Beginnings

By Sharon K. Cook-Gordon-Spellman

The promise of new beginnings each step of the way

Beginnings, like many other ideas, are often associated with their opposites, and frequently follow, or at least bring to mind, endings. But beginnings come in many varieties; some occur simultaneously with others, one often precipitating another or many, while others occur independently as singular events.

The kinds of beginnings I’m thinking of today are always full of promise, hope and positive expectations for improved conditions. These kinds of beginnings are not necessarily dependent for their onset on an ending of something else: An additional bloom on an already blossoming tree; a newly discovered star or planet among trillions; a great new melody among the many languages of music; the dawn of a new morning; a new book; another new hello to a beloved friend or relative. None of these depend on the obliteration of the previous day, book or hello. In fact their fullness is often rooted in and enhanced by their predecessors.

During the school years of our lives, each new school year is that kind of beginning. Arriving at the end of summer vacation, the fall semester brings new teachers, new classmates, reunions with old friends and former classmates, some of whom may become new friends. The mix of old and new sets the stage for many happy expectations: Familiar structures, objects and routines; desks, books, workbooks, paper, pencils, chalkboards; established procedures and protocols, with a teacher at the head of the class – a teacher, who not only explains, points to meanings and gives specific instructions for how we should proceed to unravel the mystery of previously unknown knowledge, but a teacher who also insures the smooth operation and progress of the whole school year.

Each new visit with my grandchildren is also a new beginning. With weeks and often months between visits, we begin anew our connections to one another with joyful greetings, hugs and happy expectations of the many warm and loving moments we will share in the days to come. Not that every single moment will necessarily be joyful and loving. Always encountering new challenges to my patience, particularly in regard to learning how to process the feelings I have, whenever hearing my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren speaking a language to each other which is completely unintelligible to me, I begin each visit with renewed resolve of finding new ways to transcend my occasional inner pangs of annoyance, and attempt to discover new and better ways to keep those occasional annoyances from turning into resentments. With this approach, my hope is that each visit will potentially be, for all of us, the best one ever.

Now at the onset of another new year, once again, from humble and harsh beginnings, the sacred babe of this season, bearing new light, is born again, and another New Year of celebrations begins, during which each one of our new birthdays will be remembered. Each of us, born into a particular family -- parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins -- a particular era, place and cultural milieu, created for each before each of us was born. And, in addition, each child, including my own three grandchildren, brings into this same place and era its own news from the universe, its own brand new set of eyes, ears, mental process and way of seeing and knowing the created world. So, with such an abundance of newness all around me, I look forward, with great hope and happy expectations, to celebrating as many as possible of the coming year’s special days with as many of my friends and family members as possible. And I hope too that each and every one of us alive on this earth today, rich and poor, newborn and ancient, may experience, with as much grace and gratitude as we may be blessed with, all the truth, beauty and fullness inherent in each moment entrusted to us.

Begun shortly after Thanksgiving, 2006; completed 31 December 2006.

Sharon K. Cook-Gordon-Spellman has been a year-round resident of the western slopes of the Sierra foothills, near Nevada City, California, since 1972. Her monthly column for Multilingual Living Magazine is about the joys, trials and tribulations involved with being a grandmother of three bilingual children.

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