For nearly a decade I have been picking a word as a theme to light up my new year, straying away from goals and resolutions. My guiding intention for 2021 was creativity. While I pick a word as a theme specifically to liberate myself from the binding rigidity of goals, I fell into my own folly this year. I had visions of my word inspiring another children’s book, more blog posts, more videos, more content, more drawing and doodling, and general creativity…all more in the field of goal versus intention. Oh, how the universe has a sense of humor. As the year wound down, I found myself posting less, grinding to a near halt on my social media presence. I have been making less videos, less content, less generating all together. As the winter season nestled in, I reflected on what I had to show for an entire year of “creativity.”

The beauty of a sunrise and a sunset is they punctuate our experience of life. No matter what has happened throughout the course of the day, we can expect a sunset to draw the day to a close. And tomorrow gifts us with a sunrise, offering a new day. The rhythm of nature is patterned and repetitive, soothing in its tempo. Allowing ourselves the space to witness the sunrise and the sunset, or to create ritual to start and close the day can be soothing on the nervous system.