I Declare 2010 as The Year of Serendipitous Chaos and Happy Synchronicity

My brother, Nate, said it for almost everyone when we talked a few days ago.

“Man,” he said, “I’m happy to stick a fork in 2009!  What a year…”

And it was that.  All of that and more.

Many of us (notice I said “us”) had our entire orderly worlds upended in frightening ways during 2009.  We endured steep, gut-rolling descents and nauseating barrel rolls that would make the rides atop Las Vegas’s Stratosphere seem placid by comparison.

People lost…

houses, jobs, retirement accounts, savings, perfect credit ratings, and marriages.

Expectations of ever-increasing affluence were dashed.  We all leaned over the dark maw of a financial abyss and stared at terrifying realities that had been masked by easy credit and rosy predictions for decades.

Yesterday I read that 1 in 8 American families is using foodstamps–and for many of them, that is their only source of income as they desperately seek new employment.  Most unemployed people are willing to accept jobs with salaries that are slashed in half.  Talk about a reversal of fortunes!

Is the danger fully past?  Have we stepped back on the “up elevator” again–free to resume our mindless acquisition of new gadgets and vicarious entertainments?

I don’t think so.

I believe that some of us have truly had a shift of perspective that will affect our behavior for the rest of our lives.

Some of us have discovered that more is not better, that we don’t need to eat at restaurants several times per week, that time with our families and the ability to experience meaning in life is much more valuable than professional success (whatever that means).  I believe that many of us are consciously choosing to find ways of  being very happy with less of what we once thought was so inseparable from a fulfilled life.

For some of us, the veil that obscures a magical Universe has been ripped away.  We have seen the illusion for what it is and are happily putting one foot in front of the other on a path of further discovery.

If you are someone who now sees sorcery in the sunlight glowing through a butterfly’s wings or feels like you are as rich as Warren Buffett when you sit with your back against a tree and breathe the magical aromas of the earth, then I suggest that you have entered a year of royalty.

As a barefoot emperor in a time of humble truth, I declare 2010 to be The Year of Serendipitous Chaos & Happy Synchronicity!  So mote it be.

If you have abandoned the pursuit of more stuff as your purpose in life, if you are in awe of the new-flowering realizations now growing within you, then I believe you will find this new year to be one that is filled with unexpected joy.  Begin now to act as a cosmic detective and look for all the ways that beauty and miracles will try to sneak unobserved into your life.

When you feel Chaos, hug it to yourself and know that the forces of change that feel so frightful are actually recreating the world in ways that will be eventually revealed as marvelous and benevolent.

When you see what you once called a coincidence, jump up and do a crazy dance with someone who least expects it.  Chance is no longer a word you can afford to use.  Begin to see all the circumstances in your life through symbolic glasses.  There is no accident.  Today’s disaster is the new plowed field of tomorrow’s crop of joy.

As the Bhagavad Gita says  “There is nothing lost or wasted in this life.“

I invite you to sally forth on fresh wings of passion this year.  Let us be aware of the traps we once were caught it–and avoid them.  Even as we stabilize our situations, let us consciously make choices to enjoy simplicity.  Take walks with family, chat face-to-face with close friends, read inspiring and disturbing books, breathe the good air, and savor the experience of every moment.

Do you dare to take your own raggedy throne?  Make your own capricious decrees of beauty and truth.  Wiggle your toes and tickle your kids.

How will you pursue your own discovery of Life this year?  I’d love to read your comments below… Let’s talk!