She Knits By The Seashore: A Good Start to a New Year

January 08, 2013

A Good Start to a New Year

For Christmas, Chris gave me a painting by the yoga teacher who taught the summer class on the beach I attended when we were in Cape Cod.

It was amazing to do yoga on the beach, digging my hands into the sand and feeling the sunshine in my face and hearing the seagulls overhead. This pose, five-pointed star, was particularly memorable. I had not encountered it before in my class back home. I took the yoga on the beach class during a vacation that was happening in the middle of a family member's extended hospital stay, when I was severely overtired and needed some restoration. When we got to the pose, and I stood in the sunshine with my arms outstretched towards it, it was like vowing to the world and to myself, "I'm here, and I'm embracing this crazy stressful time that has been dealt to us, and I'm going to survive."

Our family stayed strong, and did well, and after it was over, I had to focus on job searching once again. I didn't feel the light or the determination of the five-pointed star then. And that was before the hurricane and other stresses of the autumn and early winter.

But tomorrow, I will start a new full-time job, working for someone I really respect. I'm excited to start a new phase of my life, to challenge my mind, and to have a whole new library of things to learn. It seems like it has been such a long time coming, but I agree with people who say that things happen when they are meant to be. Now is the right time.

Chris and I are talking about plans for this year's summer vacation, which will definitely include another yoga on the beach class for me. I want to do the five-pointed star again, face to the sun, happy in knowing that a year later, we not only survived the challenges of 2012, but that blessings also came our way.

Jan 8, 2013 2:32:20 PM