Photo of a sign above a lingerie shop at The Barbican, Plymouth, England.
As 2008 dawns, my wishes for us all: love and light; good health; prosperity and a more tolerant and peaceful world.
An excerpt from Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri's Starbook: A Magical Tale of Love and Regeneration:
"Many are the ways in which the gods speak to us: through dreams, which we misread, which we do not experience clearly, which we forget, which we wrongly interpret, creating more chaos instead of achieving more clarity; dreams that we act on directly, as if they spoke a literal language; dreams that we fear; dreams that perplex and which we get others to explain to us, when the message and key is with us alone.""Many are the ways of seeing the future, glimpsing the past. Some stare into crystal balls, into clear waters of prophecy; some read the fall and placement of kola nut lobes in enamel bowls; some read the shapes and direction of the footprint of herons or chickens or rare birds; some read the past in momentary visions had outside time; some use the Bible or other sacred texts; some resort to sorceries and consult wizards that may or may not know the mystery of the stars."
"...Some fly to the moon on the back of beams of light; some wander deaf amongst angels; some consult the ancient oracles and ponder the incomprehensible messages from the gods...Some listen to the prophecies that fall from the mouths of babbling children, or the language of crows, or the accidental words that reach them in marketplaces, or pay too much attention to words said to them by strangers or the insane."
"Such are the perplexities of the ways of man and woman in a world where the past and future do not speak and where the present has not fully revealed itself to our partial-seeing eyes. And thus we live our days between knowing and unknowing; blind and deaf in a vast panorama of revelations, a perpetual theatre of timeless events where history is as much the future as the past, an infinite living book in which all things are present. We live in these wonders and do not see."
Here's hoping we enjoy better vision in the new year! May your hopes and dreams come to fruition.
P.S. My friend Laura has a lovely tribute to Benazir Bhutto here.
I was talking the other day with a friend that has two grown children about the book 'The World Without Us' and she said, is it hopeful? That thought had never occurred to me. I feel sad about the shape our world is in but I feel, particularly in the US, that we have made our bed, collectively, even though I wasn't at the party - voting-wise, but I'm not hopeful. Also I think it doesn't occur to me because I don't have offspring. Have you read this book? I'm wondering about the reactions of others to it.
Thanks for a wonderful blog! I enjoy visiting.
Posted by: kris | 17 January 2008 at 19:18
Happy New year Tara...wishing you happiness, good health and abundance. Beautiful post!
Hugs Sherrie
Posted by: giggles | 07 January 2008 at 13:26
All we can strive for in our own personal journey is to be more fully aware of the here and now.......to heighten our senses in order to take it all in. I think we shut down our potential so often because of sensory overload....we are only human and we can only handle so much. However, I think the majority of people walk through life in a foggy mess, or with their heads stuck in the sand, driven by fear of self reflection and therefore any responsibility of what is really happening around them.
May 2008 be a year when many people wake up and smell the realities and the coffee......and then take some ownership. Our collective apathy is astounding these days. If we could all just get our acts together!! I guess we can only encourage others while we do our best to become more engaged and more involved ourselves.
Excellent quote.........am now more intrigued to read his book.
Posted by: awareness | 03 January 2008 at 12:24
May we all see more clearly. I've read Ben Okri, but not this book which I will! As you can guess those excerpts resonate with me ;)
May the coming year be a happy and fulfilling one for you.
Love and xoxo
Posted by: Colette | 01 January 2008 at 22:09
thank you so much for all your wisdom, creativity and inspiration. i am so grateful to you & your blog for daily knowledge bursts and uplifts. i hope your 2008 is filled with many joys, adventures, and blessings. namaste, anjie
Posted by: studio wellspring | 01 January 2008 at 21:05
have a great and healthy 2008 tara!!
all my best wished to you and your family!
thank you for being here!
Posted by: marita | 01 January 2008 at 13:16
Tara, thank you for such a lovely reminder to truly see the wonders around us. Wishing you a healthy, prosperous and happy New Year filled with love and light, dear Tara!~XOXO
Posted by: tinker | 01 January 2008 at 12:40
Tara,
Happy New Year my dear girl, to you David and your families!
