Waking up in a new year

We stayed home and watched football instead of going to New Year's Eve party. Both of us are homebodies, but Bern is much moreso that me.

Time, as you know, is a human invention. The rhythms of darkness and light are natural, but we invented 'time'. The earliest humans simply regulated their lives to the natural rhythms. Then somewhere along the way, we decided to divide the day into 24 arbitrary and equal periods and the year into 365 (366 every three years) days.

So, 'waking up in a new year' is a thoroughly human creation.

Only humans care about 'time'. All other creatures are in tune to the rhythms of nature--both light and dark and the changing seasons. But only we are 'timing things'.

My friend Ann sometimes says, "your dog is waiting for you to come home--but she isn't waiting for 5 o'clock."

I often tell people, truthfully, I might add, that I'm 'unstuck in linear time'. I have a good memory about things, I just couldn't tell you for money what year the events happened. Best I can do is vague stuff like "before we got married" and "after Josh was born but before Mimi was born". I can tell you when both were born but I have to sit and think about it for a minute....And we were married on September 5, 1970. I've gotten good with that because we always (for the past 6 or 7 or 8 years, pick one) celebrate our anniversary on the beach in North Carolina because we go on vacation around Labor Day each year, for however many  years.

Like this: I've gone to Ireland most every year for quite a few years to help lead a workshop and to train Irish leaders. But I have no idea how many years or when it started. I'll get on a plane in April (I'm glad we invented April to give Bern and I birth dates) and go to Ireland. And I have not a clue if it is the 10th time or the 6th time.

Unstuck, that's what I am. In the time we humans invented.

But I know this and know this fair well--this morning I woke up in a new year.

Happy New Year--may 2016 be full of blessings and joy and wonder and awe and peace...and realizing there are things you 'don't know you don't know'.