Almost all countries celebrate New Year in alignment with the Gregorian calendar. January 1st marks the beginning of the year on the yearly calendar many use to structure and keep track of their lives. There is a lot of pressure around the New Year—goals are not always encouraged but forced. Social media has created an intense drive around changing one’s life. Posts tend to circulate around fitness goals like “75 hard” or motivational romantic manifestations. I’ve always found the placement of the New Year to be challenging. Its quick arrival is met in the midst of holiday chaos, making self-reflection almost impossible. Additionally, in my location, the new year is in the dead of winter. I’ve always struggled with staying in tune with my goals when the earth is dark, cold, and at rest. Why can’t we rest with it?Â
Many cultures practice the New Year in parallel with spring, known as the Vernal Equinox, Lunar New Year, Nowruz, etc. This has always made the most sense to me, as spring is the beautiful unfolding of life and growth. I am someone who likes to ground myself with the natural rhythm of Earth’s cycles, yet I know this is not for everyone spiritually or personally. I think it has felt gentler on my body and mind to start anew in sync with nature. The trees and flowers bloom, the grass greens, the winds warm, life returns.Â
I think there is something pure and energetic about starting anew with nature and the season. Spring cleaning has grown with culture, implementing the same idea of reset and refresh. I lean into this practice with more than just a clean space, but a fresh start. How beautiful it is to gently unfold with the season, slow, eased, colorful. The spring invites creative, inspiring, and passionate energy. For me, goals are always easier to channel when aligned with the brightness of spring.Â
I find nothing wrong with goal setting and motivation in the traditional calendar New Year. I think goals are beautiful for humans to set at any point. Dead of winter, lush of spring, heat of summer, or the shift of fall. Personally, I find comfort in resting with the earth in winter. The trees can remind us that Earth, too, takes breaks, recharges, and rewrites. I find connection in planning and motivating myself as brightness returns. For me, this looks like journaling, gratitude prompts, moving my body, and consuming motivational media like podcasts and self-help books. The beautiful thing about all of this is that there is no right time, there is no straight-lined path to restarting, rebirthing, or rewriting. To be new is to begin again and again, endlessly.Â