New year, same glitter ✨
'Tis is the season to pause and reflect on what worked and what didn't from the previous year. Yes, I realize the new year was last weekend, but I was still in deep hibernation mode, and let's be honest, the Gregorian calendar system is arbitrary at best. Since today is a full moon on Epiphany and the official start of Carnival season, it feels as good of a time as any to set an intention. Notice I used the word intention, not resolution. Resolutions have the same shame based all-or-nothing energy as diets. And let's be real, king cake season is here for those of us in South Louisiana, and resolutions are just another way to set ourselves up to suffer and fail. (We can save that for its proper place––lent 😉) An intention is more open ended, loving, and forgiving than that. I can find grace for myself in an intention. I do this by simply picking a word I want to embody for the year. This year I chose TRUST. Trust in my self, trust in the healing process, and trust that things always turn out better than I could have ever dreamed up––the King Cake Baby Jesus kind of trust. You know the kind of trust in God, Goddess, Higher Power, or whatever you call it that makes you stay up for days on end sewing, gluing, and stapling together the exact right amount of sequins, tulle, and whatnots. Because you know that even though you may never get your fingerprints back from that glue gun mishap, it will be all worth it when King Cake Baby Jesus gives you that one moment when everything is magical in a way you could have never imagined. It's the simple but hardly ever easy process of showing up, doing the next indicated action, and trusting something bigger than myself by letting go of the results. When I approach life in this way, "Mardi Gras miracles" happen throughout the year. So here's to a new year and leaning into trust, knowing that with a little bit of sacrificial glitter, King Cake Baby Jesus always shows up in unexpected ways. 💫
Jaclyn McCabe
Author