Happy (complicated & confusing) New Year!

If you’re hearing the same chatter, then you too can verify that 2022 finds us all questioning literally everything. For me personally, it suddenly feels like half the knowledge I thought I’d so carefully curated to survive the mechanics of life thus far…grows increasingly irrelevant.

While I thought that perhaps my extraordinarily full lifetime of remarkable experiences would somehow convert unique knowledge into prized wisdom, it seems half that knowledge is like having lived in the Victorian age on the very cusp of the industrial revolution.

Imagine, back then, learning and finally mastering so many handmade skills when suddenly machine tooling and later, automation (in 1873) literally changed everything. All of it! Suddenly the norm was obliterated almost overnight. Sound farmillier?

Ironically, just like then, now half the country was livid, wanting things to stay the same, to ensure their relevancy. While the other half sees a brewing renaissance that could and will change the world.

No matter how you recalculate it, history continues to repeat itself, while the human journey, at its core, always stays the same...just with newer toys.

Our species’ evolution has always been a succession of quantum physical leaps forward, then punishing spiritual falters backwards.

It’s no wonder why Alexander Pope’s line “to err is human, to forgive divine,” has held up all these years because its simplicity is still relevant. In fact, it’s more vital to our survival than ever.

If the Victorians felt overwhelmed, it was nothing to what we’ve faced with the new toys of this generation.

In 1984 we boomers saw the beginnings of the home computer that again, rocked our relevancy to the core. In 1997 the internet came into our lives and shortly thereafter the quantum leaps to today’s now “mandatory” technology were in full swing. We hated the learning curves. We always do. Yet today the very thought of even misplacing our smartphones sends is into sheer emotional epilepsy!

With 2021 now closed, it seems that on one hand, the WIFI clouds that once lured us are now beginning to lose their charms. At the same time the internet has been a Godsend during the ongoing pandemic.

What seemingly added quality to our existence, in retrospect, seems only to have either morphed our already chaotic lives into instant “hyper speed” or given us a lifeline in the COVID isolation. It’s all about perspective isn’t it?

Whatever the case, the once feared internet is now simply an entitled “utility.”

With every great voice now heard here, come thousands we should probably never have heard from at all. LOL

--Proof that just like with any invention down through history, it’s only as good as the person using it.

Sure, we will continue to invent, innovate and technically dazzle. But as 2022 begins, after almost two years of enforced isolation, our perspective is, in fact, changing. For so many of us, more toys isn't cutting it anymore. In fact "more" is way too much.

Just like the Victorian industrial revolution changed the very physical, political and social morays of their time… We now sit perched at the edge of a similar precipice once again.

Making the idea of traditional “New Year’s resolution” practically impossible.

The past year has given us a sobering snapshot of where we are. While we might have quantum leapt in terms of technology toys, without the “structure” that (for good or bad) remained in place all our lives, we humans are feeling more emotionally vulnerable than ever before. Sadly, instant media ranting seems to be exacerbating the situation rather than helping it. So the key is not to take the bait and finally learn the vital importance of personal “boundaries.”

If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s the confirmation of what I guess I’ve always known.

The truth of who I really am cannot be found (much less validated) in the physical world around me no matter what search engine I use. You can’t google “life.”

Our true identity lays deep within. It’s in the very core, eternal spirit we brought with us in the first place and which, connects us all spirit-to-spirit. It’s a remarkable thing that should be protected with new, more honest boundaries that guard this precious lifeforce we take for granted.

Spirit is absolute in its unwavering unconditionality. It “sees” us through an ever-forgiving lens of love (which I continually convolute by seeking “default self-acceptance” and misguided approval from the noisy world around me).

So, this year I plan, once again, to try my best to opt out of the “shame, blame, fear” mechanism that powers the socioeconomic engine we all find ourselves in.

I’m going to take the glaring hint and gladly purge myself of irrelevant (yet addictive) human-taught ideas that never really did apply to me in the first place.

With new boundaries, my true personal self-acceptance will no longer be available to people who think they "know" me but actually can’t even “see” me. And I most certainly will not be lulled into the self-righteous fad of “wokeness” which inadvertently, is simply adding more fire fuel to the already rampant, potentially war mongering list of intolerances.

In my spiritual place, come to find out, one either unconditionally loves their fellow man or they don’t, know matter what one looks like or decides to call themselves, we are equal.

It’s always a tricky (almost contradictory) thing to declare opting out within the very public and potentially hazardous format that social media can be. I struggle with this ongoing and try to be as respectful and unobtrusive as possible.

Nevertheless, I am perhaps naive in thinking I can make a difference. If only in trying to put a bit of light out into an increasingly shadowy world, I still believe that hate can only live in darkness. Perhaps a single, tiny bulb (with a nice lampshade?) can be a little beacon to combat hate and fear. So, I trod on as carefully as I dare hoping that others will light a candle too.

Thus far, thanks to each and every one of you, I have been blessed with a smart, discerning, thoughtfully intelligent and remarkably resilient, open-hearted audience, which spurs me on!

So, my resolution this year, is to continue to do my best to give you the tools, motivation and courage to live your best life with real clarity. ---To help you bring order and harmony to the place you call home even if it’s with a roll of contact paper over a Westinghouse refrigerator box.

We all need and deserve a safe place to park our hearts so they can dare to dream.

It’s not about “design.” It’s about using our inherent creativity to put the spirit’s selflove, physically around us to remind us of our true and most intentional desire to be our best self... each and every day.

Together, we can do it!

Happy New Year!

XO CL