Today is a very significant day for the west. As important as the Chinese New Year’s is to the Chinese Culture, the Tibetan New Years to the people of Tibet and other people’s of the world.
Have you considered the cultural traditions of our Western New Year’s Celebrations? The types of resolutions made and failure to keep them? How does this reflect who we are, our ancestors and future children? Resolutions such as; quite smoking, get a raise, lose weight, exercise, etc. These types of resolutions in a health category of an overall group of intentions may likely have cultural significance. Yet as a stand alone resolution it doesn’t say much for the aged wisdom of our culture. Adding to this are the stats that resolutions are not kept up for five days here in the west and that less than a 10% are successful. Staggering! Imagine what this say’s about our society? Stamina? Strength of character? Winners? Achievers?
Cultural celebrations of other countries include a focus on ancestors, home, wealth, family, etc., that includes the values of respects, accountability, intention and motivation for the coming year. Years of rituals are kept to represent these values, passed down from family to family. Even if they too focus on wealth, their rituals of preparation include the other areas, such as the dragon dance, red envelopes, gifts, family and community participation, mediation, burning of smoke and sacred gatherings.
New Year’s Day is very important in our culture and an excellent beginning to shift our consciousness by shifting our focus to what connects us to our own heritage, our family, home, community and who, what and how, we want to be in this year of 2014! What do we want to achieve that contains the values of respect, acknowledgement, kindness, ecology, consideration, abundance, connection………
It may be time for some of us to consider how we are ringing in the New Year in Canada and the U.S. and how it sets the culture for the new year. The party atmosphere with January 1st hangovers is great for children, yet when do we, the adults, wake up? Wake up to what we are creating and model a new behavior. One that supports and creates traditions to pass down and becoming the change for future new years. This is the shift of society we are all asking for! It begins by changing our behavior and creating the path.
Do we really want to hear the media tells us over and over how vain we are and what a bunch of looser we are? Is this our legacy?
Let’s make a big deal of New Years differently and stand up for how we want to shape our culture in 2014!
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Renee Lindstrom
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Communication Coach since 2004, Art of Placement since 2000
Inside Awareness Center for Integrative Somatic Learning 