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Begin Again
September always feels like New Year to me. It carries so much more significance than does January 1. The first crisp hint of a chill always shakes me out of my summer lethargy, wakes me, makes me more alert. It focuses and concentrates my attention. I can smell the possibilities of a fresh start in the air. Anything can happen now. Any and every good thing is possible. Reinvigorated by the sunny days and laze of summer, life now begins again in earnest in schools, government agencies, cultural institutions, and businesses across the country. There is an unmistakable edge of enthusiasm and energy in the air, a palpable sense of intensified determination. This annually renewed resolve seems so much more natural than the resolutions we make at the turn of the calendar year. Fall jumpstarts everything, including itself. Labor Day has become the popular indicator of autumn, rather than the equinox, which occurs three weeks later. In the same way, Memorial Day, which predates the solstice by three weeks ushers in the civic summer season. By this reckoning, school starts in the fall. Most of us have been indelibly imprinted with the excitement and optimism of the first day of school. There is nothing quite so inspiring as buying blank notebooks, pencils you have to sharpen yourself, and some brand new white blouses. So clean, so fresh, so hopeful. The Jewish New Year falls in the fall. This holiday cycle comprises a ten-day period of self-examination, wherein we evaluate the year past and focus our best intentions on the year to come. It is time to sharpen our priorities, realign our perspective, and rededicate ourselves to living the very best life that we can. Early autumn is marked by the Harvest Moon, when we honor all of our hard work of the past year— the seeds we‘ve sown and nurtured, watered, weeded, and worried over. And we count our blessings for the abundance in our lives. The Harvest Moon is ultimately a celebration of auspicious new beginnings. I think of my birthday as being in the fall, but it is actually three or four days before the equinox. Our birthday is our own personal New Year. It is an annual reunion that we have with ourselves, and attendance is required. Our birthday is our periodic opportunity to take serious personal stock. Like any new beginning, our birthday is an ideal time to process our life lessons. How have we grown? What have we learned? And what is it that we just can’t seem to get through our thick skulls? Time to plot our progress, ponder our possibilities, pour over our problems, and plan our goals. Since 2001, fall has also marked the anniversary of September 11. This is a propitious time to reflect honestly upon our vulnerability in today’s terrifying political/economic climate, our culpability in the deadly repercussions that arise from our own chauvinistic attitudes and deeds, as well as our impressive individual and communal capacity for extraordinary acts of courage and devotion. May this new season signal the start of a new era of planetary peace, plenty, and unlimited positive possibilities. Mama Donna Henes is the author of Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles & Celebrations. She is an urban shaman, contemporary ceremonialist and ritual expert. The author of three additional books, she writes for the Huffington Post, Beliefnet, and UPI Religion & Spirituality Network and is a consultant for the television and film industry. www.DonnaHenes.net
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