January 02 – Personalizing your Calendar: Establish &/or renew your personal Holy Days. Obtain a standard calendar and note the day of your conception (“exactly” 9 months before your birth). Write “Mother’s Day” on your own birthday. Note anniversaries (of relationships, jobs and/or travels), birthdays, death-days and the day you began your current job. Other than that, be creative … Honor these days by beautifying them as you write them in … Finally, remember to remove any traditional holidays that do not harmonize with your personal values.

I found it smoothest to do this task “backwards”, by removing the traditional holidays first instead of last. And as I did so, I made sure to do so consciously – not just crossing them out casually, but choosing to be aware both of what they stood for as well as why I was choosing to cease recognizing them. Here’s what I came up with while doing so …

New Year’s Day: Though I had already shifted my personal yearly “commencement day” to December 1^st back in 2000 (contact me if interested in why), today I remembered that every day is a new beginning, and that to set any one day aside as the only “New Year’s Day” dampens the power of this Truth.

President’s Day: Today I remembered that I am a citizen of the Earth, not merely of the United States. I also choose to revere “heroes” that stand for Peace (e.g. Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Keating, Peace Pilgrim), as opposed to those who fought for war.

Valentine’s Day … Today I remembered that my Love is to be given to everyone, and that I cannot do so while I am searching for “love” in return.

St. Patrick’s Day … Today I remembered that my real “Good Fortune” is the ability to set selfishness aside in times of my own discomfort in order to care for another, and that this power is neutered in every moment I choose to seek personal “wealth” or “good luck” for myself.

Easter … Today I remembered that rebirth indeed comes when flowers bloom in the spring, and yet also happens in every moment I choose to extend kindness to strangers; that it is not reserved merely for “the chosen few”, but rather is there for every sentient being in every moment of their lives.

Memorial Day … Today I remembered that our thoughts have power beyond measure, and that every moment focused upon war ensures that war will continue. As a result, today I choose to focus not on survivors of past wars, but rather on those who have died peacefully for Peace (e.g. Gandhi, MLK, Mother Teresa).

Independence Day … Today I remembered that true Freedom is not given to us by our government. It is not found in the right to vote or the right to do or say whatever we wish. Our true Freedom is the right to be our caring True Selves despite the laws, despite the expectations and despite the conventions of our own society.

Labor Day … Today I remembered that we are not to celebrate life by resting from our efforts, but rather by going forth and serving others all the more courageously – especially when we are encouraged to rest and especially when we are tired.

Halloween … Today I remembered that death is not something to be trivialized, but rather used to encourage us to remain conscious of the pricelessness of each moment.

Thanksgiving … Today I remembered that real gratitude is not to be reserved for the good things that happen to us, but rather is most powerful when given to the challenging things that happen for us.

Christmas … And finally, today I remembered that every day – indeed every moment – is “the giving season”.

While I was doing this portion of the exercise, I realized anew just how bound our current calendar is to two things: economic productivity & allegiance to our country over all others.

The flow of the afore-mentioned holidays, when it is examined as a whole, clearly has us worshiping the accumulation of material wealth …

and promising our allegiance to honoring military “solutions” to international conflicts.

I am immensely thankful to be consciously free of both these insidious influences. From this day forth, I renew my intention to work to serve others (not to accumulate abundance for myself) and to resolve all discord with acceptance & compassion .

Our lives can indeed flow in another manner. It is possible to rework the calendar to make it your own – to reclaim the ways you measure the moments that are yours to celebrate as you wish.

I was already familiar with the practices of celebrating my conception (the day many feel the facet of consciousness called “the Soul” enters the material body), honoring my parents on my own birthday, and consciously recognizing the shifts in the seasons (the first frost, the longest night, the first buds on the trees, the longest day, etc). And yet I had yet to honor the major transition days of my life – those moments when one life-lesson had ended and another had begun. Here are some of them …

I commenced my “search for Purpose” by leaving Germany on April 27^th, 2003.

I completed this part of my “spiritual adventure” in Mexico on June 24^th, 2003.

I commenced my “Experiment with Truth” by flying to Hawaii on October 28^th, 2003.

I completed the initial “Experiment” on the Big Island on November 8^th, 2005.

I commenced actually living as a mendicant “Peace Pilgrim” on February 25^th, 2006.

I commenced walking the Camino de Santiago in France on September 21^st, 2008.

I completed that pilgrimage on the coast of Spain on November 1^st, 2008.

I commenced my “experiment with normalcy” in Utah on December 5^th, 2008.

I commenced living as a representative of (i)am on April 7^th, 2009. (website release)

I completed the “experiment with normalcy” by departing Utah on May 11^th, 2009.

It is always powerful when you reclaim a portion of your innate Freedom that has been given away in childhood. That was the case for me today as well. This is my life. I have only one of them in my current form, and I intend to make the most of it from this day forth – one powerful moment at a time.

See You when I see you …

… and until then, Be Now!

Scaughdt

Filed under: 366 Days of Kindness by Scaughdt