This phrase rings true for me: "a perpetual theatre of timeless events where history is as much the future as the past,"
Simple and profound. We have only the moment we are in and no more. If we, each one, make our peace there, then world peace will happen. Until then; sorry...always war and rumor of war, disease and pestilence, the litany goes on in perpetuity. We must make peace within our own hearts in each moment as we come to it.
See you soon!
rel
Posted by: rel | 01 January 2008 at 11:28
Hi Tara, Brian sent me the link to your blog. I've enjoyed a look around. Fun to have a shared history in Jordan with you. Have a blessed New Year.
Posted by: kinzi | 01 January 2008 at 11:28
Happy New Year Tara, All the best for you and your family in 2008! : )
Posted by: robyn | 01 January 2008 at 10:07
Hello! Bonjour! I wonder if you are still up enjoying the Parisian New Year festivities, or if you perhaps are curled up with that book and resting.
Myself, I just returned from ice skating, we managed to put the children to bed. Now I am watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance...and will be heading off to bed after I see Anderson Cooper ring in the New Year! There is only 14 minutes of the year left. Here is hoping exactly what you stated in your post happens! Cheers to a tolerant and peaceful world...
xo
Gillian
(I think I'll go get that book!)
Posted by: Gillian @ Indigo Blue | 01 January 2008 at 05:47
Well put and so lovely!
Happy New Year to you!
Sandra Evertson
Posted by: Sandra Evertson | 01 January 2008 at 05:12
Happy new year, Tara! I hope a peace-filled world will be a gift for all of us soon.
Posted by: KG | 01 January 2008 at 04:04
Hi Tara...what a lovely, lovely post! I have also enjoyed your beautiful journey through England.
Happy, happy New Year, my friend!
Andrea
Posted by: Southern Heart | 01 January 2008 at 03:21
Have a wonderful New Year!
Posted by: Christine | 01 January 2008 at 02:20
Dearest Tara,
May you and all those you love have a healthy, loving and creative New Year. Your proffered quote is just lovely - one I will copy and keep...a perfect New Year's sentiment. May the coming year bring some peace to this big, blue marble and may we all work toward it's preservation.
Posted by: Dorian Fletcher | 31 December 2007 at 19:48
A well chosen excerpt Tara...I love the part about walking deaf among angels...very profound.
Tara I am so blessed to have met you this year...I wish for you, David, Jordana a blessed year to come with much happiness, love and dreams that you didn't you could have. Happy New Year!
xo
Sherry
Posted by: Cherie | 31 December 2007 at 19:30
Thank you for your blog and these beautiful words. May your New Year be filled with health, happiness and ease.
Posted by: jzr | 31 December 2007 at 18:07
What a lovely quote. Thank you for sharing it. All the best to you and yours in 2008. I look forward to reading more about your adventures.
Posted by: Kimberly Ann | 31 December 2007 at 17:39
Tara,
Beautiful words and intent to start the new year!
I too wish for health and peace for you, yours and all the world this coming year.
x....x
Posted by: stephanie | 31 December 2007 at 17:29
Beautiful post Tara! as your last ones.
Gracias por estar ahí Tara! Por esos artículos tan buenos, emotivos, hermosos.
Feliz año nuevo!!!! Muchas cosas buenas para ti y tu familia y sigamos pensando y haciendo lo que podamos porque el mundo sea mejor. Un beso grande. Love
Posted by: Catalina | 31 December 2007 at 15:30
Thanks for the excerpt Tara. I hope you and yours have a happy and healthy 2008.
Posted by: Brian | 31 December 2007 at 14:01
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Britt-Arnhild | 31 December 2007 at 13:33
that's a beautiful excerpt, thanks.
i live in hope of a more tolerant and peaceful world.
-leonie
Posted by: chocolate covered musings | 31 December 2007 at 13:27
Oh, Tara, thank you for sharing Okri's words with us. I want to know more about him and his work! The excerpt you published is perfect for today.
Happy 2008 to you and David and Jordana---I can't wait to see you and I will, come what may.
Xoxo,
L
Posted by: Laura | 31 December 2007 at 12:34
So very lovely.
Happy New Year my lovely friend!
May we all be blessed with the very best.
Love Jeanne ^j^
A friend is one of the nicest things you can have,
and one of the best things you can be.
Douglas Pagels
Author
Posted by: Jeanne | 31 December 2007 at 12:27