.  It was fun and quiet at the same time.  I think we were actually we asleep before midnight last year.

All of that being said, so far this year, we do not have NYE plans and I do not expect any to manifest.  

The energy of January 1st is always very unique to me.  With the whole earth practically focused on new beginnings, hope and second chances, it always feels fresh and clean and full of possibilities.  I look forward to feeling that again.

Right now, I feel pretty much used up and spit out.  This year was like running the marathon that never, ever ends.  Fortunately, it did and although nothing will have likely changed on the surface when the clock eases into 12:01am Saturday morning, I feel as though a new age is being heralded.

Of course, a lot of the people who phone me for readings are asking about the new year and from what I can tell, despite all newsworthy indicators to the contrary, it’s going to be a real winner.  2009 was so damned debilitating for everyone and just kicked our complete asses.  The theme seemed to be that however a person defines themselves in the world was targeted.  Whatever made us feel most secure is what went away.

For a lot of people, that was money.  Money is just so damned useful that it makes sense a lot of people would base their security and their identities on the things money can do for them, in and out of the bank.  One of the lessons of 2009 is that like all things, money is transient and depending on it for happiness is not a good investment.  2009 took us back to non-monetary definitions of worth and once again, bartering is becoming a form of currency exchange.  The trick with bartering is that you have to be in possession of some skill or product that is worth trading or you’re kind of assed out at the Barter Stone.  That brings into play an energy of personal worth rather than monetary status, which is tough for some people to manage.

After the butt-kicking clarification process of 2009, I see 2010 as a year of rewards and attainment.  No, I do not believe that we will come close to building what was there before because what we had before, both as individuals and as a nation, was an illusion, just as our feeling of bulletproof safety prior to 911 was an illusion.  What we are now building will be based on reality; on strength and perseverance rather than on being able to move numbers around on paper to make a situation look better than it is.

As a nation and as individuals, we have believed a series of – to borrow and turn inside out the words of Al Gore – “convenient lies.”  We were shown illusions we wanted to believe to be true (“There ARE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!”  ”You CAN afford this house!!”  ”We are ON this whole New Orleans flood problem!”) over a series of years and we smiled and were grateful to have our hopes vindicated and moved forward into the machine that would ultimately chew us up and spit us out.

Now, the dust is settling and the wheat is separated from the chaff and those who are left upright will be walking into a brave new world with eyes wide open and the last of the lies being swept away like last fall’s autumn leaves.  I am ready for that.  I am excited for that.  I want to return to a baseline of reality and although I do so love a good fantasy for a while, I am completely ready to embrace “The Real” and all it brings.  

My all purpose phrase for the past few months has been “Keep passing the open windows,” which is a John Irving reference that basically means, “Don’t throw yourself out of one…this time.”  I believe my new one that brings me down to earth and plants my feet on solid ground will be, “The reality of the situation is this…”

I will still work my magic and plant my goals and dreams in the spring and anticipate a bountiful harvest in the fall, but I want this to be a year of “No Illusions.”  That’s different from “DISillusion” which implies that you had it, embraced it and lost it.  

The Winter Solstice is when the “spark of light” returns to the sky and the days gradually become longer.  I use that energy to bring the spark of inspiration into my meditations to decide what I want to “plant” in the spring to grow in my life and harvest in the fall.

I have had a few things floating around in my head for 2010 manifestation.   I want to get the book written.  I started notes on it a few days back and I’m up to around 4 pages of topics and I think I will have well enough to cover for a good bathroom reading book of essays on different subjects.  This one, I actually look forward to writing.  

Of course, I plan to lose the rest of the weight.  I started the journey very successfully this year and have done extremely well with maintenance, so I am eager to get back to the losing part again.  A friend got me the EA Sports Active More Workouts follow up for the Wii and it came today.  It has awesome reviews and I am eager to try it out.  

There are other, more personal things that I am still mulling.  Those are not really developed enough to bear discussion.

Solstice and Christmas went well.  We did not have as much money to spend as usual, so many gifts were homemade.  I was able to narrow down what the younger kids wanted most and get those items. Eric and I did not exchange gifts this year.  I still have a few things to send out and I hope that others enjoy aftergifts as much as I do.  :)

We went to Josh and Valerie’s house yesterday (my son and his wife).  Since we opened gifts on Sunday, ours was already done.  It was great to see them and the grandkids, although the grands were so busy with visiting cousins that I barely got to see them.  Paul, my ex-husband, was there and I got to visit with him a bit.  He and David (my second son) came up to my house the night before for dinner.  I hadn’t seen him in probably 11-12 years, I’m guessing.

It was wonderful to be at Josh’s house and eat food I did not prepare.  I can’t remember the last time we ate at someone else’s house for a holiday.  Valerie’s mom made a giant ham and a turkey.  I brought rolls, hot cider, a veggie tray and (store bought) apple pies, so my contribution was minimal.  Everything was delicious.

We came home in time for me to rest a bit and then sign on to work for a few hours.  I ended up staying on later, waiting to see if any other calls would come in, then went to sleep on the couch by the fire.  

A week from Monday, Eric begins his work/study program with the American Legion.  It will give him an opportunity to make a little money and also have isolated time to work on his online classes and later, homework from his classroom classes.  We are both very happy for that.  He is signed on for 25 hours a week of the work/study program, plus taking 5 (I think) classes ultimately, so he has been very ambitious in his scheduling.  It will be a whole new world for him compared to what he has experienced in the past 15 years or so.

That’s about all that’s going on in my little tempest in a teacup world.  In other words, more of the same.

Tra la.