New Year Energy
Traditionally and culturally, New Year is celebrated on January 1st. I don’t like it.
January 1st doesn’t feel new. It’s winter and cold where I live, and the days are short. I find it hard to embrace the promise and vitality of a new year in January-even if the calendar, news, and social media tell me (over and over) it’s a new year.
However, the weeks around the start of school feel much more like a new year to me. So this year, I’m celebrating my new year and inviting you to consider celebrating and reflecting too.
This week my two kids start school. My daughter is starting junior high, and my son is starting high school. New schools, schedules, classes, notebooks, and fresh pens infuse these weeks with a vitality and freshness that January lacks. I’m leaning into the new year energy right now.
In the next few weeks, we will be settling into new routines. It feels like a good time to be proactive and thoughtful rather than just reacting to what is coming our way. I want to make sure I’m embracing the invitation of freshness, vitality, and newness this time of year offers.
I’ve been asking myself what smaller and deeper practices, ideas, and mindsets I want to take into this new year. Equally important, I’m asking myself what habits, patterns, and attitudes I want to leave behind.
One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer is one of my favorite books to revisit around the new year. Kaizen is a Japanese principle of using small (the smallest steps) to create lasting, meaningful change.
By asking small, gentle questions, we keep the fight-or-flight response in the “off” position. Kaizen questions such as “What’s the smallest step I can take to be more efficient?” or “What can I do in five minutes a day…They (small questions) allow us to bypass our fears. They allow the brain to focus on problem-solving and, eventually, action. Ask a question often enough, and you’ll find your brain storing the questions, turning them over, and eventually generating some interesting and useful responses.”
-Robert Maurer
The practice of writing lists is a helpful, small action that often rewards with unexpected, practical, and valuable information. I like to use lists instead of paragraphs because, with a list, I can jot down what comes to mind without the pressure of having to write sentences about one topic. A list is supposed to be short and to the point. When I tell my brain that I’m not writing answers, I’m just jotting down three to five random thoughts; I feel freedom. I’m able to glean more data and insights. Don’t take my word for it; try list writing for yourself.
Here are some lists you might consider if you, too, want to celebrate a new year over the next few weeks of August.
(The rules are simple. Answer the questions in list form. Keep it simple, short, and playful. See what 3-5 ideas emerge for each category. If you give it a few minutes and nothing comes, no worries, no stress, move on.)
New Year Smaller & Deeper Lists:
What 3-5 things have worked well for me this year?
What 3-5 things haven’t worked well for me recently?
What small practice, question, or activity could I do within 30 minutes of waking up that will help me have a better day?
What small practice, question, or activity could I do before bed that will help me have a better day tomorrow?
Is there something new I have been wanting to start? 1
Is there something I should stop?
What do I want to go deeper with?
What needs to be smaller in my life?
What small changes would create a big impact for me?
Where do I feel invited to go deeper?
Where is my energy going?
Where do I wish my energy was focused?
What small activity would impact my health for the better?
Here’s another thing I’ve learned about lists. The key to a good list is a cheap notebook. I love hardcover, thick-paper, blank journals. There is something about a new Moleskin journal. I’ve noticed, however, that I don’t use them. They feel so weighty (and beautiful) that I’m always waiting for the “right” thing to use them for.
Earlier this year, I bought a cheap spiral notebook. I use that cheap, spiral, not pretty or inspirational in the least, notebook more, and wow, it’s valuable because I’m not holding off writing down a list, or jotting a note, or brainstorming to make sure it’s “worth” the use of the expensive paper. (Back-to-school season is the perfect time to find your cheap notebook.)
If now is the time for you to celebrate a new year, this is your permission slip! If you are not feeling the new year's energy right now, it’s fine. That’s the point. We can decide what works best for us and lean into that season and time! There is no rush. There is no pressure. There are just opportunities.
