It is comforting to me to live in awareness of the circularity of life. That’s why I have always minded my children’s 6-day school schedule, it goes against the grain and is confusing. Not that “if it’s Tuesday it must be meatloaf” is such an inspired idea, but there is something to be said about “if it’s Tuesday we must have Art.” Today is June 22 and it is my birthday and I like the notion that it comes back year after year, like all of the holidays.

In reality, though, nothing ever stays the same. Perhaps because of that, because life is all about change, the regularity of circular rhythms such as the seasons, the planetary revolutions, the tides, the full moons, the reoccurrence of our birthdays, even the rhythm of the school year, builds a reassuring structure from where to watch and live the change. Children who grow up with a strong awareness of these rhythms, as they teach it for example in Waldorf education, can become grounded adults. And as an adult I am learning to see the circularity of life beyond my own death as a continuous cycle - in and out of physical life, in and out of non-physical existence – in an even grander perspective.