I have thought a lot about beginnings this week. I have been part of my school district’s Great Beginnings Team this week, and in that capacity have facilitated workshops for new teachers joining our profession and district. These are all educators who are beginning their teaching career, or just beginning their work in our district. And like most beginnings, it is an exciting time for them as they prepare to begin this next step in their lives.
A beginning is filled with such possibility, optimism, and hope. That is why they are so powerful.
Beginnings are something that happen again and again in our lives. Milestones in our lives function as new beginnings. Whether a birthday, a marriage, parenthood, relocating, or a new job, they all are filled with sweet possibility.
Calendars and the passage of time are filled with beginnings- years, months, weeks, days. And each gives us an opportunity to treat it as a new beginning. While as a culture we celebrate the New Year and focus a great deal on using that to set new goals and focus on aspirations, the other more frequent beginnings can be just as powerful.
I am fortunate to work in a profession with built-in new beginnings. The start of each new school year or semester brings new possibilities. It allows for reflection on past successes and challenges, and provides the perfect place for adjustments and changes. Filled with fresh enthusiasm, each beginning is an act of hope and optimism.
As writers, we also have built-in new beginnings. Each time we start a new writing project, is a beginning. It is a time when we can look at what went well in our last writing project, what did not, and move forward with an awareness and purpose.
Psychologists call is the “fresh start effect”. New beginnings are good for us because:
- They allow us to hit the reset button and start fresh.
- They provide an opportunity to begin to work toward a new goal or target.
- They provide new experiences, perspectives, and ideas.
- They allow us to put things, events, circumstances behind us.
- They allow us to re-shift our focus
The best thing about new beginnings is that we can create them for ourselves. Because every single day when we wake up, we have an opportunity for a new beginning.
May yours be filled with possibility, optimism, and joy!
