new moon, new year of life, growth, and time ~

it's new moon today. and also, the first day of the new year of my life. my horoscope greeted me today with the lines:

Happy birthday! Today the Sun returns to the position it was in when you were born. As would seem appropriate with this transit, today is a day of new beginnings, and the influences you feel today will affect the entire year to come. You are receiving a new impulse from the energy center within you, as symbolized by the Sun. Whatever you do or begin today will bear the stamp of your individuality more than anything else. This is the day to assert yourself anew.

which made me wish for an extra day. today is full of christmas and other themes already.
but beautiful, the thought of new beginnings. of new growth. it made me think of the lines from Rainer Maria Rilke:

Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen,
die sich über die Dinge ziehn.

I live my life in growing circles
that reach out across the world.

the lines then made me go and look for the tree image above, which still lingered in the November photo file, and i still remember the moment: standing at a red traffic light, seeing this view, searching for my camera, and hoping the traffic light would stay red until i took the photo. and it did.

so now: a new circle. which is overshadowed by the illness of a family member. which lead to a hospital date yesterday. entering the hospital, the first thing we saw was a christmas tree. and then, all those corridors. which brought the physical feeling: we are not alone in this. so many go through difficulty. so many ways our bodies (and souls) can run into trouble.

which made me feel: each birthday we reach really is reason to be thankful for: another year circle of our life reaching completion. and spotting those first grey hairs: a sign that we made it this far. back home, i browsed the archive pages of my own blog, by months. so many moments. then i thought: that is the real life celebration: finding and making space for beauty in the everydays of our life.

which then connected to a wish in a mail from a friend, Marcia Arrieta:

here is to the creative connections, the wish for good health, and always the hope for the good, the positive, and the fortitude

to understand and learn and grow from our challenges and experiences--