Friends, do you believe in magic and miracles? If you are on this website, reading this post, I suspect that there is at least a little part of you that does. I feel fortunate to have witnessed and experienced thousands of everyday miracles and am continually enchanted by the magic all around us. As we open our hearts to a new beginning at this time of the New Year, I would like to share a tiny instance of magical synchronicity that I hope will touch your heart and uplift your spirits.
For years, I have had a New Year’s tradition of going to the Laguna Mountains to watch the first sunrise of the year. I have no idea when exactly I started doing this or why, but it seemed to me like the perfect way to begin a new year. This annual ritual was always a very sacred and solitary experience for me…I usually went alone and would only see a few other people.
A few years ago, I was not able to go to the Laguna Mountains because the roads were closed due to heavy snow. So instead, I drove up to Mount Soledad and was surprised to find a crowd! I was further surprised to find that many of those gathered were of Japanese ancestry. I thought then that perhaps going to watch the sunrise on the new year was a Japanese tradition, but did not think to research it.
A few days before ringing in 2022, I found myself going through old photos. I found images from that Mount Soledad excursion, and thought to myself, “I should find out if there’s a Japanese tradition connected to the first sunrise of the year.”
That very night, I woke up before dawn and could not go back to sleep, so I thought I’d work on a new vision board for the coming year. I pulled out a stack of old magazines I saved from the local post office a few months back and started looking through them to cut out images and words.
Imagine how stunned I was to find an article about Mount Fuji that began by talking about how throngs of people gather there the first of the year to:
“watch the rising light of hatsuhinode—the maiden sunrise…. The Ainu, mainland Japan’s ancient indigenous people, believed that the sun was among hundreds of gods, and one of the most important. To witness hatsuhnode is considered a sacred act."
The magical synchronicity of reminiscing about a moment, wanting to learn of a tradition that resonates deeply in my heart, and coming across the explanation so unexpectedly reminds me how the world is brimming with surprising beauty, magic, and miracles.
One of my favorite questions, which I say as a sort of affirmation/prayer is, “What more beautiful magic and miracles are possible?” It has a way of opening my eyes, consciousness, and heart to both tiny and big delightful everyday surprises.
As we stand with a brand new year ahead of us, I hope you are showered with an abundance of beauty and blessings, magic and miracles that delight your heart and uplift your spirits.
In closing, I share with you some photos of this year’s hatsuhinode or maiden sunrise and a blessing that came to me at the start of 2016 and still feels full of promise and hope:
May you walk in Beauty each moment of every day.
May you know Love so pure it takes your breath away.
May you delight in the Joy that’s ever ready to burst forth.
May you awaken to the Power that rests deep within your soul.
