2023 felt like a tempestuous year for the world. For me personally, while it presented a fair few struggles and setbacks, I’m happy to say my experience has actually been mostly good. It still, however, feels good to have it in the rear-view mirror. This year I’ve made a point of taking time off over Christmas and New Year - I’ve especially enjoyed the downtime of the ‘betwixtmas’ - and I’m looking forward to 2024 with a sense of intention and openness to change.
I only partly agree with those who say new year’s resolutions are pointless. The turn of the new year has long been an excuse and a catalyst for change. Those who say ‘if a change is worth making, you’d already be doing it’ miss the fact that the main barrier to much personal change is in the imagining, not the doing — and imagination is a sensitive animal.
Everyday life tends to be busy and focused on immediate objectives. To someone with corporate job and a social media account, it takes some discipline to carve out time to step back from what’s urgent and consider what’s important. The FOMO is strong, the pressure to achieve and a fear of boredom have been programmed into us. So when I do take time off work, I’m usually hit with a wave of pent-up reflectiveness. Add to this the (non-coincidental) fact that the winter solstice, Christmas and New Year all come in close succession with change and renewal themes, and you have a great recipe for reflection, diagnosis and planning.
I’ve also come round to the idea of celebrating the new year itself. Like many rituals, it serves a purpose on a deeper level than simply having a party - for starters, I’m pretty sure I write the date correctly sooner, in years when I marked the new year. (This year I celebrated Hogmanay with a silent disco on the streets of Edinburgh - a rather wonderful experience, which I recommend!)
So whether or not one wants to make or announce ‘resolutions’, the threshold of a new year feels like a more liminal time than others. The boundaries between alternative futures feel thin and the air contains possibility.
I wish you a very happy and prosperous 2024.