Heroes Not Zombies

Why do we call this month January?

Apparently it’s a reference to Janus, the god with two faces, one looking back to the past and the other looking forward to the future.

The symbol of Janus is a gateway or a doorway. When we stand on the threshold we are stepping forward into the future, from the past.

We do a lot of that around this time….looking back over the year just ended, remembering those we have lost, celebrating our best moments, making lists of best movies we saw that year, best songs we heard, best books we read. And we look forward with mainly hope, making plans, deciding what we want to change I the year ahead.

I was so lucky during my career to visit Japan on several occasions. One time I visited Fushimi Inari Shrine up the hill just outside Kyoto. That’s where I took this photo. The path up the hill winds it’s way through a forest and there are dozens of these bright red Torii gates straddling the path all the way up. There’s a tradition to visit it at the beginning of the year and to pray for prosperity.

The experience of stepping through one threshold after another (there are about a thousand) is hugely impressive. It becomes a meditative experience where each step and gate is a repetition as well as a unique and singular moment.

I always think of that now at this time of year.

I wonder what blend of memories, commemorations, celebrations, hopes, desires, dreams and goals you’ll be thinking of today.