Beginning Anew

We will experience a New Moon on 01/20/15.  The moon and sun together are ancient time keepers to modern wo/man.  Most of us are far removed from Nature's celestial rhythms.  But the study of these heavenly bodies and their interactive timing to our days, months and seasons was a necessity.  Miyamoto Musashi writes in The Book of Five Rings:

Harmony and disharmony in rhythm occur in every walk of life. It is imperative to distinguish carefully between the rhythms of flourishing and the rhythms of decline in every single thing.

The statement is a powerful one for being attentive to one's body, surroundings, work, play, goals and relationships.  It is too easy to be distracted with the electronic noise that surrounds us, always competing for the energy of our time and attention.  Cultivating a mindfulness for the moon's natural rhythms is a way to be in tune with the  celestial tick-tock, and its value in providing a great milestone for us to be intentional with our goal development (new moon) and accomplishment (full moon).

I like the Yagy Munenori's quote from the Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War

When fighting with enemies, if you get to feeling snarled up and are making no progress, you toss your mood away and think in your heart that you are starting everything anew. As you get the rhythm, you discern how to win. This is "becoming new." (p.46)

The New Moon gives us a fixed point in time to thinking about places in life where we are 'feeling snarled up and making no progress'.

In the couple of days before the New Moon, I plan on thinking about some places in my life where I am feeling snarled up....and I'm going to toss my mood away and begin anew.  These two quotes from Musahi and Munenori are two of the most powerful for me over the years.  I hope that you put them in your quiver of quotes that you turn two to give your flagging spirits or energy a bolster.