Beginnings…
The month of January was called Januarius by the Romans, named after Janus, the god of doors and gates. Thus a god of Beginnings. Doors open both ways, implying leaving and coming, or looking backward and forward. In pictures, he’s represented with two heads, one looking backward and one looking forward.
So, here we are. At another beginning. Time to look backward, and time to look forward.
Looking back, what have we accomplished? Did we accomplish what we wanted? If we look back over the span of time that represents our life, what do we see? Have we written what we wanted to write? Have we become the writer that we wanted to be?
Where are we today? And what does that mean? Have we applied ourselves to what we wanted, toward things, and goals and abilities and dreams that are important to us?
If not, then now is the time. Time isn’t waiting. It plays in the background of our lives, but moves on, inexorably.
But our past doesn’t necessarily determine our future. To quote a recent commercial ad, “Live like there’s no yesterday.” We can still achieve those dreams and goals that are important to us. And in this case, what is your writing goal? Your dream?
And, what are the dreams we have yet to accomplish? Have we defined them, have we faced them? Have we achieved our fullest expression of ourselves in the world? Honed our skills, developed that wonderful inner potential that is only us?
Another way of looking at this is with the letter “I.” How do we define this “I”? A question that we all must answer, who am I? What am I becoming? This is the time of year to revisit that question. Where am I in the long stretch of time that defines this “me,” from my own beginnings to the present…and onward.
In the sense of time’s passage, I think the letter “I” also represents an interesting idea, one I had just recently. If we allow that the form of this letter could have meaning, and that the serifs in this letter could imply a sense of time, then the left one ” ] ” encompasses all of the past, all the time in ourselves that came before now, that stretches behind us. The right one ” [ “, all of the future, of what stretches in front of us. Of what could be. What might be. What there is potential to be. And the center ” | ” represents the present time. The thin line that is the present. Now.
Who was it that said, there is only now. We have the most control over now, and how that “now,” the present, will create our future. If we think of our future as like a painting, then what will be represented on the canvas? What we do now paints the landscape of our future, painting over it, overwriting it. And as we gain control of our present, of ourselves, we gain control over our future.
The past is for reference, the future, for dreams. Today is for action. For becoming.
The New Year. This is the door, the gate, to the future. To your own becoming. You have the key to that door. To the door that unlocks your potential. You are that key. Here is the gateway.
Wow! Your post is so true! I heard Dr. Laura say to dwell on the past, is like driving your car forward and looking in the review mirror. I have to agree, what is past is over. You can’t go back and change it. However, you have the now and the future to make wise decisions for your life, your writing, your direction your weight loss etc.
Happy New Year!
Let’s pretend the world is coming to an end—and do our most important work before it’s too late!
well put. Thanks for sharing.
I heartily agree. Well said. And so inspiring. Our dreams and goals start in the now. As a connoisseur of art, I love the analogy of our lives to a painting and how we can control the landscape of our future by controlling what we do and how we act in the present. A most powerful key.