IN THE SHADOW OF THE GROUND HOG

Ground Hog Day!

What a curious ritual. Particularly in the age of the Internet, trips to Saturn, and such. And, yet we mock the Greeks who consulted the entrails of animals.

Perhaps the problem is simply that in this day and age we are shy of rituals and reasons to celebrate things au natural.

The Internet is a wonderful tool: I’ve made ‘friends’ with people I’ve never met. But, like everything else it has a dark side: folks who can’t talk to another human face to face.

If the movie Ground Hog Day is to be believed (and every movie must be taken with a grain of salt), the occasion is one of celebration and happiness. Well, at least in Punxsutawney, PA. By the way, if you want to know Phil’s predictions check out http://www.groundhog.org

Whether we believe Phil, or his Canadian counterpart Willy, or not doesn’t matter. Ground Hog Day is a great marker point: like Solstice or Equinox or New Year’s or Samhain or All Hallow’s Eve. A way to mark the passage of time and to reset plans for the future.

In the movie Ground Hog Day, the character played by Bill Murray, is forced to relive the day until he ‘gets it right’. Maybe today, Ground Hog Day, is your chance to, if not get it right, to get it better.

Why not use today to revisit those New Year’s intentions, dust them off, pick one, make a commitment, create a plan, and start acting on that plan.

Then by the Ides of March or Equinox, whichever works for you, you’ll be well on the way to realizing those intentions.

Happy Ground Hog Day!