Taking Stock in January

A reconnaissance check-in with you

Rockaway beach at dawn, photo by Pascal Perich

Happy New Year!! I did some research and according to etiquette experts it’s acceptable to say this for the first 7-10 days of the year, and after that we ‘start to stretch the custom too far.’ What do you think?? The feeling of saying and hearing, ‘Happy New year!’ still feels exciting somehow, and I find myself not wanting to miss anyone. Though I also know it can start to feel a little tiresome, too. Even stressful or pressuring in a way. 

We do have the lunar new year on February 10th, so we will get another chance to say this greeting soon if you see anyone around then who hasn't received your well wishes yet. :)

This is my first Substack post of 2024, and I am more excited than ever. Even though this is my 5th post, and we’ve already discussed and shared our thoughts and images through Chat and Notes, it feels somehow like we’ve entered this new realm, leveled up, gained new power, and are starting fresh once again. 

Since we’re beginning a new year and we’ve already become acquainted, I wanted to do a brief check-in with you, to take stock on how things are moving along so far, and to share with you my aspirations and goals for Substack. I am still new to this platform, learning the ins and outs, getting my footing, and finding my rhythm. It’s an incredible learning curve of time management and planning, honing in on my mission and style here, and I am so excited for when I settle into the pocket of running my Substack in the way I envision.

As I said in my first introduction post, my aim is to send a letter to you every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:11am (unless a different time is chosen for a particular reason or meaning). My other aim is to have a casual live call and/or formal zoom workshop every 4th and 14th of the month. I am still figuring out the details and logistics of this, and eventually I would love this to be a regular practice every month on the 4th and 14th, no matter the day of the week. These number dates are specifically chosen and deeply personal to me, and I’ll explain why when we’re on the first call together. 🙂

I would really like to take this time today to do a poll of information so I can see how many of you would be interested in this, and what sort of topics you are most interested in. So if you have a moment, it would be so helpful if you could follow this survey link below so I can gather this data from you all to take into consideration your details moving forward with my planning. It won’t ask for your email address or any personal information, just a short list of questions I wrote to understand your preferences and anything else you want to share! 

Google Survey

Because I missed my post on January 2, I’ll be posting today, tomorrow, and Saturday. The one you were meant to receive on Tuesday is a sharing of stories, thoughts, videos, and photos from the end of the year shows we just did in Chicago and NYC. I wanted to wait to send it out until I had gathered all of the images from the photographers who attended the shows, so now that I have everything ready, you will receive that post tomorrow morning. Saturday will be a special post around courage and resilience, just in time for Joan of Arc’s birthday.  

I also had intended to do my Remembrance Calendar Workshop on Zoom with you all this evening, but I think we will postpone this to Sunday, January 14th, on a day that feels a little more relaxed and open as we’ve eased a bit more into the new year. If that feels inconvenient or unfavorable, we can also do a casual call this evening in addition, just to say hello and review the findings of the google survey, depending on how much data we have collected by then. Though it might be nice to wait until we can enter formally into this added realm and layer together. Either way. You can let me know your thoughts. 

January is certainly a packed month of dates and birthdays to observe. Today is our dear friend Michael Stipe’s birthday. Yesterday was the birthday of Stephen Stills. January 6 is the birthday of Joan of Arc, and Joan Baez on January 9. The list continues on and on. Birthdays, death dates, anniversaries, holidays, difficult dates and joyful celebrations. This is why the remembrance calendar is so important to me as a way to begin the year, and this is why I want to share my exercise around it with you all. 

So please let me know in the google poll what feels good to you, and share answers to some of the questions if you have a little time. 

A Wish for the New Year

Today I wanted to revisit a quote that I shared on my Instagram on New Year’s Day. It comes from the mind of Henry David Thoreau, who you might know is special to me from the recording of Legacies I shared in my last post, from Alana and my performance at the Thoreau Society Annual Gathering in 2022. I’ve loved Henry’s writing and ideas since a long time, and the writers of Concord and the town of Concord itself mean a great deal to me. Here are some of Henry’s thoughts on on starting a new year:

“Each new year is a surprise to us. We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence. How happens it that the associations it awakens are always pleasing, never saddening, reminiscences of our sanest hours. The voice of nature is always encouraging.”

