I started this blog as a way to cope with the turmoil of COVID, going so far as to create a calendar to reflect the schism in time that I felt after COVID hit. Even though the threat of COVID is still very much present, I recently felt the need to create a new calendar to reflect a new chance at life that I’ve been given. Its now likely that I’ll be able to rent some land in a paradisial location where I can be largely free from the types of social interactions that lead to COVID, and where I can learn how to survive and thrive without the need to stare at a screen and click a mouse for hours every day. In honor of this opportunity, I created a new calendar that starts near the winter solstice every year. Each year will be called a “muktichakra,” which is Sanskrit for “cycle of liberation,” and each 30-day month will be named for a level of reality, with a 5-day month ending each year, offering a chance to pause, celebrate, and reflect. Leap days are used at 5, 25, and 400-year intervals and are placed at the end of the year.
The first year will start this winter equinox, and I hope by then to know for sure whether this opportunity to rent some land is definite. I’ve been inspired by this opportunity to end some unhealthy habits that seemed intractable, like obsessively reading news or social media, and I’m learning what I’m capable of when those habits are no longer holding me back. Even if this opportunity to rent land ends up not working out, the change it has caused in my life has made me confident that I can keep improving my life regardless of external forces. I just needed someone to believe in me, and in doing so I started believing in myself, and I will do my best to keep the spirit of this opportunity alive even if the opportunity itself disappears.