Happy New Year! As you may have noticed, Becky and I have taken a break from the website for a little bit — and this ties in with what we’re going to talk about in this article.
There is so much pressure around New Year’s, and while this may come from good intentions, it’s often a source of anxiety for most people. In this article, we’ll explore the notion of giving yourself time to rest and start again, even if it’s a bit later.
New Year… New Me?
This saying has been going around for as long as I’ve been on the internet. It resurfaces every year to remind me why I don’t celebrate New Year’s, or at least not in the way that people expect. While I’m an enjoyer of the holidays, New Year’s has been disappointing time and time again as I was growing up. I would set up these goals that I had to achieve as fast as possible, putting pressuring on the new version of myself before the year even started.
Around seventeen years old, I decided I didn’t care about New Year’s anymore. I have decided it is simply a change in the calendar, and that didn’t change anything for what I was going through. There would be no new version of myself at midnight, because creating a better version of yourself takes time, not just a change of mind. I have kept that mindset since then, though as I’ve had a particularly difficult 2024, I began leaning into the reasons why people celebrate New Year’s.
A Clean Slate to Put Yourself Back Together
The reason so many people cling to January 1st being the beginning of a new life is because they need a specific date to start again. It often comes from a place of desperation, as it did for me this year. Not only are we celebrating the beginning of a new year, but also the ending of a year. I’ve always been the kind of person who is into retrospection, because I would rather look back on everything I’ve achieved rather than pressure myself into achievements I might not even approach.
This time, I wanted to let go of 2024. While I’ve shared many joyful moments with my loved ones, there was a battle I held against myself that I haven’t yet won. I wished to leave behind the pessimism, and look towards the healing process. I decided to create some fun resolutions, that I wouldn’t have to take seriously but that would improve my well-being. Some of those examples are taking a walk every Sunday, paint my nails a different color every month, and visit five different seasides. By taking small steps into actions I knew would do me good, I took off the pressure of healing.
January, The Fateful Month?
Before we approach New Year’s Eve, we have the busiest period of the year. Between finding the perfect costume for Halloween, dreading family dinners for Thanksgiving, and preparing for either Christmas or Hanukkah, there’s a lot of stress around the last months of the year. When we get to New Year’s Eve, it’s almost as if we can let out a breath of relief that we survived. We made it to the end of the year.
Then January shows up, and there’s disguised pressure as motivation from all sides. We internalise what we see on social media, and having constant awareness of everything we should do is not healthy. January insists you should reinvent yourself, throw out what doesn’t serve you anymore, become a better person in a specific amount of time… or does it?
January has been rebranded as the month that will determine the rest of your year. If it’s a bad beginning, then we assume the year will be bad. If it’s a good one, then there’s hope for the next eleven months. It is also the moment where you try the most to stick to your resolutions — exercise more often, prepare to run a marathon, get an entire novel written — whatever you might set your mind on, there’s a ticking clock. What happens if you don’t achieve these resolutions? Discouragement, low self-esteem, even depression in some cases.
However, that’s not what January is. January is still the start of winter, a season where humans, not unlike animals, need to rest and if possible, hibernate.
We’re Still in the Winter Months!
After the unrest of the holidays, we are being expected to reinvent ourselves. To improve our lives for the better by the end of the month, which is an expectation that tends to create disappointment in a lot of people. We’re in February now, and everyone has been joking about wishing to go directly into 2026. In other words, restart the year.
I’m here to reassure you there’s no need to throw away all hope for the year because of one month. What we need in these winter months is not productivity. Capitalism convinces us that our worth is tied to what we produce, which is not true at all. You are not a lesser person for not achieving everything you set out to do.
We need rest. More than anytime now, we have to listen to our minds and bodies. Take time to unwind and focus on what makes you relax, not on what brings you money. This is not encouraging you to quit your job, or to completely isolate yourself from the outside world. However, we need to prioritise ourselves, because now’s not the time to turn your life around.
What Does That Mean?
First of all, the basics: sleep, food, water. It might seem obvious, but a lot of people, including myself, ignore or forget those needs. When you wake up, have a glass of water prepared next to you. Throughout the day, keep a bottle close in your line of sight. It’s easy to forget to hydrate when we’re focused on a specific activity. Not everyone has breakfast, and although I am a firm believer that everyone should, don’t ignore your other meals. Take a break from work to have lunch. If you’re someone who enjoys cooking, take time to make dinner. It is not lost time, it is taking care of yourself.
After your work or study day, take a moment to breathe. We often carry our stress and worries for the next day with us when we lay in bed, which is why guided meditation can be helpful. There are a bunch of them you can find on audio streaming platforms, and they are life-changing. If you’ve already tried meditation, try listening to soft music, or podcasts; anything that might work to take your mind off what you were focusing on the entire day.
These are the basic needs, now let’s get into the self-fulfilment ones. Make time for an activity that is not monetised. Reading, writing, making puzzles, painting, running, working out, baking, are some examples of what you could do. I often hear people say they don’t have enough time for nurturing interests, but you have to make time. Write it down in your agenda or calendar, set a specific time for these activities and give them as much importance as your do to your work or studies. Otherwise, you’re not far from becoming a machine, and they break at one point.
We Are Not Machines
We live in a system that prioritises making money. Complying to the system is unfortunately a necessity for a lot of people who were not born with the privileges of not worrying about money. Nonetheless, the capitalist machine does not prioritise you as much as we prioritise it. To them, you are disposable. Everyone learns that lesson sooner or later, and that’s why it’s important to realise you are human. You do not exist to make someone else richer, you exist to make your life as good as it can be in these conditions.
But What About Passion Projects?
Here’s what a lot of people don’t realise in the first month of the year: there are eleven other months waiting for you. There are four seasons, one of which is all about rebirth. I’m talking about spring, where the planet wakes up after a long-needed rest.
If you feel passionate about your projects, and inspired in winter, then there’s no issue working on them — as long as you don’t forget about your well-being. On the other end, if you feel stressed and unsure, then it’s time to take a step back and wait for spring. Your resolutions aren’t going anywhere, but your future self will thank you for preserving your mind and body. Physical and mental health are fragile. They can change at any time, and although there will be factors outside of our control, we owe it to ourselves to do our best with what we have.
In Conclusion
Everyone has their own life, their own aspirations and career expectations — but we do tend to forget that there’s no deadline on these. If you’re not at the first on your priority list, your body and mind will alert you, and it’s important to take these warning signs seriously. Life is delicate, let’s make as much of our time here as wholesome as possible.
Photography: @vontographie
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