New Year Energy

On the winter solstice of 2020, I was driving through the dusk-purpling snow of northern Utah. The way was cold and calm, lit by Saturn and Jupiter — so close in the Southwest sky that if you squinted they became one doubly bright celestial body. An auspicious alignment: the “Christmas Star” of lore and legend. 

It got me thinking about those Three Wise Men who used the same chilly light to find their way across the desert in Jordan. “Good news!” they proclaimed when they saw the “star,” or so the story goes. I was looking for my own good news in this dark season, and I remembered that the Three Wise Men, as well as The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (which also features the Christmas Star), teach of reprioritization and hope. A big ol’ lesson of 2020.

After a hermetically sealed drive through the Western United States, I spent the winter holiday season in Colorado with my family. It filled up the reserves. It provided the change of venue I needed — out from under the Willamette River Valley rain cloud where it can get dark, too dark to see at times.

The calling of our generation is no longer the perfectly orchestrated Instagram post. Look I’m just a hypocrite like everyone else but on my better days I’m here for the radical connection. Not to stay locked away, but rather to show up. My family bond has never felt tighter. My connection to the world has never felt weightier. When I meditate once or twice a week at five minutes a pop (no mindfulness high horse here, just an attempt-at-an-examined-life mini pony), I try to send it out to everyone I can think of. “It” being vibes. “It” being rays from the core of my tissue. “It” coming from my biggest artery — straight to you. 

Dylan once said: When you’re surrounded by love, you can do anything. 

It’s the new year and I want to do something.