It's Spiritual Journey Thursday, and we're settling into
our One Little Word for 2026.
My word this year is "Renaissance."
***
I open up my Blogger account for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, and see that my last post was from April 2025, right after my string of March Slice of Life Challenge entries.
I have not known what to write about since then. Every thought that came to mind took a negative turn, and even though I am firmly against toxic positivity, I also had no desire to add my complaints to the internet cacophony. I was--and still am--living on the edge of emotional and intellectual exhaustion, dancing between slivers of hope, desperately sought, and utter despair, fueled by news and politics. The latter I try to avoid, but the impact is getting so close that I can practically smell the smoke from the dumpster fire.
That smoke is starting to clear, thanks to winds of change. There is disturbing news, and there is news of resistance. There is inhumanity, but there is a wave of humanity rising against it. To quote Susan Cooper, "The Dark is rising."...but we can turn it back. We have to turn it back.
This will be the year of the Fire Horse in Asian astrology, the sign I was born under almost sixty years ago. It is a sign of independence, optimism, good humor, and warmhearted generosity. I am hoping to rediscover those aspects of myself that have been ebbing in my recent circumstances.
This Fire Horse Year:
I am turning sixty.
I am retiring from a thirty-three year career in public education, begun thirty-nine years ago.
I am looking forward to another career path, to be of service and financially prepare for real retirement in seven to ten years.
I am coming to terms with my flaws and foibles, focusing on fixing what I can.
I am coming to terms with entering my last trimester of life, and how I want that to look and feel.
I will be having my first major surgery, one that will leave me less parts than I was born with...I am coming to terms with that as well.
My Fire Horse may just be a four-legged phoenix, burning its way into my crone years...my renaissance.
