new year's magic.

i am a superstitous person. it goes with the territory when you believe in magic; the idea that one's actions can affect a change on a larger scale is essential to both. i am, however, not superstitious willy-nilly. those superstitions i subscribe to i do so because they make sense to me (or, to be completely honest, because they're fun.)

i have long been aware of the idea that whatever one does on new year's day will set the tone for the rest of the year, but have only recently begun to believe that this might in fact be the case. 2008 was the year that made me think so: on new year's day i attended a cd release concert at sonic boom records in bothell. i spent the day enjoying live music from a favorite local band, and the year followed suit.

last year was dark, i spent new year's day hiding from the world, wracked in fear and sorrow, and those feelings stayed with me, dogging me through every season.

so this year, i decided to take the superstition by the hand and do something symbolic, something hopeful, something to nudge the year in the direction i wish it might go. my options were limited, no cd release parties nearby that i knew of, nor any galleries open on new year's day, nor could i spend the day in a house of my own, nor travelling...

so i dyed my hair purple.

does it seem silly? maybe so, and i almost didn't. i've never used a crayola color on my full head of hair before, i had no idea what it would look like. but hell, it's just hair, right?

the result is actually quite subtle; my hair is dark and i didn't bleach first. i have purple highlights in the sun, though, and that's enough of an oddity hereabouts to garner some gawking. but what was important was how it made me feel: purple in my hair always makes me happy, and it did this time, as well. my hair might not have ended up looking like a muppet 'do, but when i look in the mirror, i can see it, and it's like a secret i'm whispering to myself.

this is who you are. you are creative, you are off-kilter, you have always been so and seen or unseen, you are still so. take heart. be brave. be you.

this is what i hope for this year, for it to be a year shaped by the whisper i whisper in my heart, a year of optimism and grinning at myself in mirrors, a year of making dubious choices that work out just fine.

Trust your heart.
Listen to your gods.
Walk your path.