Fasting in the New Year

2004-12-29 - 4:46 p.m.

I am going on a fast.

On CBC radio, to which I've been listening all day, they were discussing materialism from a variety of viewpoints, and one man mentioned fasting as a way to cleanse the spirit.

I'm not going to stop eating, but the other day I was telling Pookie that I wasn't going to smoke any pot for New Year's Eve, and that I was strongly considering just doing a lot of reading and writing and listening to CBC. I'd go out in the morning, to the gym, and I'd probably walk, to get outside in the sunshine. Later, I might even light some candles or take a hot bath. I'll most likely brew some tea.

I want to start the new year completely sober, and these are the ways I have of calming and centreing myself. I have a lot of things I'll need to think about in the New Year, and I need to be at my best.

It isn't a long-term fast, but even today, where I haven't watched the television at all, I feel better about myself, and I feel like I've done more with my life.

My New Year wish for all of you is that you find what you can to help you recharge and renew yourself. If you need to, reinvent yourself. Reflect. Do a lot of words that start with "Re" (such as, I should have researched more...).

You can think of 2005 as the "hump year of the decade", or you can also think of it as the year when some of the uncertainties and difficulties that came with a new millenium might start to fall away. This is the year that I hope all of you find the luck, strength, and grace you need to overcome your troubles or to fully enjoy the good times you will have.

Cheers,

The Magus

previous - next