We are within a few hours of resetting our calendars to a clean slate of 12 months. Many of us will have the urge and desire to be able to turn back the hands of our clocks---perhaps out of nostalgia for fond experiences whose only relics are comforting memories that we may not always recompose clearly as from first sight. Or perhaps out of wanting for re-trials and re-dos. Or perhaps out of anxiety towards the new year. And many of us will be prematurely eager to move those very same hands forward, seeking to race past an enduring haunting of a memory. Or seeking to rush to and embrace new opportunities. Or maybe out of an innocent childlike shrill excitement begotten by the seductive temptress we know as the Unknown. But whatever the minute particularities, we ALL have at least one reason to consider and ponder each and every January that comes our way in whatever manner we prefer and specify. All of this finds itself lent to---and contained in---subtly, even opaquely, the tradition of the New Year's Resolution. A promise, a resolve, encompassing a reflective mood, and deep thought in turn being created by the chance or prospect for forward thinking.
So what about a New Year's Resolution to end the practice in the future? Understandably, for many who frustrated year by year by overbearing circumstances this might be an attractive option to exercise. For those still searching for a meaning and some clarity, there are still numerous other things that could provide that opportunity.
One such opportunity I have found is in the celebrated song, Circle of Life, in both the abridged Lion King and the extended Elton John versions. It cannot escape my mind that this song, in particular, contains a comforting and consoling wisdom (indeed, it brilliantly sums up several major themes of the animated film). I know many songs provide a theme of consolation or a message of warmth and/or hopefulness. Some that immediately come to mind are Celine Dion's heartfelt Because You Loved Me and A New Day, or Mariah Carey's solemn There for Me. And, of course, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's simple yet elegant What a Wonderful Day (which was first memorably performed in front of troops during the Vietnam War, as an indirect call to end hostilities, if I am not mistaken).
These are all I songs I've held close, but there's something about those African-themed lyrics that surpasses the aforementioned:
[I] "It's the Circle of Life.
And it moves us all,
Through Despair and Hope,
Through Faith and Love.
Till we find our place on the path unwinding,
In the Circle of Life."
Words that often inspire me to seek direction.
[II] "Some say Eat OR Be Eaten.
Some say Live AND Let Live.
But All are agreed,
As they join the Stampede.
You should NEVER take more than you give."
Words that often inspire me to seek modesty and thoughtfulness.
[III] "Some of us fall by the wayside,
And some of us soar to the stars.
And some of us sail through our troubles,
And some have to live with the scars."
It is the 'Nature' of Life to deal us many mixtures of outcomes and circumstances, varying by person, time, and place. Yet ...
[IV] "It's the Wheel of Fortune.
It's the Leap of Hope.
It's the Band of Faith."
We may (hopefully) realize that there's an innate, little-understood order and depth of growth to these mixtures through perseverance because ...
[V] "There's far too much to take in here,
More to find than can ever be found.
But the sun rolling high,
Through the sapphire sky,
Keeps great and small on the Endless Round ... "
There is a Circle, a cycle, which both requires and maintains some sort of balance and encompassing perspective. We may not fully detect or appreciate this balance and this perspective, and that is understandable. But this Circle affects everyone, and just as it does we also play a role in helping to determine or at least push it to how it will affect us by our interaction(s) with it consciously and unconsciously. And there could be a profound sense of renewal coming out of these dynamics. How to reach that renewal would be a pivotal question. As humans, we are complex social beings endowed with the blessings of much intelligence, ingenuity, adaptability, as well as with the capacities to seek wisdom, to seek improvement, to practice compassion and to incline towards fairness and justice. But will we summon and sustain the forward-thinking, the patience, the moderation, and the strength needed to utilize and combine the above-mentioned qualities?
So yes, this mental gymnastics with a few musical stanzas, can be indeed a form of New Year's Resolution. Not so much a promise or a vow, but nonetheless a promising engagement of sorts. I'll leave with you with this much for now, and I wish you all a fruitful and enriching New Year.
