When I was a kid, I used to hate that my birthday was this time of year. I was bought into so sort of myth that my total take Birthday/Christmas wasn’t as good as someone whose birthday was in a far better month, such as July or August. As I have grown and detoxed some ideas around a Christian Holiday that doesn’t hold particular significance in my own world and having processed some of my own discomfort around receiving, I have grown to really love this time of year and my birthday’s place within it.
Not only do I really enjoy the festive feel between Thanksgiving and New Years and the way as a family we have reoriented to the celebration of Winter Solstice and the Return of the Light, but I also love the way in which my personal New Year and that of the calendar are lined up. I like having some time to really slow down and consider the last year in relation to my values as well as my aspirations and then allow that consideration to inform how I intend to step into the next year.
As I have said a whole bunch throughout this immense year, one of my personal silver linings has been the ability to access regular contact with my longtime teachers Christina Sell and Darren Rhodes. It has been such a gift to be in the current of their teaching again. And as much as they both continue to evolve in their understanding and approach to teaching asana and yoga philosophy, there is a way that it is indeed much the same as it has ever been. Which, in my opinion, is solid gold. It centers that which stays steady, consistent, and abiding, over that which is new and flashy and is also, quite often, disposable.
So, I have been considering this for the past several months. What lasts versus what fades. The things that stand the test of time versus the flash in the pan. Like, what are the things in my life that really sustain me and aren’t simply a moment of immediate gratification in the form of a temporary and unsustainable serotonin spike? This is in no way a new consideration for me, just one that I periodically circle back around to with renewed clarity or fresh depth. I think there may even be a post here titled: what stays the same.
It has led me to land on this project/endeavor/idea that has really been rolling around upstairs for a while now:
Nothing New til 2022.
I have definitely been building up to this for some time and I think I am finally ready to take a deep breath and commit to this effort for a full cycle. Nothing new. A whole lot of reuse and recycle, mending when I am able. I certainly need for nothing. But what I want for… well that is a whole other story. And while I have, for quite a few years, focused my purchasing power on small independent makers, I have also justified quite a few purchases simply because I wanted to justify them. I am ready to press pause on this habit and see where I end up.
I am not yet sure how far-reaching this will be in my life. I am, after all, not just a shopper for 1 but a shopper for 5, so we will have to see. But my sense is that once I turn up the dial on my awareness of my own unnecessary consumption, it will shine some new light on my consumer tendencies across the board. I sense that things are going to change y’all. And I have to admit that I feel more than a stiff mix of nerves and thrill when I think about this- which feels like a sure sign that I am on to something good.
I will be doing this independently. And I will endeavor to be as transparent about my process as possible. I don’t think it will be particularly easy. But I think it is the just-right gift to give myself for my 44th year. Old is the new NEW.