A New Year; A Fresh Start

Life is simply a bunch of “getting ups” and “going to beds.”  After you do that 365 times, you bundle it and call it another year. 

Welcome 2011. 

Last year we were reviewing the decade, celebrating the culmination of 10 years into the new century; Next year we will celebrate the beginning of the end of the world...(according to Mayan calendars). 2011…well…it’s kind of sandwiched in between the two. Yet I wonder what it holds.  I opened my eyes on the morning of 1-1-11 to another day; a day like any other. However, I must admit that the air outside always feels a bit more energizing on January 1.

I started the year by purging my closets and cabinets. I went through everything and analyzed the last time I used or needed the object. If it had been several years, I shoved it into the “Good Will” bag. Sometimes I would suddenly have a moment of panic, of second thoughts, “Well, perhaps I will wear that flannel again. It would be perfect for a night under the stars camping.” Camping? I think we’ve gone camping once in the six years we’ve been married. When I decided to toss the item in the bag, I couldn’t look back. This was a good, purifying exercise for me. I was ridding myself of excess material things that I didn’t need or use. Cleansing project number 1….Done!

The second purging endeavor is an attempt to undue the internal damaged caused by excessive merriment during the holiday season. My friend Kristin and I decided to do a body detox this coming week. Yes, DETOX.    It sounds so serious, but it’s really only a three-day whole food, "green" diet that is supposed to balance and realign a body.  Right now my fridge is  filled with lovely vegetation: brussel sprouts, kale, spinach, lettuce, celery….I didn’t have to ask my husband to not eat it. The result is hopefully clearer skin and an energized mind. What better way to usher in a new year? So, here we go. Starting Monday we plan to revitalize our insides with the stuff grown in the dirt.

So, why do I--and others--feel the need to cleanse and purify at the start of a new year?

 I think there is something in us that makes us want to be better, to do better and start off with a clean slate. I think we get weighed down throughout the year. We say things, make choices and fail to live up to dreams and expectations. We yearn for another chance, and we cling to the hope that this time we will do better. We want to free ourselves from the “clutter”, and move forward free, fresh and redeemed.  Will a trip to Good Will accomplish this? Will nourishing my body solely from the raw material of the earth suffice? I know it won't, but I view it as simply an outpouring of my good intentions. 

So, cheers. 

Cheers to a new year. 

Cheers to a bright future. 

And cheers to my green spinach cocktail that I will enjoy early tomorrow morning. ;)

Ps; Stay turned for updates on the detox process this week....