Choosing a Theme for 2025

We could say that, 
depending on our political beliefs,
beliefs about climate emergency,
relationships to inequity,
inner and outer resources,
and what comes our way,
our 2025 theme –
the quality of heart and mind
we’ll be working with and cultivating -
is a forgone conclusion.

But what if we don’t say that?
What if we chose our theme,
intentionally and regardless?
Decide that this year our theme will be
patience, for example,
or connection, or enough-ness?

What if each of us takes some time,
and some breaths,
and looks inside at whatever it is that we value,
and want to work with, and work on,
and then chooses that as our theme for the new year,
no matter what comes our way?

Transcript

Hi everyone, it’s Judi Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 472. Happy New Year. 

I guess it’s traditional to say, “out with the old, in with the new,” and there are definitely things I’d say go in the “out” category for 2024. And then as far as “in with the new,” a lot of times we talk about resolutions, or aspirations. Maybe we make promises to ourselves to let go of something or to start or do more of something or to change something. 

Our family was celebrating on New Year’s Eve and I asked the traditional questions. And my daughter said, “What about the idea of a theme for the year?”

Which I really liked, and which got me thinking. In mindfulness, in a way we’re all about themes. It’s not so much that we’re cultivating present moment attention every moment of every day – or maybe some people are, but I’m going to say that most of us are just doing our best, which doesn’t amount to every moment – or at least that’s me, that’s my experience. And it’s the same with the Brahmaviharas – lovingkindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity; and the Paramitas – generosity, ethics, patience, joyful energy, a focused, calm mind, and wisdom; and with all of the lists of wholesome qualities: we’re each doing our best to, (a), remember that they exist at all and then (b), practice them. So to me anyway it feels like mindfulness is an “as much as possible” or maybe “as well as possible” kind of path. 

And since it feels like an “as much as” or “as well as” kind of practice, for me it’s almost like what we’re actually doing is continually laying down tracks. These qualities of heart, qualities of mind: we practice, and as we do that, they begin to almost fill up a kind of pool or reservoir in our hearts and minds. And then we’re having a rough morning and noticing we’re maybe being short with our partner or the barista or our assistant or colleague and somehow, because we’ve been practicing lovingkindness for years, we can dip into that pool, that reservoir – and the dipping might not even be conscious (in my experience it’s often not) – and the body and mind and heart remember. There’s a recollection of how to let go of irritability and be loving. And once the recollection arises, it’s easy – or easier, anyway – to make that choice.

Most years I’ve committed to cultivating a certain quality, maybe not to the exclusion of other qualities but primarily. For many of the early years of my practice is was just paying attention as much as I could moment to moment, until doing that, or remembering to do that, or remembering that that was possible at least, became something available, something in the pool of ways I could walk through my day. One year when I was still working downtown, I did an active compassion practice, sending and receiving, for each unhoused person I saw. Now that practice is in the reservoir, and it arises most of the time when I see someone who’s unhoused, and this is years later. Last year I was doing a “just this” practice: “this is just what’s happening,” or “what’s happening is just this.” Being with what was. Maybe it was a kind of “acceptance” practice?

And what these have been, I think, are just what my daughter named: themes. The theme of presence, or compassion, or acceptance, and then when I noticed the absence of the theme, drawing from the reservoir, and when I noticed the presence of the theme, taking a moment to be glad, to in a way memorize the sensation of the theme, let it refill the reservoir, so that it could arise the next time it was needed. 

I want to work with two themes in 2025. The first is “enough-ness.” In 2024 I noticed a good amount of greed, graspy-ness, wanting, acquisitiveness, retail therapy. So this year one theme I’m going to work with is “enough-ness.” I’ll be practicing with the meditation, “there is enough, I have enough, I am enough,” trying to keep curiosity alive so that I can see when enough-ness is present and when not, being as graceful as possible when it’s not, and filling up my reservoir of enough-ness when it is.

The second theme I want to work with in 2025 is connection. With so much divisiveness and activation in the world, and so much harm being caused by those two themes, I want to see if I can be a counterweight, remember that actually I’m connected to everyone, that we’re not different even though we look or think or believe differently or different things. Be glad when connection feels alive, and pour that gladness into the reservoir, and be curious and graceful when I draw back, draw inwards, draw away, and stop connecting.  

So I thought today we could spend our time in meditation, inquiring into our hearts and minds as to what themes we want to cultivate this year. I mentioned my two and then I also named the Brahmaviharas, the Paramitas, simple attentiveness. Or another theme could be gratitude, or ease, or rest, even a sense of humor: whatever calls you, or draws you forward or will be onward leading for you. Whatever is resonant for you. 

So that’s as much talking as I want to do today because I want to create the space for inquiry and to play with different inquiries during our sit. For the question, “What wants to be the theme, or themes, for my year?”