Monday 3 January 2011

ANOTHER YEAR BEGINS

It's the start of another year, and I am blessed to be able to experience it. I don't normally do New Year resolutions, but I am drawn to them this year, once again. I suppose it's the thrill of filling in a new calender and diary. I also keep a tick list of what I do to enhance my health and I'm starting that all over again - from point zero. I have a new book from Paper Chase to enter my goals and ticks, and I love using new stationery ! And that puts me in the mood for new beginnings. So here I sit in front of my computer pondering on the start of another year.

New Years can start at any time of the year, and on any day. They can be very personal. Mine often starts in September and follows the school year. It could just as soon start in February, on my birthday, or on the Chinese New Year. It could start in March with the start of the new growing season in the garden. It could start on the 21st of June - the longest day of the year, or midsummer's night. It could start in July when schools close and we start our summer holidays. New Years Day is , to me , quite an arbitrary day. I pick and choose it for myself. But the Western world follows a calender that decrees that New Years day is officially the first of January. And I'm going with that at the moment. But it's comforting to know that should I get discouraged and feel that I've not lived up to my potential and that I've lost my way I can always start again without having to wait for next January to roll around.

Thinking of when my New Year starts has set me thinking of when my week should start. Once again, it's quite arbitrary. My calender likes to think the week starts on Sunday. My diary starts the week on Monday. I have had calenders in the past that start the week on Saturday. But I don't have to follow the dictates of society at large. I can choose for myself when my week starts, and I have started to think that this decision will influence how the week goes. If I choose to start my week on a Monday , as I always have in the past, then the emphasis is on housework. What I have to get done between Monday and Friday so that I can enjoy the weekend work-free. I've spent a few years now spending Mondays gardening, but it is still on my list of "things to do and appointments to keep " . I could start my week on a Saturday. That would show that my priorities are with spending time with my family. But I would spend it waiting on my family - waiting for my husband to come back from golf, and waiting for my daughter to get out of bed. I can't say that I much relish the thought of starting my week in limbo. I could start the week on Sunday. I love Sundays. It's a family day. I spend Sunday morning with my husband and at some point after lunch my daughter joins us and we perhaps do something together. But I still spend time waiting for my daughter to get up. So I'm still feeling a little bit left on hold. I could start my week on Friday. I sometimes do a class in flower arranging on a Friday morning. So that would be doing something fun and creative and for the house. I then do laundry in the afternoon. Sometimes I shop for groceries if I'm disorganised, but I hate shopping in the supermarket on Fridays when it's full of the retired and elderly. Starting on a Friday gives me a build-up to the weekend which is my favourite part of the week when I spend it with my family. A Thursday start could also work. I would have Thursday to tidy the house and shop for groceries, Friday to prettify the house, and then spend the weekend with family. Or perhaps a Tuesday or a Wednesday would be good days to start as these are days that are largely free and I choose how I fill them. But they can be lonely and isolating days. It turns out that although I believe the day I start my week on will be influential in determining the mood of the week, it is not as simple to choose a day as I thought. I think I'll sleep on it and decide another time. I don't need to decide this week. My husband starts his week on Tuesday this week. My daughter starts hers on Wednesday. I may need a day or two later to get back into my routine and start my week again. My work-week. And that brings me back to Monday where I would be in sync with the rest of my culture. It's food for thought anyway, but food for another time I think.

I would just like to wish anyone reading this a very Happy New Year. One filled with joy and laughter, with family and friends, with comfort and peace, and with the best of health both physical and spiritual. May 2011 be a most auspicious and treasure filled year for us all.

No comments:

Post a Comment