From the Editor
Resolutions and the Transmigrating Phoenix
Luis Ayala
Calendars are powerful tools: they remind us when the rent is due, when we must work, when we get paid, when we celebrate special events, etc. But calendars can also be therapeutical aids for personal growth, giving us abstract notions of when we must “turn” the proverbial page, to start a new chapter in our lives or to make other important changes to our existence.
The ancient Greeks believed that the Phoenix was a bird capable of re-generating itself after dying engulfed in flames. This transmigration of the soul or essence of the bird has been since exploited in many novels and other works of fiction, its allure emanating from the fact that we like to believe in the existence of something beyond death or beyond our understanding of reality.
Turning pages on a calendar is like witnessing the Phoenix regenerate itself, with another day, week, month or year of life freshly revealed in front of us. It is for this reason that New Year resolutions are more powerful than those we set during other times, because of the metaphorical value we associate with the “turning” of the annual page, as if we were incinerating the mythical bird and waiting for it to emerge renewed from the ashes.
What do you want your new self to be like in 2021? How do you want to approach the challenges the New Year will present you? If you are a business owner, how do you want to operate in the coming year? If you are an employee, how do you want your work to unfold? If you are a parent, how do you want your children to be raised next year? If you are a student, what type of world do you want to see yourself in next year or when you graduate? 2020 has been an extraordinarily- challenging year, one that will not be easily forgotten. But it too, must come to an end, with a physical and symbolic turning of the page.
Cheers,
Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rumconsultant