Always, We Begin Again (Happy New Year from the Strategic Monastic!)

Hello, and Happy 2011!

New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays. I love the love the feeling of making a fresh start, letting go of the past, and turning the first page in a new book.

I remember specific New Year’s holidays of past years, some in cities and some in the country. Growing up in the Midwest it was usually cold and crisp, and we watched the Rose Bowl every year. There was a worldwide celebration eleven years ago for the dawning of a new millennium.

Now, I appreciate living in one of the few places in the world that makes a real effort to mark and celebrate every New Year’s: Pasadena, California. I have seen the Rose Parade in person, and this Saturday, after watching all those Rose Bowls on television all those years, I actually went to the Rose Bowl to watch my Wisconsin Badgers!

New Year’s is also a very monastic day, as Benedict’s Rule says,

Always, we begin again.

The monks I know tend to be open and present to the here and now. They often have clarity, an ability to listen, and a freedom from distraction that is harder to find in others. They are not filled with regret about the past, and not consumed by anxiety about the future; they are more able to let go and live in the present.

The fresh start of New Year’s seemed to me to be an excellent time to begin this blog. Please join me and stay in touch as 2011 unfolds and the lessons in store for us are made clear.

I also encourage you to choose something new to do yourself, and to *just simply begin.*

It is not too late, and it is more about practicing to develop a new habit than resolving to make a dramatic change. It is about forgiving the times we forget or fail ourselves, and starting new every day.

It is about finding ways to celebrate the crisp newness of each day, even when there is no parade. Always, we begin again.