New Year and New Beginings

New Year is a magical time. A time when we say goodbye to the old year and look forward to all the things that the new one will bring. It is a time full of hope and excitement. The darkest day of the year is over, the winter solstice has take place and little by little the sun is returning to us. The lengthening of the days is negligible at first and then suddenly you realise that it's light when you wake or that you are not coming home in the dark anymore and you feel that Spring is around the corner.

Although it is still cold and the ground may frozen you can sense that nature is cranking up again after a long Winter slumber. Beneath the earth the snowdrop bulbs are already starting to awake. It is always so exciting to see the first one, as it is a sort of confirmation that warmer times are on their way.

Of course traditionally New Years is the time to make our resolutions - to give up the negative things in our life or to begin a search for a more positive way of living. Somehow I feel a bit superstitious of making resolutions that are too specific as we really never know what life will throw of us but I always like to have a few aims for the coming year.

For me 2013 will be the year that I go back to my Reiki studies. I started learning Reiki nearly 3 years ago and feel that it has made such positive changes to my life. I became a Reiki Master in Angelic Reiki but I would also like to study the more traditional Usui Reiki and get to the level where I can practice and teach it. I love what Reiki has done to my life and I want to share this with others.

I also want to do more in the garden. The children love pottering around and they get so much out of growing their own herbs and vegetables. For Christmas I got Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries and he talks about veg that has been bio-dynamically grown. This means that it has been planted in harmony with the cycles of the earth and the moon. I want to find out more about this as I think it sounds fascinating and I will be blogging some more about it soon.

Finally I want to be a bit less stressed. I think with 2 children and a busy life there will always be an element of stress but I want to stop worrying about things so much and dwelling on issues that I can't change. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this but I will let you know how I get on!

So happy New Year to you all. Are you excited to see the new year in? Are you glad to wave goodbye to the last one? Do you have any resolutions - please share in the comments I'd love to know