The media is screaming New Year, New You to anyone who will listen but to me it’s just a date in a calendar.  A man-made idea of marking time.  We currently use the Gregorian Calendar which came into effect in 1752; so named after Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it. The legal new year was moved from March 25th to January 1st.  The purpose was to reflect a single revolution of the earth around the sun.   Hence why New Year arrives bang smack in the middle of the darkest time of year when thoughts of renewal are still dark embers smouldering away, waiting, thinking.

Marking a New Year seems more aligned with the start of Spring and a shift in light towards new life emerging.  What marked time before clocks and calendars, was the movement of the seasons and Nature’s journey through a cycle.  The Roman Calendar was 10 months in length starting in March (like a lion) and ending in December (deca – 10th).  Based on the cycles of the moon, the new moon starting and simultaneously ending the month.  And completely ignoring the winter months!  So January and February were eventually added to align the year with 12 lunar cycles.  But Earth and Lunar rotations aren’t neat and don’t fit our 365 years so we added a leap year every four years to adjust this natural ‘anomaly’ to make Nature neat again.

Anyway, I digress, all to show that, if, like me, you are totally still in hibernation mode, please rest.  Rest is necessary and needed – for a masterclass on how rest is resistance please read Tricia Hersey’s book ‘Rest is Resistance’ – link here and follow her on Instagram @thenapministry.  We are in a world that wants to keep us busy.  We are all exhausted.  We don’t need a ‘new me’ every January.  Just sit or lie down as much as possible and wait until you are ready to do all the things or don’t, just be instead.