Happy New Year! I’m back to work, and committing to writing more on this blog this year. I want this to be a space of inspiration, support and encouragement for us all on the path to living lives that feel healthier and happier to us. Which, incidentally, is also the aim of my podcast Create Shift.
I was on a walk on New Year’s Eve, and thinking about the pressure we put on ourselves with January and the New Year. How we tell ourselves it’s time to make all those changes we said we want to, and we set resolutions to almost bully ourselves into being better. I was looking at the trees, and thinking about how they care nothing for New Year, for January. For them the Spring is the New Year, which isn’t time to change into something totally different but simply time for them to bloom, as they are this year. And, seeing as we’re part of nature, it makes sense for this to be true for us too.
New Year’s Resolutions may work for you, and I don’t write this to say they’re awful and we should stop doing them. By all means set yourself some goals for this year, lovingly and with the kindest of intentions. The below is what came out after my New Year’s Eve walk. It’s a poem, of sorts, I think. It’s written to offer an alternative, some love and kindness in what can be a hard month.
Enjoy x
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And so we reach the end of another year. And I want to remind you of this…
The trees do not know tomorrow is a new year.
They will not burst into bloom because it’s January 1st and they must be the best version of themselves they can be.
No.
Instead they continue to slumber, whilst gently preparing for the Spring.
When they will bloom in full, resplendent glory.
And so here’s your permission slip, a reminder that you don’t have to do what we’ve come to believe we have to and start anew on an arbitrary date.
We can in fact listen to Mother Nature, who tells us the Winter is time to be gentle, slow, to rest.
To prepare ourselves, gather our resources for the Spring ahead.
And so don’t force yourself to become someone new, to meet all your challenges just because it’s January
Instead, perhaps you’ll go for walk, drink a steaming mug,
Take a pen, draw a bath
And write some wishes, intentions, dreams, desires.
Not resolutions, not punishments,
But ideas filled with wonderment.
Dreams for your year to come, to be planted in the fertile ground
And nourished.
By you.
Until
In Spring
They bloom.
Ps. If you’re interested in spending some time in Winter hibernation, resting and restoring and focusing on what you want to bring to life this Spring join me on my Winter Hibernation day retreat in Hebden Bridge. Find out more here.