For many of us who celebrate Lunar New Year, January probably feels a bit odd — as if we had at least a month-long time to celebrate two new years in a row (or again?) — especially this year as the first day of the lunar new year takes place on the first of February. End-of-year reflections and New Year’s resolutions can feel a bit awkward — when is the end and when is the beginning?
I don’t know about a month of celebration, but January reminds me of a second chance. Like last year, my 2022 couldn’t have had a more perfectly imperfect start, and as always I’m thankful for it. I find myself fully immersed in the present moment, checking my phone less, cherishing things as they are, creating lasting memories, savoring my favorite books like gourmet meals, moving along the flow of conversations, and dancing to my own body’s rhythm. I care much less about many things and much more about a few things. Not that I forget about the existence of time, but I’ve realized that I’m ‘creating’ time when I take away the control it’s imposed on me, and there’s something truly liberating about that.
I’ve never been a fan of New Year's resolutions; believe it or not, I used to think of January as the time I needed to 'front-load' my laziness in the year. That’s not necessarily how I think of it now, but I still find there’s a grain of truth in my joke that January is like a 'draft' month, in which I set my intention to mindfully embrace my mistakes and imperfections. It reminds me of a second chance that I’m given to make things right, but more importantly, it reminds me that second chances are totally possible.
Whether celebrating Lunar New Year or not, I hope you believe in that possibility, too :)