Between The Worlds

Twixmas, I am told, is the period between Xmas and New Year. New Year's Day, I believe, was placed on the day of celebration of the God Janus of Rome. He was a pre-Greek Pantheon God with faces pointing in opposite directions. "Strange and ancient, Janus was depicted with two, sometimes four faces. One face is always looking back, reflecting, analyzing, learning from the past. The other looks forward, eyes filled with hope, to the future. More metaphor than god, Janus presided over doors and gates, and more importantly, what they represented: transitions", according to Sarah Long https://commonera.com/blogs/the-common-cause/janus-and-the-ritual-of-the-new-year
I once heard that originally the period between Xmas and the New Year was considered to be a period between one year ending and another beginning in which time itself ceased to exist. There were huge festivals, and people were free to do what they liked. It feels a little like that now. It's as if we are all holding our collective breath, waiting to see what happens next.

I suppose its always like this to some extent, but so much more at this juncture of the humans races sojourn on the planet. We are always sitting on this imaginary line between the known and the unknown in a state of waiting. In each moment it's as if time does cease to exist. A pause as we end something and hesitate to begin the next part of the journey. It is so true that we can never control what happens next. It's out of our hands. But we want to,nevertheless. A friend of mine loves getting on a plane. She feels that once it is airborne, she has no responsibilities. She is able to let go of her life and the stress that inevitably accompanies it. For a time, just floating in space, until touch-down occurs. She says it is a wonderful feeling.

If only we could recognise the truth in that. There is nothing we can do between the action to initiate, and the arrival of the consequences of anything. They will show up when the fabric of the Universe has pulled all the bits together, to present it to us, with all its attendant lessons, when the time is right. Once it arrives, and if we are wise, we can do our best to learn from it, whether we find it comfortable or not. But in the meantime we are floating in the twixed place. There would be no stress if we could just let it happen, trusting that, when it shows up, we will have the skills to deal with or learn from, the process. This is now popularly known as 'Mindfulness'. It's certainly a good practice, but not something we can only do cross-legged sitting on our yoga mat. We must take it with us, every minute of every day. Because time is always moving.

Someone once told me that all we can ever do is choose, and choose, and choose. We are doing that from the moment our eyes open in this world, until they close in sleep or death. We are always awaiting the consequences of something or other to show up every millisecond. Our whole life is a series of consequences of past choices. No choice, no life. So like my friend on the plane, we might just as well sit back and enjoy it, leave the stress for another day.

2023 will show up in a few days time. It will be consequential. Maybe this is the year where peace will arrive in the Ukraine, we will realise that being alive is more than making money. Perhaps depots will have a change of heart, and corporations will give away as much as they make. Maybe pigs might fly, but we won't know until we get there. Enjoy another moment of another day, welcoming each as if you have never had one before. Because this one you never have had.

Happy New Year!