Sunsetting Another Year

Do you prefer Beginnings or Endings: the excitement of starting anew or the completion and finality when a project or a book draws to a conclusion?  Both have their ardent followers!

Think of the person who is very creative and begins several projects but never finishes... or... the person who is dependable and ends tasks on time and under budget.

Do you see the beauty in endings?
(Photo:  Sunset over Sea of Cortez - Larry Gardepie)

As we enter the last few days of this calendar year, we don't have to choose between the two!  Whether we like it or not, the rhythm of time draws us to end one year and almost seamlessly we enter another.  Similarly, we watch the sun set over the horizon at the end of one day and wait in anticipation for it to rise again the next day.

The difference?  Depending on where we are standing, we must shift our attention from one horizon to another.

Time continues.  We are called to follow.  We are invited to change our stance to release one and accept the other.

How do you experience the rhythm around you?
(Photo: French Polynesian Sunset - Larry Gardepie)

We do have choices in the rhythm of our days and years alive.  We can choose:

• How we approach the rising and falling of our hopes and dreams.
• Whether we engage with young and old who share their experiences and insights.
• If we look with curiosity on the unknowns of tomorrow or next year.

And, we can make a choice in our thoughts and attitudes towards those we disagree:  we can search for ways to release and accept.

What freedoms light your way forward?
(Photo: Statue of Liberty at Sunset - Larry Gardepie)

The freedom we have in Endings and Beginnings is our ability to Redo... Rethink... Reengage when we don't understand.  That is, we can:

• Redo: by asking someone we hurt if we can reword what we said earlier.
• Rethink:  by listening to and questioning the arguments that were put forward by us and others.
• Reengage: by agreeing to stay in relationship and work towards an understanding that we are not the same... and that is okay!

May we use these next few days to reflect on our past year.  May we accept responsibility for any pain we may have caused.  May we look at the beauty of the rhythms of Life:  our ability to Redo, Rethink, and Reengage.

Happy Year Ending!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Trust in Beginnings

Today's thought:  I remember the warmth and comfort of my sleeping bag!  My family would go camping on weekends and vacations.  There was safety in being together, gathering in the tent after dark, and snuggling down into the sleeping bag.  Memories of warmth, safety, and comfort...  that is, until one morning when I was a Boy Scout!

I woke out of a sound sleep, my sleeping bag twisted from my tossing and turning.  I was bound, trapped within the tangled sleeping bag.  I couldn't get out by myself:  I needed to ask for help.  With my head peaking out of the bag and my arms pinned in various positions, I was embarrassed, especially when people wouldn't believe me that I couldn't unravel the mess I was in.

Where do you find safety and comfort?
(Photo credit:  source unknown)

To this day I find it uncomfortable to be in tight places.  The memories of being trapped, unable to escape, needing to ask for help.

Aren't there similarities as we practice our dialogue skills:

• Being tangled in our thoughts and actions;
• Feeling trapped by preconceived conclusions; and
• Needing help to see beyond the narrow perspectives we have safely placed ourselves?

I wonder if it's time to start something new:  to trust in beginnings -- asking for help to understand.

Is it time to start something new in your life?
(click on image to enlarge)
(Photo credit:  Mutts, Patrick McDonnell, January 1, 2022)

 

It seems that moments of safety and comfort can also cocoon us into a false sense of security.  We become isolated from the movements that encourage us to connect with life beyond our limited views.  Asking for help to unravel our tangled thoughts provides opportunities to trust one another.  Our renewal comes when we step out together, and when we realize that vulnerability becomes our strength.

What beauty do you see in your life?
(Photo: Sea of Cortez Sunset, Larry Gardepie)

Asking for help can be quite subtle, almost simple:  "What do you think about...?",  "I am not sure I understand...",  "This is what I know...  Do you see it any differently?"  These questions invite the other person into adding information or options we might not have considered.

 

There is humility in stepping back and letting go:  we can clear up any misunderstandings between us... or... at least, identify where we disagree.  Now, the magic of beginnings: allowing the Beauty Within each person to be released from the enclosures we have trapped or hidden them.

May your beauty shine!
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)

Dialogue: Endings and Beginnings

The alignment of Jupiter and Saturn this past week was dubbed the "Christmas Star," and became a temporary distraction from our pandemic isolation.  Over a period of a few days, airwaves and social media directed our collective energy heavenward as we focused on a phenomena last seen 800 years ago.

This one event did not end the pandemic, the suffering, isolation, or denial of COVID-19.  It simply reoriented us to a different shared event... one of awe, inspiration, and beyond.

In darkness, are you at the end or the beginning?
(Photo credit:  P. J. Azzolina, Facebook -
picture taken over Mt. Fuji, Japan)

Standing outside to glimpse these planets orbiting our Common Light, I wondered about the Necessary Darkness to experience this octocentenary event: just maybe...

• We need darkness to appreciate light;
• We struggle in order to welcome health and freedom; and,
  
• Misunderstandings and arguments allow us to know peace and acceptance.

 
What do you think:  is this global pandemic an ending or a beginning?

When do you stop listening?
(Photo credit:  Murphy's Law - What It Is and
How to Beat It, Medium.com)

Seasons have beginning and endings.  We celebrate endings and beginnings of each year we are alive.  There is a continuity of nature as fires and floods destroy and then new growth emerges... in its time.

 

Dialogue is similar:  misunderstandings disconnect our relationships; emotions rage; we cycle through "my version of the story"; and we stop listening.  But, in time, when we notice and reflect on our feelings, a desire may emerge to reconnect, to move away from our isolation, and to listen for hope.  We move away -- or end -- one way of being... and begin again.

 

What ways do you connect with others?
(Photo credit:  When and How We Talk with People,
Psychology Today)

Dialogue -- listening, noticing our emotions, and reflecting on what we understand -- allows us to experience Unprecedented Times... not focused on the pandemic, but on the unprecedented times of exploration, discovery, and healing.

 

The truth is we must embrace and release Endings in order to see and accept Beginnings.  Are you ready?  You have a choice on how the new year aligns for you.

As we move towards the end of 2020:

• May we reflect on what we have learned about ourselves;
• May we seek reconnection; and,
• May we anticipate the New Beginnings that each day offers.
  

 
Happy Endings and Beginnings to you!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)