A blessing for new beginnings
May you find grace, joy, hope, and beauty for all the new beginnings in your life. When the beginning feels shaky and wobble, may you find steadiness and gentle places to rest. When there is too much new and not enough tried and true, may you find your bearings in unexpected graces and spaces. May your new beginnings surprise, delight, and draw you deeper.
Smaller and Deeper practices are small actions or ideas and can lead to deeper insights, knowledge, and growth. Smaller and Deeper is an invitation to remember that the small things done with intention often create transformation and growth.
Use one of the lists above, or think of your own lists to reflect on your current reality. What small (tiny)step can you start to take?
What time or season of the year feels most like a new start to you? Mark your calendar now to remind yourself to seize that energy when the time is right. (You could also make yourself a note around December 31st to remind yourself that you mark the new year at a different time.)
“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts.” —John Wooden
Reading Life is where I share what I’ve been reading recently or books that I’ve read that I’m still thinking about months or years later.
Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution by Rainn Wilson
If the name Rainn Wilson rings a bell, it’s because he played Dwight on The Office. I enjoyed this book. Rainn’s personality and passion come through beautifully and clearly in Soul Boom. There wasn’t anything new or earth-shakingly profound in this book. It is anchored in hope and positivity, and I’ll take all I can get right now!
How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
This audiobook was delightful! I recently learned about a category of literature called “Uplit.” Uplit is an uplifting read; they don’t shy away from the difficulty and messiness of life but end with an uplifting, hopeful message. Uplit is the kind of fiction book that I prefer. I found a list of uplit books on GoodReads and started to see what was available from my library. This was the first book that came up, and I’m so glad!
It’s the story of 85-year-old Veronica McCready, who inexplicably decides that she must travel (uninvited!!!) to Antarctica to see the penguins and visit a research station there. She is without any family and immensely wealthy, so she is looking for a worthy recipient of her wealth when she dies. It’s such an unlikely premise. The result is a delightful, complicated, ultimately heart-warming story of redemption, family, and hope. The audio version is so well done I would highly recommend listening to it, but I’m sure the book would be delightful too!
“There are three types of people in this world, Very. (He called me Very.) There are those who make the world worse, those who make no difference and those who make the world better. Be one who makes the world better, if you can.”
― Hazel Prior, How the Penguins Saved Veronica
Lectio Divina is an invitation to the practice of lectio divina. This a reminder to read for transformation rather than information. Smaller and deeper is hiding in plain sight daily when we slow down and notice what our hearts are whispering. Read the following passage slowly, more than one time, and notice if a word or phrase catches your attention. Invite those words into your week and see what deeper invitation they might hold.
“This is why we need a spiritual revolution! The solutions to the global pandemics that face us as a species don’t lie in the halls of government but in every human heart and soul. Jesus asked us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Buddha once said, “Whoever would think, on the basis of a body like this, to exalt himself or disparage another: What is that if not blindness?” The Quran states, “Allah loveth the just dealers.” Baha’u’llah writes, “Let your heart burn with loving-kindness for all who may cross your path.” The Hindu teacher Sri M says, “Love is a many-splendored entity.… You want to give, want to sacrifice your personal convenience for the sake of your beloved.… I plead, please, that we fall in love with humanity as a whole.” In Judaism, tikkun olam refers to the divine prerogative, or a type of aleinu (our duty), toward repairing the world.”
― Rainn Wilson, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution
(If you find yourself thinking about spiritual direction, please reach out. I would love to offer you a session so you can see for yourself. Spiritual Direction is easier to experience than to explain!)
As a teacher and parent the start of the school year has always felt more like a new year than January. September always feels like the time to start new routines and habits while January is more of a check-in or a recalibration after the holidays.
I, too, love cheap spiral notebooks and we have reams of them lying around from our homeschooling days that are only half used. I just rip out the used pages and notate away.
I laughed about the cheap spiral notebooks and the moleskines. I use both kinds, but it’s true that I permit all kinds of disorder in the spirals and have no barriers to writing anything there. 😂 Thank you for many lovely invitations here this week!