A New Decade!

A new year and a whole new decade! We are happy to start anew this year. Last year was intense and we are glad to move forward.
So we start the year traditionally (for us) with music and our community of friends.
The first day of the year is leisurely clean up from the festivities and we move forward from there to embrace this day, our future, come to the Now.
I have a personal belief that the first week of the year is an indicator - omen, if you will - of how the year will be as a whole. Therefore I try very hard to live those first 7 days as consciously as possible.
This morning I was sent a link that reinforced the idea of approaching each moment open to the possibilities and beauty contained within it "Celebrate What's Right with the World" . This is really my philosophy, but as with all things, it is easier said than done. But each year I get closer.
Besides, worry and guilt and angst over what has not happened yet or what is behind us really is only a waste of life. And the difference between joy and despair is often just a matter of perception.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

Dawning of the New Year...

túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

See this video for a condensed bit of time-lapse sky gazing. And know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy.
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Today ends 2008. Tomorrow a new day, a new year, full of possibilities. What governs this calculation of time is literally our place in the universe, something I was thinking about last night as I gazed at the glorious crescent moon and opulent Venus.
If you do not sky gaze, make it one of your New Year's Resolutions to begin.
The sky is always amazing and always a source for reflection on beauty, the cosmos, on things bigger than ourselves and wholly detached from the petty goings on down here at human level. The universe is pretty grand, and that's all there is to it!
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As we are just human, wandering on the surface of our lovely planet, our thoughts for the New Year tend to have more terrestrial roots.
Given that, I hope you are all looking to toast the turning of time with the universal toast: "To your Health". That is probably the best toast - and the best New Year's resolution we can all make.

Our health is one of the few things that we can truly change through our personal actions (or inaction, as the case may be), and it is by far the most precious thing we own on a personal level. Each of us knows deep in our being what we are lacking and what we need to do if we can summon the focus to accept it. Be it exercise or eating healthier foods, quitting smoking or other addictive behavior. Working on our health from within.

There are also the things that are outside of us that influence our health negatively and it is up to us to moderate those as best we can. Try to remove toxins from your lifestyle, be they chemical air fresheners, super toxic cleaners or moldy furnace filters. And always try to use the safest, least harmful products available - which, of course, is why we are in business. We hope you choose the soaps and basic body care products from Simmons Natural Bodycare for 2009 and beyond!