Nov 12, 2023

Reflections: Celebrating Life’s Journey

Rev. Kurt Hohmann

  • Personal Note:
    • Celebration of 60 years
      • Looking back on life: birthday as a time for reflection
      • Things I did that I learned from:
        • 20’s – education, marriage, Toastmasters
        • 30’s – spirituality, Paganism, vision quest
        • 40’s – reinvention, career, community-building
        • 50’s – retirement, friend and family deaths
        • 60’s – ???
      • Things I still need to work on
  • Unitarian Perspective
    • Celebrating birthdays recognizes and honors each person’s unique journey.
    • Central theme of birthdays: commitment to personal growth and self-discovery.
  • Pagan Perspective
    • Recognizing personal milestones.
    • Celebrate interconnectedness of all living things.
    • Parallels between appreciation of nature’s rhythms and the annual cycle of human life marked by birthdays.
    • Value of learning from the past to create a more harmonious and sustainable future.
  • Celebration and Ritual
    • Birthdays are celebrated around the world.
      • Transcend religious and cultural boundaries.
  • Spiritual Significance of Birthdays
    • Birthdays mark the passage of time.
    • Reflection on:
      • Personal growth.
      • Life’s lessons.
      • Significance of another year lived.
  • Reflection on Personal History
    • Engage in personal reflection and self-examination.
    • Acknowledging past mistakes and successes as a way to learn and grow.
  • Reflective Power of Nature
    • Wisdom of the seasons.
      • Changing seasons = impermanence of life and the need to adapt and learn.
      • Continuous cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.
    • Annual rhythm of our lives.
    • Nature mirrors our own journey of growth and change.
      • Dormancy
        • Natural world prepares for winter: dormancy and rest.
        • Slowing down of the Earth.
  • September Review: Shadow Work
    • Confront our inner challenges and darkness.
    • Reflects how nature prepares for the winter months.
    • Symbolic darkness of November.
      • Find wisdom and growth within.
  • Self-Feedback
    • Self-reflection as a means of personal growth.
    • Feedback = mirror that reflects strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for development.
    • Examine motives and results.
      • When reflecting on how something went, self-feedback comes naturally.
      • When we own our outcomes, we naturally ask ourselves what we could have done differently or better.
    • Build our confidence.
      • Ever given yourself a pep-talk?
      • Useful form of self-feedback.
    • Focus on improvement.
      • We can’t work on everything at once!
      • Internal prioritization.
      • Thinking about what we do well and/or want to improve.
  • Negative Self-Feedback: What NOT to do
    • Use of “should.”
      • Tell yourself you “should” have done this or “shouldn’t” have done that.
    • Beating yourself up for not meeting the standards you have set for yourself.
    • Putting negative and derogatory labels on yourself (pathetic, useless, idiot).
    • Making sweeping generalizations about yourself based on one event.
      • “I am always doing this.”
      • “I never learn.”
      • “Everything is ruined.”
    • Critical self-talk often leads to:
      • Withdrawing from family and friends.
      • Overcompensating.
      • Neglecting opportunities, responsibilities, or self-care.
      • Being passive rather than assertive.
    • These thoughts contribute to feeling depressed, guilty, and low.
      • Confirmation that your negative core beliefs are true.
  • Positive Self-Feedback: What to do
    • Ask yourself:
      • How did that go?
      • What went well?
      • What could I improve?
      • What surprised me?
      • Where is my weakness?
      • Where was my confidence high or low, and why?
    • Listen to yourself.
      • Don’t ask rhetorical questions.
      • Take your answers seriously.
      • Self-feedback must be heard and valued.
    • Try something.
      • Test a new approach based on what you’ve learned.
    • Start over.
      • Create a feedback loop.
      • Greater self-awareness leads to better performance and results.
  • Evaluation
    • Personal success.
      • What made it feel so good?
      • Did you do it for yourself or someone else?
      • Did it align with your values?
      • Were you satisfied when it was over?
    • Personal failure.
      • Why did it feel so bad?
      • Could you control it?
      • What lessons can you learn?
      • How did your values and expectations shape the experience?
  • Celebrating Personal Growth
    • Personal growth and self-discovery are birthday themes.
    • Reflect on your life journey, lessons learned, and hopes for the future.
  • Setting Intentions for Growth
    • Personal growth and transformation.
    • A more balanced and mindful future.
    • Intention-setting aligns with a reflective journey.
  • Embracing Feedback from Others
    • Sometimes we need another perspective.
    • Self-feedback naturally leads us to seek feedback from others.
    • Be open to praise and constructive criticism.
    • Learn from both positive and challenging feedback.
    • Community and relationships support this process.
  • Rituals of Self-Reflection
    • Birthday rituals.
      • Reflect on the past year.
      • Set intentions for the year ahead.
    • Practices that encourage reflection:
      • Divination / rune casting.
        • Not magical prediction, but self-realization.
        • Cannot look forward without looking back.
        • Most readers ask questions.
        • Can’t see the path ahead without seeing where you’ve been.
      • Mirror work (scrying).
        • See your own face before trying to see the future.
      • Meditation.
      • Other spiritual tools that promote self-awareness.
  • Ancestral Connections
    • Honor and connect with our ancestors.
    • Ancestral veneration deepens spiritual practice.
    • Seek wisdom from those who came before us.
      • Ancestral wisdom guides both present and future.
      • Not just magic (Napoleon Hill, Lincoln, Edison, Ford, etc.).
      • Actually listening to ancestral voices.
      • Extends the use of feedback.
  • Macro-Reflection and Feedback
    • Environmental stewardship.
      • Learn from ecological mistakes.
      • Protect the Earth for future generations.
      • Promote environmental awareness and sustainable living.
    • Politics, war, human rights, and other societal concerns.
  • Rituals of Gratitude and Giving
    • When something works, express gratitude.
    • Be thankful for the gifts of the past year.
    • Give back to the Earth, your community, or those in need.
    • Practice generosity regularly.
    • Set intentions that align with personal growth and positive change.
  • Conclusion
    • Themes:
      • Personal growth and community enhancement.
      • Reflection and feedback.
      • Learning from the past to create a harmonious and sustainable future.
    • We know these things. But do we practice them?
    • Things to do:
      • Embrace birthdays—or any day—as opportunities for self-reflection.
      • Use feedback as a powerful tool for personal evolution.
      • Set intentions for personal and collective growth.
      • Embrace the cycles of life and nature.
      • Honor your ancestors.

Closing Words

  • Gratitude for everyone’s presence.
  • Reflect on our personal and collective history.
    • Learn from the past to create a more balanced and sustainable future.
    • Draw inspiration from nature, ancestral wisdom, and the cycles of life.
  • Continue your journey of growth and self-reflection, guided by the mirror of feedback and the wisdom of spirituality.
  • Embrace the interconnected cycles of life, self-discovery, and giving back to the Earth and the community.