HNY
Happy New Year!*
*whatever that means…
I started 2026 very sensibly tucked up on NYE by 10.30pm with a really good book I had started that day…so rock and roll. I was full up of hosting, wine, cheese, turkey, gravy, bread sauce etc so a day binging Stranger Things drinking water and orange squash and an early night felt like the kind of salve I was after. The next day, I popped out for a local curry, fell down a half inch kerb on the way out, managed to not head butt the road nor spill the contents of the doggy bag and am now on crutches hobbling around thinking how in the last 40 odd years how much I take the ease of walking around on two feet so much for granted.
I had every intention to hit the gym and the power yoga hard as soon as the new year began. But alas, small steps and stairs up to bed are still eluding me and so I have to be patient and pause and rest whilst this black ankle and foot mends. I’ve never been on crutches and whilst waiting for a lift home from the hospital ordered a much needed coffee from the hospital what would you call it, lobby? Only to find I could not get from the counter to the table without assistance. It’s a different way of thinking when you have one leg out of action. Aside from hopping as I could not bear weight whatsoever on the leg, I ended up so frustrated about not being able to get around the house (pre-crutches) that I took to crawling because it was just easier get from one place to another on all fours. Much to the amusement of my family.
After the festivities are out of the way, the greeting to loved ones and strangers alike, morphs into ‘Happy New Year!’ until what date? I don’t know. Probably around now, 13th Jan, it’s feels a bit jaded to say it. So it’s just crack on with the business of life and routine and all the time sensitive drills ‘til the next holiday.
But what do we mean when we say Happy New Year? My cousin sent me an excerpt from a book last week that really resonated - I think the poem has a beautiful sentiment. And if Happy New Year is the big shiny title on the front, this is the meaning that resides underneath that simple salutation that we offer at the beginning of the year;
From Donna Ashworth’s book, ‘To the Women’
When I say Happy New Year
I’m not for a moment
expecting this to occur
for that is not possible
a year must be all things
happiness must come and go
like the tides and the winds
just as sadness
and all the emotions in-between
When I say happy new year
I’m really wishing you
a baseline of peace
of gratitude
of courage
[..]
when I say happy new year
I’m really wishing you
more happy days
than sad days
more joy than misery
more laughter than tears
more bravery than fear
and the wisdom to accept
that they all belong.
happy new year
I don’t do resolutions. Hardcore total change of behaviour promises to self (or anyone who can be bothered to listen), as you tip from one day to the next, are usually destined to fail. So in keeping with the ankle injury that has forced me to stop, I resolve to listen more. To listen to my own gut instinct (and try to not override it because my head thinks it knows best - weirdly we come to assume that head and heart are separate, when they are actually not at all); to listen to my body and to listen to those that I love. I have also quietly resolved to spend more time with my mum and sisters (if you’re reading beloveds, take note) as we only seem to catch up sporadically and then there’s so much noise and distraction that we don’t always hear and nourish one another in the chaos. And I resolve also to take on a new challenge in a work capacity. And to stop being so restrained after many years of career hibernation to put myself out there for something new and challenging.
I am sure these will morph as the year goes along and I think that is the thing. A resolution to do or be one thing at the beginning of the year might feel really off kilter mid way through. Perhaps the thing is to have some sketchy ideas /mark makers about what you want but be open-minded about how you get there and how the picture might evolve and transform as time passes.
Something else that resonated with me this week was this from a really talented interior designer, Kate from An Artful Life, who has helped me with some projects in my home. In a simple social media post, she said this;
Start small. Start easy. Just start.
Build habits you can keep.
Build a life that’s right for you and create an environment around you that supports it.
Remember that the day you plant the seed is not the day that you eat the fruit.
Keep going.
How beautifully simple and succinct.
The reference to planting the seed and not eating the fruit immediately was particularly evocative for me. Especially in this fast paced world that we inhabit where immediacy is so utterly revered. Nature is so refreshingly unhurried, is consistently patient and cannot be controlled by us.
It inspired me to sow my micro greens that I was gifted at Christmas. Now beginning their journey to fruition because well, I started. I sowed them and now those tiny micro seeds have the capacity to grow and prosper and end up on a plate nourishing me and mine with their wholesomeness. And then I’ll plant more and they’ll keep giving as long as I tend to them. They might be small but they’re very powerful.
Like realistic resolutions.
