A Brave, Bold and Beautiful New Year

This year has been very personal and very political.

In the last few years, I have been spending much of my academic, professional and personal life, understanding and making visible the personal as political in my own sphere of influence. I know this is true for many others who have been marginalised because of their gender, colour, race and/or sexual orientation.

And as we (Sri Lankans) found out towards the latter part of 2018, what is political is personal too.

I suspect that as we go into 2019, this will hold true more than ever. Not just in Sri Lanka but all over the world. We all have something going on that is threatening and inviting change, at a personal and political level.

And that is just it. It is a threat to what we hold dear and what we know. But it is also an invitation.

It is an invitation to examine what we hold dear, what we have ‘put up with’, what we have colluded to uphold out of apathy and ignorance, what no longer works, what is no longer in service of what is good and true for a better, safer, peaceful and joyful life.

I believe we are being invited to reflect, review and reshape our future. I believe we are already on the cusp of that opportunity to rethink and reimagine a bold, brave and beautiful world. I believe we—in all our different ways—have been preparing for this moment, we have been skilling up, building our resilience and connecting with our community for just this moment.

This moment can be different for each of us.

For some of us, this an opportunity to take a leap of faith in our personal lives, in our relationships with our spouse or our partner, with our parents, with our children or with friends or clients.

For some of us, it may mean opening our hearts to be mothers and fathers, to be husbands and wives, to be lovers, to be friends, to the becoming of all that is in human loving.

For some of us this moment maybe opening ourselves to new horizons in our work, in our learning, in our studies, in our being in the world.

For some of us, this may be a threshold to let go of old ways of living, habits and patterns that no longer serve us and for embracing a different kind of life.

For some of us, it may be for continuing to fight the good fight in preserving our environments, our democratic rights, fighting for our fundamental and equal rights.

For some of us, it may be to take up intellectual and political arms to be activists, to be educators, to be leaders.

As we stand at this liminal space of letting go of 2018 and breathing in the dawn of 2019 … the moment we have been waiting for is here.

Whatever this moment is for each one of you … as you step into 2019 … I wish you gratitude for all the gifts you bring to this world and for all the struggles you have triumphed from; I wish you joy for life and courage of heart; I wish you wisdom in your choices, compassion in your actions, kindness in your words, and hope in your spirit. Above all, I wish you love. Love for yourself, love of family and friends, love for the world in all her fragility and her strength.

Blessing and love dear ones … here’s to a brave, bold and beautiful New Year!

Mihirini

Image by Ima Hassen

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