Happy New Year, family, friends, and dear readers. How was your New Year’s? Have you made resolutions?
As a Wiccan, I have three New Years: Samhain, New Year, and Imbolc, and they have very different vibes.
Samhain is a Gaelic festival that falls halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, or the darker half of the year. It’s sometimes called the Witch’s New Year. In my practice, Samhain is a solemn occasion, a time for introspection, and for remembering and honouring our beloved dead.
Imbolc is also a Gaelic festival. It marks the beginning of spring. Because it has a beautiful, fresh feeling, some traditions and covens have their initiations and dedications at Imbolc. In a coven I belonged to, we set spiritual goals at Imbolc.
Like much of the world, I ring in the New Year on 1 January. I love the energy and optimism of New Year’s. “Out With the Old, in With the New ” is a year-long motto for me, but I still enjoy sitting down, reviewing goals I’ve made through the year, how I did, and what I want to do in the New Year. I like meeting my goals, of course, but I don’t beat myself up if I don’t. Some of them are more like tasks and projects that either got finished or didn’t, and my interest in them might have changed. A few others are ongoing life things that go on year after year.
I write a list of goals in my bullet journal. In 2018, I made about 20 resolutions, which now I think is too many. I categorised them, e.g. spiritual, personal development, finance, etc., which made them appear more manageable, but really there were too many all up. I made a little bit of progress on a few of them, but I did not accomplish most of them. But hey, I got married so I’m calling it a win. It’s interesting to glimpse what my state of mind and ambitions were this time last year. It’s growth I can reflect on even if I didn’t cross off items on my list of goals.
I’m taking a different approach in 2019. I made one giant brain dump list of all the things I want, including home reno projects and items I want to buy, and whatever, no matter how crazy it might sound.
Some of the things on the 2019 list:
- Go to some Pagan meetups. I haven’t enjoyed these much in the past, but I try to stay optimistic.
- Travel to Greece.
- Start a podcast. I don’t know if I’ll actually do this, but I have been thinking about it for most of 2018.
- Home reno: master bedroom, bathroom, laundry. Admittedly, this is ambitious. If we get one done, I’ll call it a win.
- Read more. I didn’t read enough in 2018.
And the rest is the usual: lose weight, be best, yadda yadda yadda.
