New Year’s Day – Feels out of sync…
Today is the grand opening of the year – according to the Gregorian Calendar (built on layers of empire/church/half-fixed math); but, I feel more connected to the seasons and the light and the land than I do to some numbers and letters on a calendar. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like the “official” new beginnings line up with the season or the reason you’re celebrating.
And I guess I won’t start on the whole “October, November, and December not being the 8th, 9th, and 10th months” thing. Heh.
Yet – here I am, like so many of you (I assume?) still noticing the day. Still feeling that sort of subtle pressure of “fresh start” energy… still surrounded by – and participating in – talk of resolutions and rituals and “don’t clean on the 1st of January or you’ll sweep out all your good luck for the new year!”
I don’t believe that. At all.
…and I still celebrate. Just – on my own terms.
I don’t believe that January 1st is some cosmic reset button… or that the universe is gonna punish me if I wash dishes today.
I do believe that humans need these markers in time – beginnings and endings – thresholds.
…and rituals have power, even when the official story doesn’t seem to fit.
I believe my body and my senses are better guides than a misnumbered calendar.
So – here I am, like: the world says this is a special day… and I say – maybe, probably, what do I know? I’m sure it is a special day …perhaps not for the reasons you think.
…and whatever! Right? I do stuff when it feels right.
I generally don’t save my rituals for the first of the month (except Rabbit, Rabbit) – nor wait for the “correct” date.
My rituals, magic, and special days are mostly compelled by nature and my own senses.
~ I open the front and back doors to let energy flow – move stagnant air – when it feels right (not because a meme told me it was “good luck day”)
~ I clean when I feel stagnant, cluttered, or stuck (and also every single day – because #TeamVirgo and #Dogs #TwoDogs )
~ I notice the light, the tilt of the season, the feeling in my bones… I try to follow that.
Since so many holidays were originally built around the seasons of the regions (the solstices, equinoxes, harvests, etc..) it totally tracks to stay loyal to the seasons, more than the printed dates. I’m over here celebrating the way the light has shifted through my windows – not just whatever the calendar calls that shift… ya know?
I guess it can be a little, I dunno, funny (?), every now and again, to not really buy into the superstition, or the socially accepted “meaning” behind a holiday, and to still light the candle, or make the special food, or take the quiet moment “because it’s New Year’s…” or “because it’s Halloween” or “because it’s Solstice”
…but it’s a little sweet spot for me. The collective rhythm exists all around me. Energy from the people, nature, the planet… I let my own rituals be guided by my own senses… my feelings, my body, and the connection I feel to the land and the seasons.
I don’t have to believe in every story or superstition or socially held belief to still enjoy the pause, the reflection, or the excuse to change it up!
I think I can welcome a symbolic new year – and also know that my actual turning points don’t always line up with “page one” of the calendar. And the same goes for you… winks
Sometimes the new year might start on the first cool day after a long, hot summer…
Sometimes it’s when I catch a certain breeze, or the birds sound different…
Sometimes it’s whenever my whole system says: “Okay. Now. Change.”
Anyway… Happy whatever-day-this-is for the calendar, and for you!
As for me – superstition says I’m not supposed to clean or do dishes today… so, I might just curl up with a book (or grab a book and then sit on my couch scrolling social media…) Happy 2026!
Love, Kari Ann
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