Heaven Us Earth

New Year's Eve Midnight Meditation
December 31, 2007

As we approach the end of the year, Dara and I would like to take this opportunity to express our many thanks for your support and encouragement and to share our reflections on the past year.

Since our last gathering in April of 2006, many of you asked, and we also wondered, when our next gathering would be. Soon after, we had an intuitive sense of the theme for our next gathering. However, as you know, the next gathering has not yet actualized. We wondered why it was taking so long this time (previously we had 7-8 gatherings a year). We then realized that we were still integrating through our personal lives the intent set in our last gathering.

Do you remember the theme of our last gathering--Bursting Into Our Flower? Our intent was to create energetic nursery space where we nurture the seeds of our dream, and our desire to contribute positive changes to our community--to work--to the world--to Mother Earth, even if we do not know what or how. We visualized watering the seeds of our dream for the betterment of the world, with love. We fully accept and embrace our unique essence as individual/gift. This brings healing to our heart so that our heart's desire to contribute our part in the world can burst into a flower of reality.

A few months later, in the fall of 2006, I felt like I was in the dark with no clear direction, while facing my every day life challenges. Then it occurred to me that I was like a seed that was still germinating in the dark soil with no light in sight, working its way through the soil, looking for the sun.

When Dara and I were choosing the title for our last gathering on planting and nurturing the seeds of our dream to sprout, we contemplated using the word "germinating". However, I felt it sounded too technical. Having a tendency to go ahead of myself, I instead suggested "bursting into a flower". Dara later told me that she didn't feel we were ready to "burst", but she didn't voice her inkling to me then, thinking that I knew better. Well, now we know who had a better sense of time!

So, it seems that since our last gathering, we have been planting, germinating, sprouting...

Both Dara and I certainly feel like we have gone through all of these phases. Dara reflected well, and studied hard to finish her masters degree program in counseling this month. Now she is preparing to start her private practice full-time in San Francisco this coming year. Since the beginning of 2007, I have been fortunate to have an opportunity to work at the UN, and hone my skills working with people and learn more about world affairs from a global perspective.

Even though there have been difficult moments, we realize that this is a process of flowering. We trust that our next gathering will come together as we progress through our lives and start to "flower".

Two years ago, Dara and I started a new way of celebrating New Year's Eve. We meet at Central Park in New York City at midnight and watch the fireworks kicking off Emerald Nuts Midnight Run. (No, we are not running the race, at least not yet.) Afterwards, we spend a few minutes to focus our collective intent for world peace and to set our personal intent for the New Year. This year, we would like to invite you to join us. If your heart sparkles in this, you can participate in two ways:

Please come to the north side of Great Lawn in Central Park (near 84th St.) a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. We will watch the fireworks together and then afterwards we will spend 5-10 min together for focusing our collective intent for world peace and for setting our personal intent for the New Year. If you plan to come, please email us and Dress Warm!

or

From a distance wherever you are (hopefully in a warm and cozy place), at midnight in your local time, please join our collective place of intent with your own prayer/meditation/thoughts for world peace and setting your personal intent for the New Year.

We wish you a year in 2008 that blossoms with new hopes and greater possibilities.
May your dreams be realized and flower as the New Year turns!

Blessings and Love
J'HeaLee with Dara Salcman