“Dharma saves us not by ending but rather by redeeming our suffering. It gives meaning to our suffering. It enables us to bear our suffering. And, most important, it enables our suffering to bear fruit for the world.” ~ Stephen Cope
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Mid-afternoon on the last day of 2024, there was a downpour here at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, which is exceedingly unusual for December.

At that time, I happened to be sitting outside with a group of 19 people on a yoga retreat and a Mayan spiritual guide. I was interpreting a fire ceremony that had just gotten underway when the raindrops fell.

It was the kind of sudden rain that forces surrender and elicits guttural laughter. I continued interpreting what the ceremony leader (tata in the Mayan language) was saying, even as the rain came down harder. In the eight or so years I’ve been doing this work, this was a first. It has rained at a fire ceremony I’ve attended a handful of times, but only a light drizzle that passes quickly.

This, on the other hand, was an intense baptism; a memorable closing to the craziness that was 2024; and an unexpected, wet, and joyful rebirth for the “fresh slate” of 2025.

While pondering recently what word to select for my overarching 2025 intention, I instead came up with a few virtues that I want to invite into my daily life more. Then, via a Tarot reading from a friend, I was gifted my one word, the grand overarching theme of the coming calendar year:

Illumination

As in more light, more learning, more clarity, more insight, and more understanding.

As in connecting in a more profound way to the moon cycles and working in alignment with the energy of the dark/new moon, waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon each month.

As in living with greater gratitude for my existence, all my relations, my ancestors, the four elements, the four directions, and the gift of the present moment, which for me means living in a way that honors the yogic teachings, the natural breath, and the energies of each day in the sacred Mayan calendar.

What could illumination look like in your life?

Beneath the dazzling umbrella of illumination, here are three primary intentions I’m working with in 2025. I hope they resonate with and inspire you!

1. Love and Gratitude

Spirit of the air, spirit of the earth, spirit of the water, spirit of the fire

Heart of the sky, heart of the earth, my own heart

I bow down and kiss the earth

I am here

I am now

Thank you for my existence

Awaken each morning with gratitude to be alive, remembering that this human life is a precious gift.

Love yourself, love your life, love your body, love your being, love your family, love your community, love your plants, love your animals, love your food, love your water—love what you love.

Express your love through your smile, words, actions, and presence.

2. Soul Purpose

I read an inspiring book in the latter part of 2024 called The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope. The author, an esteemed yogi and Buddhist, presents the framework of the Bhagavad Gita and the dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and his divine mentor Krishna from the classic Hindu text that helps Arjuna discover his soul purpose (a.k.a. dharma).

Cope offers several mini-biographies of famous figures to describe the process of unlocking the unique gifts that every human soul harbors, including Henry David Thoreau, Jane Goodall, Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Walt Whitman, Beethoven, and Gandhi. It’s a relevant reminder to find and do work you love and feel passionate and excited about.

“If you bring forth what is within you it will save you. Yes. But this saving is not just for you. It is for the common good. If you bring forth what is within you, it will save the world. It will rescue the times. It will save the whole people. Likewise: If you do not bring forth what is within you it will destroy you. But not just you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, it will destroy the whole people.” ~ Stephen Cope

3. Creativity

Most of last year felt like a bit of a creative void for me personally. I didn’t feel “writer’s block” so much as a general lack of motivation and drive to write or publish. I did a lot more reading than writing and a lot more listening than talking.

I too often compared my current self to my 10-years-ago self, who wrote prolifically on Elephant Journal and elsewhere and had a seemingly boundless fountain of inspiration and ideas to put on paper.

In early 2024, a series of health challenges led me into the worst depression and anxiety I’ve experienced in a long time. And I consciously let go of the inner pressure I was putting on myself to keep writing, posting, and creating—trusting that the creative juices would flow again in time and without manipulation or coercion.

Now the time has come to delve back into the act of putting words into sentences, paragraphs, essays, and chapters. To let go of worrying about the outcome and instead simply enjoy the creative act for itself.

I’ll close here with three aptly illuminating quotes from Rick Rubin’s gorgeous book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being.

“Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not.
It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.
It’s like saying, ‘I’m not good at being a monk.’
You are either living as a monk or you’re not.
We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.
The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”

“Good habits create good art. The way we do anything is the way we do everything. Treat each choice you make, each action you take, each word you speak with skillful care. The goal is to live your life in the service of art.”

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”

May your life brim with love, gratitude, joy, purpose, presence, and creativity!

May all beings be safe, healthy, happy, and free.

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