Year

A brand new dawn on snowy Parly Hill. Just what’s needed after all that Christmas stuffing.
Photo credit: The Paul family

Someone in my close family (older than me, very close, that’s enough clues), has a mild theory about the giving of books or plants as gifts. His theory is that the recipient then has to nurture that plant or read the book. Feedback on the progress of said plant or book is probably also expected; it’s like gifting someone a job. Quick disclaimer here, we all love being given books and plants as gifts (the theory owner included), so don’t strike them off the list. But it’s a thought…
I’ve reached a similar conclusion about new year resolutions – the loaded weight of them heaving around every year feels debt-heavy. I asked my fellow guests at a house gathering on Saturday night if anyone had them, and a collective groan rose up. Why was I even asking, when I’m on the ‘dislike’ side of the fence too?
The thing about years, as you get older, is that they come around faster and faster. New ones seem less and less new, the pace of every 12-month rotation picking up speed, current years only just ripening before the new ones sprout shoots.
I’m not a total old lady, I do have resolutions but they’re more like maintenance. Here’s my work one, for example: I keep an Excel page for jobs completed that runs from Jan to Dec. As January gets going I create a new sheet, count off last year’s jobs and sketch out a few expectations for the year ahead. So perhaps that’s a resolution – or we could just call it ‘Jan-Dec Work 2023’.
January itself arrives pre-filled with several special birthdays (and this year includes a large one for my son, for extra enjoyment), so that’s my social life off to a cracking start. Health? My knees hurt when I’m carrying three extra kilos of Christmas stodge, so getting back to full fitness is a January necessity (tick).
Thanks to all the aforementioned birthdays I don’t dread January at all. It would be great if the year ahead was happy, healthy, prosperous, war-free, death-free, full of just the right amount of sunshine (maybe a new jumper thrown in now and then, and a Sunday lunch or two at the White Bear) but those are continual hopes, not just once-a-year resolutions. I do need to buy a new clematis and encourage it to grow up the wall. I’m all set to crack the back of a new SEO course. And I’ve lots of meet-ups with friends and family sketched out. If you lot could all stay healthy and happy, that would be brilliant. That’s it, really.
So this post has an odd title. You’ll notice the ‘new’ has been removed, because even though we’re only on day two, this one already feels well underway. In case you don’t trust this year to be a happy one, I’ve removed that word too. And there we have it, just a year, rolling around to start its natural unfurl into January.
’Start Of The Year’ to you all, then, and may it be packed full of all the things you need, want and enjoy.