One Year Later

It's the start of another Jewish new year. As I reflect back on the course my life has taken since last Rosh Hashana, I'm amazed. New Years are just that; an entire year of your life that can be brand spanking new. Most people live their whole lives doing the exact same thing all the time. One of my favorite IG quotes is "how dare you do the exact same thing for 75 years and call it a life". This can be hard to read, since it calls you out on your shit. I mean, with all the things out there to learn from and experience, there is no reason at all to not take advantage of the gift of a whole new life cycle. God is like, wake up people! He literally commanded us to use that shofar as an alarm clock. He even instructed us to listen to it a certain number of times to ensure we don't just keep hitting snooze. The shofar holds power, not the actual horn of the ram, that's magical thinking, but in what it symbolizes. Of all the nutty things Jews observe, this is one of the good ones. The piercing sound of anything causes us to stop and take note. An ambulance leads us to be momentarily grateful for our health. A police car causes us to pass judgement and take stock of our morality. A fire truck makes us feel relieved our home isn't in flames. Another kid crying or throwing a fit gives us a fleeting air of superiority ("my child doesn't act like that"🙄).

The shofar isn't meant to just jolt us two days out of the year. It has the message of "Dudes, feel this way every single day. PAY ATTENTION". You cannot make any sort of changes without first paying attention to what needs to be altered. Acknowledgement is first and foremost. Chances are, if your life is entirely linear and stagnant, there's something you aren't dealing with. It doesn't mean there needs to be a constant restructuring of one's life in drastic ways, but there is ALWAYS room for major improvement. We are never to stop going forward. Years bleeding into years is a red flag. People wishing each other a Shana Tovah, a Good Year. How does one define a good year? It's pointless to define "good" as "same", then people would wish each other a "same, uneventful year".  Good has got to mean really, truly good. Not that no one got sick or died and that you once again outran the Angel of Death, but that you maximized your time here. It's like that saying "everybody dies but not everybody lives". Drake sings that line on Nicki Minaj's "Moment for Life". It gets me every single time.

Last year, I prayed for certain things as we all did. I've watched in wonder as many of those things have come true. It's as if I'm watching my life in a film, as an objective observer. Its a fascinating and humbling thing to see your life take shape. It can't just be luck or Mazal, that's too haphazard. We accomplish only what we set into motion. Not with empty words once a year in synagogue, but with persistence and a clean heart. This morning in yoga, as tired as I was from holiday cooking (which I enjoyed so much), I wanted to mentally prepare for the New Year. I no longer place such emphasis on these dates on a calendar, since every single day is the start of your life all over again, but such is the nature of tradition. My thought in class was this; with each yoga position we change shape, take on new motions and physical and spiritual formations. We keep flowing, keep breathing, doing our best in that moment. We are so aquatic, and water never stops moving. As we take on new shapes, we learn that we will achieve newness no matter what. We are safe to keep going. We are more pliable than we give ourselves credit for. We are supported by air and earth. We are meant to move with the cycle of the atmosphere. The more we realize what's out there, the more exciting life becomes. Pray for new, be new, create new. Don't just rely on God to give it to you; He is very busy. He's given you all the tools. Let's get to work 🔧🔨🔩🔑🚪