The beginning is always harder than the end. A new career, becoming a parent, heck, the first day of school, whether for you decades ago or the little bugger coming along. Embarking on something new is evidently more daunting, no doubt about it. We may make merry of both the start of a new year and the end of a passing one, but where the latter is a heartfelt send-off to the good, bad and ugly, the former comes with the murky unknown ahead.
We fear death, you chime. Perhaps most of us do, but deep down, no one expects an untimely, horrific demise (well, sorry for putting that in your head). We think we fear the end, but we don’t. We fear what comes after, because we simply don’t know. Besides the fact that the ones who love us will miss us, as Keanu Reeves has famously opined to Stephen Colbert, the light that shines ahead forms a huge blank.
We harken to Janus, a uniquely Roman divinity who has no Greek equivalent. Though the namesake of the first month, Janus wasn’t just worshipped for new dawns. It is significant to note that the Roman deity had two faces on opposing sides of his head. Presiding over the beginning and end of conflict, the ancient guardian was a symbol of transitions and gateways. While the Romans notoriously have a god for almost every existing concept, Janus holds a strong point.
The beginning is very much connected to the end. Not to sound like a time loop movie, but how we approach the start could very well determine how something ends. Take all your past relationships, for instance. We won’t get into it because you know just what we mean. So, faced with yet another run around the sun, think of it as the chance to craft a new narrative. While we remain blissfully unaware of the trials that lay ahead, we know that together with the many moments of blessings, we will emerge celebrating the odyssey in-between.
