eThoughts : 2006 New Year’s Thoughts: Part Deux

And Yet More New Year’s Thoughts?

Yeah, and why not? This site is about musing. And it is the New Year. Okay, perhaps it’s an excuse, but maybe we could call it a reason.

Let’s remember that forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. If we forgive we give up burdens. If we forget, we’re likely to take up those burdens again.

Remembering doesn’t have to be about the past. To re-member can also be the art of putting things together in new ways. That’s about the past as in “hey, we’ve already done it this way before—let’s do something different.”

Consequences are not necessarily bad.

Predictions may be more about creating than seeing what will be.

Revenge is the art of keeping bad things alive.

Play is not just the job of children, it’s the job of adults. Perhaps we learn best in the context of play, though I’m sure desperation is a teacher as well. I suspect that desperation is not a teacher we need seek out, however—play probably is.

We don’t own stuff, it owns us.

Having stuff is not necessarily being blessed, it’s about having stuff. Maybe we could use less stuff and more space, not that stuff is bad.

Let us remember that technology and stuff are supposed to free us up, not take us up.

Space doesn’t necessarily mean room to have more stuff, maybe it means room to move and breathe. Maybe we should honor space by letting it be space rather than filling it up.

And speaking about space, the next time we don’t know what to say in a conversation, let’s try being in the space and waiting to see what comes up. It’s called the art of hanging out.

Hanging out means not having an agenda. Yeah, there are times we need an agenda. But a lot of us have filled-up minute planners—we need another agenda like we need another row of toes. Besides, aren’t we all a bit tired of “conversations” from those with agendas? (Hey—no complaining, I’m musing. Besides, this isn’t a conversation.)

Speaking of agendas, let’s think of them as menus. We can take what we need and let the rest go. And we can remember to check and see if what we take is really needed or are we really just filling a space to fill a space.

Comfort is a relative thing, it’s not automatically good. There’s comfort eating, comfort drugs, comfort stuff. The good comfort allows a space, not-so-good comfort fills a space. Sometimes feelings arise from something, sometimes feelings gives rise to somethings. We might want to know which is which.

We might fall in love, but we still have to grow in love.

Growing might be related to listening more than to reciting chapter and verse. Listening is certainly different than hearing. And growing is certainly more than just acquiring stuff.

Rejoicing does not necessarily need to be about what we have, it can also be about what we don’t have (be careful who you celebrate around though). In fact, maybe we should try rejoicing just to rejoice. Do we really need a reason?

Perhaps the idea of rejoicing is as good a place to stop as any—no need to get stuck on a resolution hamster wheel. And perhaps rejoicing itself is a good way to begin—and that’s what a New Year is all about.