Maybe The Ancients Had It Right?
Photo by Cara Denison
First, a very happy 2026 to all of you!
Once again, we find ourselves on the precipice of a new year, contemplating what this one will look like, and many of you drafting resolutions and goals in hopes of answering that question.
Early Roman calendars only covered ten months, March through December. The days that eventually became the first two months of the year were considered dark and worthless. Circa 700 AD, Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, added January and February.
January is named for Janus, the god of beginnings and endings, as well as change and transformation. February is named after Februum, the purification ritual that occurred midway through the month.
Historically, each year has begun with looking back, looking forward, making changes, and seeking purification and transformation. The Purification Festival that occurred mid-month was intended to cleanse both the cities and ourselves—allowing the new year to begin fresh.
Our practice of New Year’s resolutions is ancient.
As if guided by Janus himself, we reflect on the past, we look toward the future, we assess the changes we want to make, and we hope for transformation. Some of those changes represent mild forms of purification—stop smoking, eat better, exercise more. Yet those efforts are often accompanied by disappointment.
Much of this frustration comes from the fact that our intentions tend to focus on changing behaviors, which keeps our ambitions external. Authentic, lasting change, however, begins internally—with self-discovery and self-awareness.
What is it that drives the behaviors we want to change or amend?
First of all, we are not who we think we are.
Our self-perception frames us as embodied individuals in a world of separate individuals. But if you examine our constitution, we are a complex structure of subatomic particles—protons, neutrons, and electrons—which further break down into quarks and leptons. Nowhere in this structure is there “matter” as we commonly understand it—only concentrated energy and magnetism appearing as solid. (More on this at the end of the blog.)
At this level, everything is connected, everything. This is not how we typically experience ourselves or the world.
Last night, I was standing on our deck looking at the first full moon of the year, a Super Moon. Beyond it, part of the city skyline glowed in the distance. I found myself returning to the idea that physicality is an illusion; that it is all energy and magnetism.
It was a stunning experience of simply being a dot in an infinite cosmic palette, so different from the way I usually relate to streets, buildings, and neighborhoods, all of which suddenly felt very small.
It is all within, creating the without.
So if you are interested in meaningful personal growth or real transformation for the future you, the place to look is your own interior.
That requires an honest internal examination:
What are the behaviors I want to change?
Why do I want to make that change?
What belief or perception holds that behavior in place?
Looking inward without judgment can be challenging. It is important to remember that all of our behaviors are learned—and therefore, they can be unlearned or even transformed—IF we are willing to apply consistent commitment over time.
In our leadership development and executive coaching work at Momentum, we begin growth by gathering feedback through interviews with peers. We typically ask three simple but powerful questions:
What would you like them to stop doing?
What would you like them to start doing?
What would you like them to keep doing?
You can ask yourself these same questions.
For the ancients, January was about reflection—looking back at the past year, looking forward to the next, identifying changes, and diligently pursuing transformation. February, then, was about purification.
For us, self-purification begins with forgiveness.
Forgiveness of ourselves, which becomes easier when we grasp our deeper interconnectedness. Forgiveness is an act of courage, purification, and redemption.
So step up, Buttercup. You are worth it.
Here’s to a fabulous 2026. Love yourself. Stop resisting. Let yourself be guided toward a deeper appreciation of who you truly are—because that is where real progress is made.
Cheers and blessings,
Craig
[From online research, further data on what we are really made of:]
Yes, everything is fundamentally energy and fields, not solid "stuff," with what we perceive as matter being localized concentrations of energy (like quarks and electrons) that behave like particles, giving the illusion of solidity through electromagnetic forces, with even mass itself being a form of energy, making the physical world a manifestation of energy and its interactions.
Matter: Traditionally defined as anything with mass and volume, it's made of atoms, which are composed of subatomic particles like quarks (in protons/neutrons) and electrons.
Energy: The capacity to do work, existing in many forms, including light (photons) and the inherent energy within matter itself (E=mc²).
Quantum Fields: At the deepest level, physics suggests the universe consists of fundamental quantum fields (e.g., electron field, quark fields).
Particles as Excitations: What we call particles (like electrons or quarks) are actually excitations or "quanta" (discrete packets) of these fields, carrying energy.
Energy is Fundamental: Mass itself is a form of energy, and the majority of the mass in a proton or neutron comes from the binding energy holding its quarks together, not the quarks themselves.
Electromagnetic Forces: The "solidity" we experience comes from the electromagnetic forces between the charged particles (electrons and nuclei) of atoms, preventing them from passing through each other.
Vibration: Even seemingly still matter is vibrating at the atomic level, a manifestation of kinetic and potential energy.
Your intuition is correct: the solid world is an emergent property of energy. Particles aren't tiny billiard balls but localized energy phenomena, and matter is a very dense, organized form of energy, making the universe a dynamic interplay of fields and energy, not just hard, separate "things".
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Fundamental of the Week #9: COMMUNICATE TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Communicate in the least complicated way. You are accountable for what people understand and what they misunderstand.
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