Henry David Thoreau

What do you think of this quote? I really love the opening line, ‘Each new year is a surprise to us. We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence. ‘ This is just a perfect thought, written so beautifully. Then we have the next line: ‘How happens it that the associations it awakens are always pleasing, never saddening, reminiscences of our sanest hours. The voice of nature is always encouraging.” The only part of this statement that bothers me just a little is when he says, ‘never saddening,’ because I don’t think we can possibly say that, especially using the word ‘never.’ There can be associations, sounds, scents, images in nature that remind us of a time that makes us sad, that remind us of someone we are missing, of a time we are longing for. Nature in essence is always healing and therapeutic, brings us back to ourselves, clears our minds of chitter chatter, and reminds us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. It reminds us how interconnected we are, with animals, trees, with the systems of the earth. It is our most valuable and irreplaceable tool of ‘reset.’ We are only human though, and we have painful memories often tied to beautiful things. We can (as we know) however, transform these associations with specific elements of nature into something new, something to comfort and empower us. It definitely can take great effort and time, though. A flower that used to bring us feelings of sadness can eventually bring us feelings of love, if not in tandem. So I love Henry’s quote for various reasons. I love it because of exactly what he is saying, and I love it because of where I find a tiny fault, and what thoughts it brings up in me today. Maybe I am being too picky on his wording, but I think it’s important to hold the space of any possibilities, to remember that there is always room for any and all emotions that arise, even from the most pure and beautiful things, like those we find in nature. 

A candle for Henry at Poet’s Corner, St. John the Divine

If you know Henry, you know that he can be a bit prickly and steadfast in his opinions. When I was younger,I had this funny fantasy of getting into little arguments with him. So much of his writing is over my head, especially the political essays and those that require a fleshed out knowledge of civics and history, and I felt when I was younger that I maybe couldn’t even hold a conversation with him. I feel differently now, and have always loved so much of his work and that of other writers and voices from Concord in this era. I would daydream sometimes about this funny story of getting an invitation to a dinner gathering at the Alcott House in Concord, Orchard House. I would be sitting there at the table with Louisa May, Bronson, the Hawthorne family, Emerson, his wife Lidian, and Thoreau. Maybe some other friends and family. Neighbors and shopkeepers, farmers and school teachers. Everything would be going pleasantly until Henry would inevitably say something crass or sarcastic, challenging or stubborn, with too much authority or with a chip on his shoulder, even about something very simple, and I would wholeheartedly disagree. He would come back with something piercing and full of wit that would cause me to lash back. It would all end with tears and me excusing myself to the kitchen. Then Emerson with his wise and grandfather-like qualities would push away from the table, remove his linen napkin, and join in the kitchen for kind consolation and to remind me of Henry’s personality. Eventually I would rejoin the table, where Henry would have calmed, perhaps been scolded by the rest of the table, and he would meet me with a kind apology and an offer to discuss something new - botany, a new bird song he came across, poetry, or an upcoming boat trip. I don’t know exactly why this was my daydream, but I would imagine and reimagine it over the years.

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That was a bit of a random tangent, so thank you for indulging that unexpected moment. I will come back to the writers of Concord sometimes and my experiences there. I find that they appear and reappear at various moments, saying hello, offering reminders, asking questions. The world may have looked quite different back then in the 19th century, but so much of their observations and protest remain the same. Their fears about the future, their demands for a better one. Simple and perfect thoughts about life, about the human condition, about brotherhood and sisterhood, about the magic of nature.  

Do you have a particular group of writers or era that you like to revisit and draw from?   

As Henry said, ‘Each new year is a surprise to us,’ so let’s hope this year brings joyful and exciting ones. 

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Here are some other quotes for a fresh new year:

“I make so many beginnings there never will be an end.”

Louisa May Alcott

“Kindness, kindness, kindness. I want to make a New Year’s prayer, not a resolution. I’m praying for courage.”

Susan Sontag

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

CS Lewis

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

Socrates

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

Eleanor Roosevelt

“What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't even happened yet.”

Anne Frank

“Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."

F Scott Fitzgerald

"And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been."

Rainer Maria Rilke

"If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello."

Paulo Coehlo

"And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."

Meister Eckhart

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Today is also the day that TS Eliot died, so let’s also remember these quotes he shared,

“Last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.”

And this great one:

"Every moment is a fresh beginning."

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Every moment. Isn’t that incredible. It’s such a simple quote and it seems so obvious, but when we take a moment to think about it, it feels different. Infinite chances to begin again, whenever we need to, whenever we want to. To stretch time indefinitely, to make time elastic, to pause, to look around or inward. To tackle and set in motion whenever we feel it. I feel so blessed and lucky to be alive when I take a pause with that quote. I am here, I am alive, and every moment is a fresh beginning. 

Do any of these quotes resonate with you especially? It might be a nice journaling exercise to sit with one of these quotes for a few moments, and write your own thoughts and reflections. I think I will spend some time writing in reflection to this TS Eliot quote, and also to the Thoreau one. You can also add any quotes that you like or find inspiring. Oh! If you like, we can also make new quotes! In the comment box, please feel free to include your reflections on these quotes, OR your own new quote. You can write it in italics and cite your name after. New year, new beginnings, and new quotes to draw from. :)

So those are my thoughts for today. I hope to hear yours and I look forward to your responses on the Google Survey, too. Wishing you a beautiful and peaceful Thursday, a day of inspiration, and as always, a day of new beginnings and new opportunities. 

Happy New Year :)

Walking towards new beginnings! Photo by Pascal Perich