Time, Patterns and the Close of a Decade

It is a difficult task, to process and digest a portion of Time as large as a decade: To extract meaning from the multitude of moments in retrospect, flipping them over in your hand to examine and understand them in the context of life as it is now. This is a worthwhile task. Although a ‘decade’ might be a construct of the human imagination, it still helps us frame our experience and measure our growth against the background of never-ending Time.

From within each individual moment it seems impossible that a decade can even exist, or that we can survive it. Time is tricky that way: ever present but intangible, slipping through cracks and collecting in corners where we might forget it completely or let it slip away unnoticed.

As we near the close of this second decade of the 21st century I find myself and many people around me thoughtfully gazing back into the mists of all that has transpired since 2010. I think one of the most valuable effects of this exercise is the unavoidable realization that actions have consequences, and that each step you take in a certain direction becomes a part of your story which you cannot erase.

It is easy to be careless with time, or to think that moments in which we are not true to what we care about most can somehow be erased or ‘don’t count.’ How we are in each moment of our lives sets us up for certain habit patterns which over time can come to take on a life of their own. Instead of us drinking the coffee or the alcohol, it starts drinking us. Some people are capable of using a substance without eventually becoming used by it, others (and I would say most) are not. If the texture of our day is mostly defined by these compulsions, then we are falling asleep to our own life.

This seems like a great time to be reminded that although Time may be everlasting and infinite, the particular incarnation that we are currently inhabiting is not. And further, the decisions that we are making on a daily basis set the stage for how we might come in in future lives (according to Vedic philosophy). In this light, every moment becomes an indelible imprint on the canvas of Time. The question becomes: what kind of picture do you want to paint with your life?

We could easily get stuck at the finger-painting stage, unable to create any discernible or meaningful work of art through the sum total of our actions. I think it is not an easy task to push past this stage, where life seems a big bundle of meaningless chaos and we are prone to ‘cheat’ our way through moments, violating our deeper sense of integrity and being subsumed by the larger confusion of a culture-less culture (or a “cultural avoidance system',’ as one of my teacher refers to American culture).

But if we are able to push past, maybe even in small moments where one gesture creates a meaningful imprint on this Time-canvas, then not only do we create beauty, but we become beautiful in the process. The excess material, the sloppy misdirection and waste slowly become reduced and there is alignment with what matters most, which is undeniably beautiful no matter what its physical form looks like.

These days our senses are tuned to big events, shiny pictures, loud noises. It is easy to dismiss all that is small, subtle, deep when we are so perpetually tuned to surfaces and stimulation. But I do believe that in this current cultural-historical climate it is small acts that might matter most. Many of us are debilitated by attempts to fix everything at once, and sometimes these attempts betray a certain inner violence and fixation on perfection that is ultimately not helpful.

In these last weeks of the close of this decade it might be an interesting exercise to anchor yourself to small moments of integrity, where your deepest inner desires are completely in line with your outer actions. In the beginning it might look more like noticing when they are not. That is a good starting point. Then maybe once each day you catch yourself there and decide to change course: a mark of beauty is made on the canvas. This is a small miracle. From the perspective of Vedic Astrology, this is you becoming conscious of your karmic tendencies. Nature rejoices!

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about these dynamics of karma and habit patterns consider joining my upcoming online course to align with your deepest nature in the coming year/decade!