Inspiration for New Beginnings

We invite you to peruse this collection of articles, video, a poem, practice and more which speak to beginnings, possibilities and potential. May these resources support our welcoming the new year with gratitude, inspiration and hope.

Turning New Year’s Resolutions into Revelations
Kristi Nelson invites us to make “the means more of the ends” by putting gratefulness rather than scarcity at the center of the resolutions we make this year. Bringing a grateful balance to our resolutions can make them revelations in our lives, not just a long list of “shoulds.”

Blessing
May you wear your years like a well-tailored coat
Or a brave sassy scarf.
May every year yet to come:
Be one more bright button
Sewn on a hat you wear at a tilt…

Becoming Midwives
An interview with Culture Designer, Joe Brewer, on understanding the context of the complex times in which we are living. This is a 3-minute segment from a longer interview with Joe on the cultural evolution of humanity. Mixed with stunning aerial footage from summer in Iceland.

Beauty Is an Edge of Becoming
In this 6-minute excerpt from a conversation with Krista Tippett, Irish poet and mystic, John O’Donohue gives voice to the connection between beauty and those edges of life — “thresholds” — where the fullness of reality becomes more stark and more clear…

The Science of Gratitude
A superb one-hour documentary, narrated by Susan Sarandon, focusing on the latest information regarding the power (or lack of it) of being thankful. We hear research, expert opinion, and individual stories to illustrate how gratitude often has a large impact on overall happiness and well-being.

Courage 
“To be courageous is to seat our feelings deeply in the body and in the world…with a person, a future, a possibility in society, or with an unknown that begs us on and always has begged us on,” writes David Whyte…

Beginning Anew with Mother Earth Practice
A “relational” mindfulness practice adapted for Mother Earth from Thich Nhat Hanh’s practice “Beginning Anew.” The practice involves gratitude – loving the Earth, beneficial regrets, making amends and sharing.

We hope you enjoyed these resources. To discover more, visit our complete Library of Resources or dip into Gratefulness in Daily Life.