The start of a new calendar year has always been an interesting energy to experience. Seasonally, we are still in the cold, darkness of winter. Yet, we are simultaneously feeling the buzz of energy from people who are wanting to make drastic changes to their life in the form of goals and resolutions. An eagerness to cut the chord on what was, in hopes that that that severing will be what is needed for our true desires to manifest.
All this energy being used to try and awaken a life that is still hibernating, waiting for the warmth of Spring. I often reflect on the cycles and rhythms of the natural world as a compass for myself, especially when there is a frenetic sort of flavor to human behavior, including my own.
I feel the pull to do, do, do….or I will suffer the consequences of already falling behind just a few days into the year. But, slowing down enough to actually listen for my own rhythm, I can feel the pulse of my heart calling for me to rest and close the loops on everything that I had started from the year prior. To create more for myself to do through a list of New Year’s goals and resolutions would only be adding another thick layer of guilt come this time in 2025.
And still, my hand feels called to the blade of the knife that only wants to cut away all the things that were left unfinished from last year, and the year prior, and the year prior…
Sometimes, that knife is exactly what is genuine and true - helping me to prune away the branches that were only draining my energy and keeping me from growing more fully into the canopy of light. And sometimes, that knife would only bring a temporary disconnect from a desire that would find its way onto my list of goals this year or five years from now.
It’s an interesting space of tension to be in right now, especially as someone who guides people on the path of accomplishing their goals for a living. Clients are running to me like the herd of kids running to the candy store as soon as they heard about Willy Wonka’s golden tickets being hidden in chocolate bars. They are ready to feast on the results that they hunger for, and have most likely been craving year after year, having once again convinced themselves that this is going to be the year it happens.
And it might very well be. I do not write this to sound discouraging. I write this to encourage you to listen for where your true, natural rhythm is leading you right now. If your heart is genuinely calling you to feel the fire of change and take action, then please listen. However, if your heart is actually calling you to set fire to the list of never ending goals that you created on January 1st, then please listen to that.
Pause and reflect on sustainability for yourself. So many of us are running on fumes, especially after 2023. This past year has seemed like a large after-shock coming from the initial wave of disruption that began in 2020. I felt it in myself, and I witnessed it in clients and friends. There was an opening this year that was stretched to the point of painfully ripping so many from the remnants that they found themselves clinging to after the collective trauma of the last few years.
Shattering. That is the word that I would used to describe the essence of 2023 for myself, as well as for so many of the folks that I serve as a coach and guide to. And in that shattering, there is so much rest that is being asked for as we move through the portal of the death of winter into new life. We know that death is still such a taboo topic for Western culture specifically, and I do wonder if that is part of the reason why so many people will try to quickly move through this portal by using their New Year’s goals as the distraction they need to avoid being with the grief that is so very alive in this season.
An avoidance of this grief is the avoidance of healing that comes from the acknowledgment of what and who is no longer with us in this new calendar year. And sometimes the biggest “who” that is no longer with us is the version(s) of ourselves that we have let go of or perhaps the versions that felt ripped away in the wave of another 12 months. As a mentor told me about halfway through the year, the grief is owed its due - this is what will allow the freedom of your new growth to bloom.
Look to the sky and the path behind you
The sunlight is still disappearing early in the evening - even the sun is needing more time to rest. It is okay to still be slumbering in the darkness and tending to your efforts from the previous years so that you know what truly works for you.
Instead of trying to plant new seeds in the cold of winter and expecting them to blossom overnight, reflect on the seeds that you planted last season - what would be nourishing for those seeds right now?
Look behind you and see your footsteps in the path that you walked to bring you to this moment.
What worked for you this past year?
What did not work for you this past year?
What were your top 3-5 learnings from 2023?
What would light you up to carry with you into 2023?
What would lighten the burdens that you are still carrying from the year?
What is needed to release those burdens?
Then, reflect on the intention(s) that you are creating for this new year. Let these intentions become the stars in your sky that will serve as the guiding lights of clarity when you emerge with Spring.
