Tonight at 12:01 the new year begins. We will leave 2024 behind us and start anew.
Fire is a beautiful symbol of letting go. For years, in Scheveningen, where I was born, we celebrated the New Year with fire. On every street corner, there was fire, and often, much more was burned than what was superfluous from the old year. Nowadays, this tradition is a cozy, organized event on the beach.
This year, the fire was lit a day earlier, so today, in the early morning, Chi and I were able to say goodbye to the old together.
Taoism
In Taoism, there is a beautiful meditation exercise, “sitting & forgetting. Literally sitting and forgetting. It is recommended that every night before going to bed you go over the day again and let everything go. This way you go into the night with an empty head and calm heart, heading for a new day.
If you are not reminded of the old then you can be completely in the now is the idea here. The life energy can then flow freely and you can be fully yourself. You see things for the first time with a fresh and clear view free of prejudices, thoughts, and memories.
An exercise of years.
Buddhism
Buddhism has such a beautiful description of love, I would like to share it on the last day of this year. Love according to Buddhism (my translation) is that you experience that you are a human being with all kinds of emotions and thoughts and that everyone around you is also the same human being with all kinds of emotions and thoughts.
And that everyone, in his or her own way, is doing his or her best to be free of unpleasant emotions and thoughts, and that is what we want most of all. To feel free, relaxed, and happy in every moment.
And if we realize this then we wish everyone to be free of everything that hinders us from being free and relaxed and happy. We wish everyone to be free from the causes of those annoying emotions and thoughts.
That is love, wishing everyone to be free and happy. Inner peace for everyone. And doing your own best to make yourself happy and also everyone else around you.
This love is very nice to feel and experience.
There is no exchange, no desire, and no need, this we sometimes confuse with love, but real love is free and flows freely in all directions. Can you imagine going through life like this every day, with a heart full of love and everyone you meet you look at with eyes full of love and wish that the other person is happy and experiences inner peace?
My wish
My wish for the new year and intention is to be in love in every moment and bring this into the world, just until all non-love is gone.