As someone who has made a habit of checking silly holidays for a while (no surprise to my Twitter followers) I am well aware of the simultaneous randomness and importance of what are often arbitrarily decided days. I was in a coaching session around September and someone said that even for those of us not in school and without school aged kids, we are used to thinking of September as a fresh start. The same is true for those who observe a New Year in the fall. Hawaiians traditionally observed a new year around the end of November. As cultures around the world accepted the current calendar, January 1st became a thing. And of course Lunar New Year happens for some in February, others in April. There are more than just those.
So when one determines the year to have changed is in some ways arbitrary. But arbitrary is not the same as meaningless. For many of us, January will likely look similar to December in that we will still be amid a pandemic. We will still need to carry on in ways that two years ago many of us did not. But just as the cells in our bodies constantly renew themselves, there is something very lovely about the idea that a change in the date can bring on additional inner change.
I am aware that I wrote a whole entire post about blaming the year for long term systemic problems, and I stand by it. Nonetheless, while I don't much believe in attaching long term change just to a flipping of the calendar page (virtual or not), I firmly believe in hope and optimism. I believe in renewed energy to work for and work on changing things for the better. Whether it's learning new skills, reinstating things that make our bodies feel more in balance, or just looking forward to a year that holds the possibility of change.
I have a quote thingie, and one of the quotes comes from Max Frisch. It says, "Time does not change us. It just unfolds us."
May we all unfold in the ways we wish to in this next year.
