A New Year, A New Misunderstanding
The ultimate opportunity for creation.
This year January 1st fell on a Monday. So it was a new day, a new week, a new month, and a new year. We seem to love “new” days/weeks/months/years because it is like a fresh start - a blank piece of paper to create from.
But every day is a new day. And as far as the spinning earth is concerned - and the rest of the universe - there are no “days”, “weeks”, “months” or “years”, those are just conventions we invented.
The word “convention” is another word for misunderstanding - a convention is a widely shared misunderstanding, but it is still a misunderstanding. So if a convention is empowering and workable, keep it - but if it isn’t, remember it is simply a misunderstanding and you are free to create a new misunderstanding.
So you are free to create each day as a “new year” if you find that empowering and workable. Or you could drop the year/month/week - except for scheduling - and live each day as if it is new - since it is.
“This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before.” ~Maya Angelou
And if each day is new - a blank piece of paper - then you are free to create.
A common adage (the word “adage” is another word for misunderstanding) is “live each day as if it was your last”. That can be powerful, but I find it keeps people stuck within their existing misunderstandings - and simply acting with more urgency.
I say a more powerful misunderstanding/adage is “live each day as if it was your first”. This is the elimination of all previous misunderstandings - so we are free to create fresh misunderstandings each day. We are also free to create fresh misunderstandings of every person in our life. What might be possible in your relationships if you acted as if it was the first time you met this person?
Of course, it isn’t only each day that is new, it is each and every moment. So really this is an invitation to be present with life. As Philip Shepherd points out “In order to be present you have to appreciate that the present is an unknown—it has never been here before, and neither have you.”
The present is the ultimate opportunity for misunderstanding. And misunderstanding is the ultimate opportunity for creation.
If you aren’t stuck with any conventions or adages, you also aren’t stuck with any of your current misunderstandings of the people or circumstances in your life.
Of course you are always free to change the people or circumstances, but I find it more empowering and workable to simply play with my misunderstandings of them, and create new, empowering and workable misunderstandings.
So while most of the world is calling this the second day of the year… you and I are free to misunderstand it another way.
[Remember, you have definitely misunderstood this post - the only question is, have you misunderstood it in an empowering, workable and useful way? If not, you can keep playing with your misunderstanding, or ask a question, or read some of the earlier posts. You might have a disempowering misunderstanding of the word “misunderstanding” itself. This whole substack is an invitation to play with our misunderstanding of words.]
