Is there something magic about the first day of a new year? Does anything really change in your daily life? Is it as easy as flipping a switch to bring in a new set of circumstances, thoughts, or beliefs?
Opinions on this are all over the map. Many are downright religious about making New Year's resolutions, with the success results as varied as opinions about resolutions. Others view their birthday as a good time to take stock and reevaluate.
My personal view has been mixed over the years. I'd like to think that when I feel the need to reevaluate something in my life, I don't have to wait until New Year's to act on it. Still, it's hard not to regard January 1st as a fresh start in one way or another, even if it's simply to stop and count your blessings. Author Barbara Mahany , in her book Slowing Time , says this about new beginnings:
“Deep in the truth of all of us lies the rough draft that demands edit after edit.”
In the northern hemisphere, Christmas and New Year's come at the outset of winter, as we prepare to settle into weeks of cold and shorter days. (What I love about the winter solstice, however, is that even though it announces the beginning of winter, it also announces the beginning of progressively more minutes of daylight as we move toward the equinox.)
More and more writers are writing about the art of "wintering", when nature hibernates and humans have the opportunity to learn from that process. Mahany begins the same book by offering a "Winter's Wonderlist". Indeed, there should be no season in which we are not prompted to wonder in one way or another.
Whatever your position on New Year's traditions, resolutions, and new beginnings, I wish you, at the outset of what looks to be a year of considerable change for yours truly (more on that later), the blessing of experiencing one way or another the power of new.
Happy New Year.
PS What are your views on New Year's and resolutions? We'd love to read your comments below.