“In the beginning, the gods made love,” a favorite line from a Jimi Hendrix song. I love the idea of a dramatic start, a joyous beginning of a great journey. I like to think that, in the beginning, was the end of something else amazing. Each new start is the destruction of the old and the simple act of creation implies the inherent end of something else. In a strange way, the beginning is the end, too. Therefore, the act of creation is a death of the old and a start to a world that is new. Each day as we plan, we are also in the act of creating and destroying, that’s what makes each moment special because it only exists once and is gone.
In the beginning of the winter season, we say goodbye to the harvesting of the fall and look forward to the next spring. The preparation for the frosty freeze of the dark, winter months only starts as the bounty of autumn fades. What now? Four months of cold, maybe snow, but no way to plan outdoor activities. For me, my garden will welcome the winter’s cold. It’s through this process that my compost piles are turned into “black gold” soil, a valuable and costly resource for any backyard gardener. The demands of my growing areas are much in the end of the fall and I look forward to a few months of rest and time to plan next year’s crops. The 2021 season starts now at the end of 2020 as many valuable and necessary things need to be done to ensure good results for next summer. The end of one growing season is the start of the next.
In the beginning, we fall in love if we are lucky. That adrenaline and passion-filled period can’t last forever. In many cases, that infatuation is replaced by deep and meaningful love. The meeting of two souls is an unpredictable journey, a trip that ends with eternity and the unknown. The time given to each of us is finite and we must face the veil of death and move to the other mysterious side. Each day of love is the greatest part of any life and an individual’s journey is meaningless without it. The fact that love is now is what makes it so powerful, and, somehow, what makes it last beyond death. In the beginning we fell in love and, for me, that moment has lasted almost 30 years. The beginning was just the overture of a great symphony of my life.
Monday mornings have got to get going! The beginning of the week and the start of business. First make sure last week’s work was completed before you start in on new tasks. Why? Who decided that Monday was the beginning and Sunday was the weekend? Covid-19 screwed that up for everyone. Schools still run on a weekly schedule, but now parents must be available to be there half the time for at home instruction. When things return to a new normal, will the 5-day work week be done? Maybe the work begins when it’s needed and finished based on the task, not by the calendar created by the Romans thousands of years ago. Is this the end of the old ways and the beginning of a more natural way based on local geography and climate? In the beginning, daylight savings time was a good idea, but now it needs to end so something better can replace it.
Welcome to today, it’s the start of a brand-new day. Goodbye yesterday and thank you for another day of life. A day my family was safe, and we all were together. Today is unknown and can be either a burden or an opportunity: that is determined by my actions and the universe pushing back. The biology I call self is ready for today and I am determined to be disciplined in my physical health. The universe might have a different plan but that’s the universe’s business. I am determined to use today’s beginning in a positive way and focus on enriching all those around me. In your beginning… what are you going to do?