For as long as I can remember, I have loved the feel of January. The stress of the holidays behind us, and the sense of wide open vistas of opportunity and potentiality ahead. For a precious few weeks, the spark of aspiration is alive and felt on a collective level.
It is a truly beautiful thing that in the modern secular world, we have this moment when the Gregorian calendar clocks the end of a 365 day cycle, and thus we are gifted a new number and a new beginning. It is a testament to the aspirational force within us that the beginning of a New Year should inspire reflection and goal-making.
The spark of aspiration in the human psyche is a vitally important force, as it is the part of self which has a sincere intention to do our best, to make the most of our time here, to evolve.
I’ve noticed, this New Year in particular, a cynicism about New Year’s resolutions, which of course is informed by the data we have, and perhaps, our own personal experiences with crash-and-burn-resolutions, and then the general snarky ethos of the social-media-fied discourse. We have good reason to roll our eyes at impulse to create goals for the New Year. I mean the fitness app, Strava, using massive amounts of user data, reported that January 19th was when people fell off their New Year’s exercise resolutions. It is known that gyms are packed at the beginning of January and by mid-February are back to normal.
And yet…
It may be that setting enormous goals once every 365 days is too tall a mountain to climb. It may be that the crash-and-burn goals are bubbling up from the shallow waters of ego desires – which are often materially-focused and camparison-oriented. It may be that January 1st is not always in sync with the inner rhythm.
I have found smaller goals, more often, to be quite effective. I have found that intentions rooted in the depth of my Soul tend to be ones I can stick with – as they are often spiritually-anchored, and therefore, persistent. I have found intentions & goal setting can truly be done anytime: birthdays, anniversaries, Equinox time, Solstice time, New Moons, Full Moons, bleeding time, ovulation time, a random Thursday when a flood of clarity comes through – what matters is what it means to the individual.
So, yes, we may roll our eyes at the futile business of lofty New Year’s resolutions. But let us not become so cynical that we stop fanning the flames of the aspirational part of self, the part which wishes to learn and grow and do our best. This part of self could be conceived as the Soul, what Dr. Estés calls la que sabe, the one who knows. It has been said that this part of ourself has within it, the infinite or the divine. When the voice of the Soul, la que sabe speaks, there is a resonance within – unlike any other.
This part of us has within it, a knowing beyond what has been taught to us during our short lives on Earth. When our Soul expresses, there is a sense we are tapping into something other-wordly or mystical. Some even think that this is the part of us which has always existed & will exist after our bodies die.
It is mighty hard to access this part of ourselves when we are rushing around always doing and never being. It is hard to tap into the Soul when we are ever-looking outside of ourselves for validation. La que sabe is hard to sense when we never allow for a single quiet moment in our own minds.
This is why meditation, contemplation, creativity, and ritual are so important. In all of these places, the Soul has space to make itself known.
It is a worthy goal of a lifetime to let the Soul sit at the very center of the psyche so that our thoughts, words & actions flow effortlessly from this infinite source within.
Tomorrow is the first New Moon of the Year, the Lunar New Year.
So maybe, if it is in alignment with your inner rhythm, you may ask la que sabe, the one who knows, within you: Is there a single intention you’d like to set? Is there a deep longing in your heart? Is there something your aspirational Self is calling for?
If something comes, write it down, take it for a walk, befriend it, partner with it.
If you’d like to do this with a group, facilitated by me, please join us tomorrow for our New Year New Moon Meditation Adventure, online -from anywhere, where our theme is Centering in the Soul.
I am wishing you a Soul-guided New Year and look forward to the many adventures ahead!
YOUR TURN
In the comments below, please share:
Do you make New Year’s resolutions or intentions?
If so, what is one piece of advice would you give to others aiming to do the same?
Can’t wait to read ‘em ♥️
♥️ & Howls,
Chris
On the Horizon
Join an international, intergeneration group of weird and wonderful wild-hearted Women in our online Cave (which lives on an app)!
We meet weekly in Circles, Workshops, Practices to keep our wild spirits lit!
Upcoming Weekly Gatherings:
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on May 7th!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
Thank you for this helpful reframing, Chris. I do not make resolutions, but I do set intentions, and they are spirit-oriented. The resolutions that are not helpful to me are the ones that impose an agenda. If there is some way of being that has been an elusive goal up to this point, a helpful intention might be to fully come into presence with yourself in the eluding of that goal, to discover the protective intention behind the resistance.
Beautiful, Shelley. Thank you for sharing.
Dear Chris, so beautifully written, thank you for this!
I usually make wishes with the ones I spend New Years and sometimes we write on a piece of paper, which will be burned, what we want to leave behind. Especially last year has been hard and difficult, solutions has to be made by me soon. So the first time I have tried to use the energy of the twelfthtide for my wishes, questions and asked for guidance. I definitely am going to „work“ on less doing and more being.
Hugs and love to you dear Chris and all my sisters from Germany, Yvonne
Here’s to BEing! Much love to you in Germany! xo
Dear Chris: Thank you for these beautiful thoughts and the beautiful way you expressed them. Tomorrow night I gather the New Moon Sisters to look at CPE’s interpretation of The Little Match Girl… the importance of Action versus Serial Fantasizing. It’s a balancing act, I find, to know which is the escapist fantasy and which is the energizing fantasy that galvanizes us into acting for our Souls. My New Year’s intention is huge and all-encompassing. It’s a test on many levels. After 8 years of surgeries and recoveries, I’m going out on tour this Spring…on an adventure to the furthest Eastern tip of Canada. The fantasy part of it just feels like fun…going with a beloved songwriter friend, touring in the vintage camper, etc., but the more sober part of the fantasy is that the trip will be like crossing the Ural Mountains on a donkey…it’s going to be a challenge in so many ways. There will be mine fields to navigate, explosions to be avoided, triage and wounds to heal. But, as I think about the enormity of this goal–because it’s not a little goal by any means!–I wonder if La Que Sabe has been working on me for many years–waiting for me to close my eyes and leap, asking me to gather any wisdom that I’ve been accumulating drop by drop and to embrace the Action with grace too huge for me to imagine that I possess right now. To all the Wild Women Sisters: wishing you a soulful New Moon, and “knowing” goals that feed your soul of souls. We are all connected thanks to Chris and her profound dedication. It’s a good feeling. Love, Rita
Wow! Love all of this, Rita!!! Hands at your back for the amazing adventure ahead. May it be blessed!
Hi Chris, Thank you for your beautiful entry. This has brought me a lot of clarity. I usually am not the one to set New Year’s resolutions just because I am not a very big planner. I always say, “I’m impulsive” but what I actually know is that I listen to La Que Sabe and I act on that in the moment. I am always listening to the voice inside and nurturing it, making it happy. I set intentions yes, I know what I want to achieve in this life but I do it at my own pace. I think certain disciplines are necessary, the ones that make you feel like you are living everyday to the fullest but I do not believe in forcing yourself to be someone you are not just because of envy of other lifestyles. Slow and steady is a strong force and one I have become friends with. I am proud to have found what works for me because I do have ADHD and during my childhood, I procrastinated throughout majority of school. Now, even if I get a little done everyday I am proud because I am always working towards my highest self and serving La Que Sabe.
Thank you for all these thoughtful reflections! So much wisdom shared. xo