Lee's blog: Happy New Year!

I have been thinking - which admittedly is the opening line of one too many conversations in my home and one that can often end in a DIY endeavour that was simple in my head but slightly more time consuming, expensive and technical in reality. But that’s probably a whole other blog topic.

Anyway, I have been thinking and more specifically I have been thinking about time. And this thinking has led me to this one overriding thought - I would like the New Year to start in February.

The rush of the chaotic whirlwind of the Christmas builds up, the food, the overindulgence and all the social things have you in a spin even if you love the whole season like I do and then suddenly you blink and it’s a slew of messaging overwhelmingly demanding a New Year New You. A new you who is eager to eat miserable food, delighted to queue at the gym for a go on the Stairmaster while learning a new language and drinking 3 litres of water.

As an accountant I have realised that January is also not the ideal time to start afresh or try new things. January is the busiest most pressurised point in the calendar year, the time when yearend is all you can talk and think about, when auditors take all of your time and energy, and the hours are often long, and coffee fuelled.

The juxtaposition of the me that I am expected to be in December versus the me I am expected to be in January is just too much. I cannot flip the switch that way. It’s too fast I need a transition period. I need a soft launch! January should be for reading books, gentle walks, wearing cosy socks, drinking hot drinks and burning all those candles you got for Christmas!

I know that there is a logic to my argument that may be overly entrenched in my own particular circumstances, but I think it has also been something that has been woven into my consciousness from my school days and the teaching of the celebration of the 1st day of February that makes it an ideal time to be a New Year.

Traditionally called Imbolc in Ireland, St Brigid’s Day, the first of February marks the first day of spring.  This is the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox and the noticeable stretch in the evenings and the budding of the first seasonal snowdrops are symbolic of this time. I love that this day is celebrated in Ireland now with a bank holiday (much to the annoyance of my London colleagues!) and that it has its roots in druid folklore where it is revered as the start of the growing of the light.

To me that’s the ideal time to start a New Year – to match your actions to the season reflecting the way nature moves cyclically Spring with Growth, Summer with Abundance, Autumn with Preparation and Winter with Rest. I am not quite sure how this will play out in the corporate world, but it could also have its merits, I am sure, I will have to think about how .

And all of that meandering to simply allow me to justify saying Happy New Year in February!

Lee is a mum, accountant, coffee lover and sometimes runner. She is married, has two young girls and works mostly remotely for a London based bank.

Tags:
• Wellbeing