'Renaissance' weekends good for contemplation

By Hillary Rodham Clinton

I've often wondered whether the traditional greeting this time of year should be posed as a question instead of an exclamation: "Happy New Year?" After all, none of us knows what 1997 will bring. We can hope that it will be a good year for all we hold dear, but no matter what we do, there will be unintended consequences from our actions and much that will be beyond our control and understanding. So, then, how should we ring in this new year and prepare ourselves for whatever awaits?

Bill and I found ourselves in a familiar pattern after Christmas. We were exhausted by the holiday whirl and felt a little overwhelmed by all that was left undone -- friends not visited, work incomplete, letters unwritten, closets, unorganized, prayers unsaid -- despite our best efforts.

I find great satisfaction in getting my house in order before the start of a new year. Last week, I spent four days cleaning out drawers and closets, rearranging furniture and giving away clothes and other things we neither needed nor used. One day, in the middle of my cleaning spree, a friend called to check in. She asked what glamorous party we were attending that night. I disappointed her expectations about our social lives when I told her Chelsea was home finishing college applications, Bill was working in the Oval Office, and I was doing housework that had piled up over the last busy months.

Obviously, I don't do the cleaning, cooking and housekeeping every day that my mother and friends do. One of the pleasures of living in the White House is to be surrounded by dedicated people who serve the President and his family. But I have to do some of the work myself in order for our living quarters in the White House to feel like our home.

Just as I need to clean out physical space -- for instance, holding up a pair of shoes that have served me well and deciding whether or not they can still do the job -- so too do I need a time for spiritual cleansing. That time comes when Bill, Chelsea and I spend the last few days of the year at Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head, S.C. It's our chance to evaluate the past year and consider where we are and what we want for the year ahead.

Renaissance Weekend was started by our friends, Phil and Linda Lader. Fifteen years ago, they decided that the typical New Year's celebration wasn't satisfying enough. They wanted a period of reflection and discussion to help think through their own priorities for the future. So they got together with some friends to talk about what was on their minds and hearts.

The next year, they invited others -- some people they knew, others they'd only heard about. In the spirit of the Renaissance, they sought out people from different walks of life whose interests, knowledge and experiences could bring varied perspectives to their discussions. They hoped to create a time of renaissance -- of renewal -- that would give busy people the chance to stop and speak about matters great and small, to sing songs and play games, to take a timeout so they might begin the new year feeling new themselves and ready for whatever challenges they would face.

During the last 12 Renaissance Weekends, Bill, Chelsea and I have made many wonderful friends, learned about matters we'd never thought about before and explored our own feelings and opinions about subjects ranging from spirituality to mathematics to corporate takeovers. No matter how tired we are when we arrive, we always become stimulated by being around people who for a few days are also stepping out of their busy lives to remember what's most important in any life.

One of the participants I've come to know well over the years is Dr. Estelle Ramey, a retired professor at Georgetown Medical School. One day, after recounting her life's journey from poor child of the depression to renowned professor, she said something I will never forget: "I have loved and been loved; all the rest is background music."

At the start of 1997, I wish all of us more love and less of the "background music" that too often crowds our lives. Happy New Year!

-- Creators Syndicate