We are entering the new moon of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and the new year of 5781, a powerful time to entertain new possibilities for ourselves and the world in which we live. At the head of the year, Tishrei invites us to push the reset button on our lives to allow our nervous systems to come back into a state of equilibrium. After the personal and global traumas of the pandemic, climate change, racial unrest, and political upheaval, I yearn for this moment to breathe, to settle down in this sacred time of balance and equanimity, to surround myself (even though virtually) with my family and community, to hear the laughter and joy of my grandchildren as they experience the wonder of each new day.  

Tishrei and all of its important holidays, like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, are the main energy centers, the cosmic nervous system, of the entire year. Our wisdom tradition teaches that how we move through this month can have a profound effect on the unfolding of our lives in the remaining 11 months of the year. The shofar blasts during the High Holidays resonate to the core of our being; their primordial sounds initiate a vibrational recalibration of body and soul that aligns us with our essential self.

In this place of greater vulnerability and openheartedness, we embrace the work of “tikun,” repair, that is desperately needed. We are particularly challenged during this charged election year to find an internal harmony that can sustain us, that can move us toward a connectivity that can strengthen relationships rather than tear them apart.

Even though we hope for immediate, tangible solutions that can transform the chaos we now experience, we are engaged as individuals,  a nation, and a global community in generational  change work. It will take decades of focused effort to transform the systems that we humans have created so they align with our evolving understanding of what is just and sustainable. 

If we can open to a landscape of forgiveness within ourselves, return to the truth of who we are, and connect to the One, we can free ourselves from the fear of the great Mystery before us. We can welcome the changes that are inevitable as we continue individually and collectively to gestate a new vision that can create a strong foundation for our future evolution, healing the wounds of divisiveness that have frayed our nerves and plagued our culture. 

I wish you blessings of a happy and healthy New Year, a year of peace, a year of hope, a year of healing. 

Blessings, 

Lucinda