New Years m(_ _)m

Thanx for your participation – period - but especially in helping to celebrate new years in the lives of two of my absolutely favorite people. I’m not one who minds telling her age for I feel each year is an accomplishment & every birthday a beginning. Age has never proven an accurate telling of anything other than how long someone’s managed to survive thus far. So, I stubbornly hope that my grandparents being well into their 80s does NOT mean I’m close to losing them & proudly proclaim my own 39 years. Admittedly, it doesn’t hurt that I don’t look 39 & never cease to shock people when I admit that I am; as much for the admittance too, I’m sure, which is half the fun.

The refusal to look our age is a trait, oddly enough, shared by my ENTIRE inner circle. What makes it odd is that we’re not all related although some of us are &, judging by my mum’s parents, none of us will look or act our so-called age for decades more. Taking your age seriously is just as detrimental as taking yourself too seriously & as debilitating as heeding the preconceptions of anything else purely physical. It’s important to extrapolate from the smaller, more readily obvious truths those greater truths that too often get dismissed simply because they’re unexpected. There’s no end to what cannot be told by how someone looks, regardless of what we see.

In order to see beyond our perceptions, we have to watch for what we’re shown. Aside from the apparent access to a fountain of youth, which I presume to be the healthy lust for caffeine we also share, that inner circle of mine is defined by an abiding passion: a driving force to be our true selves. This small subset of the people who know me best are the ones who know me ridiculously well, accept me for exactly who I am & whole-heartedly desire to relate to everyone they meet on that same level. The ability to accept others without hesitation or misconception grows as you come to terms with all that you are & want to be. Real truth is not always pretty & certainly never easy.

While those who are literally my nearest & dearest all share a determination to be whole, it’s Jordan who has redefined the journey for us. Wholeness is found not only in truth to self but of self. He was willing to challenge ALL the suppositions & change EVERYthing he seemingly was. Not a thing was sacred in his process & we who already loved him watched in awe as his essence came into focus. As he radically became a new being, the person within that had long been who held our admiration came to the fore. Even now, upon starting a new year biologically & as the real New Year begins, for today is the Chinese New Year, he’s made his continued evolution the priority.

The lies my body’s telling pale in comparison to the ones he’s had to overcome which is why he inspired the post I wrote for his birthday. Inasmuch as he is an inspiration, the result came nowhere near expressing its impetus. Between it not being my place to divulge too much of someone else’s journey & the simple fact that his bravery is an ongoing encouragement, my effort to write about him evolved in & of itself; into an essay born of what he proves is possible. It’s my hope to share truths along the way but my brother is truth. He has embodied it, becoming a prism off which the myriad lessons we all have to look beyond the mirror to learn can’t help but be reflected.

Such illumination is transcendent, highlighting the changed perspectives that must come before real change can occur. 2008 being a Year of the Rat, a new 12 year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac begins & decisions made during this year are purported to carry long term consequences. This is meant to be a prosperous year, giving the traditional Chinese wishes of prosperity offered at the new year more significance. There’s almost a sense that the promise we’re poised for is reciprocally poised for us. If, like my brother, groundwork has been laid & it’s a foundation of honesty you’re prepared to build on then build unabashedly; taking another cue from him: perseverance.

Neither our mum, Jordan nor I are rats but our younger brother is.. Though Momma’s a rabbit, we older sibs are monkeys & it seems “the monkey who has worked hard will see many rewards in the year of the rat.” My brother has worked tirelessly to change his stars & the stage is set for the person he’s always been but is still becoming to take center. I don’t know what I’ve managed to convey of such a personal journey but Jordan exemplifies that we are our most important cause. External & internal changes not only impact each other but each is incomplete without the other. I encourage us all to seek our specific spotlight for this act in our lives. Perhaps Joel’s rattiness combined with Jordan’s abundant good mojo is an all-encompassing good luck charm.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“To attract good fortune, spend a new coin on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend, and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.”
~ Chinese Proverb ~

Tagged as: Chinese New Year, family, holidays