Two questions for you to reflect on:
- Do you start each January raring to go, productive, and dutifully checking off your list of resolutions/intentions/goals?
- Do you limp into January exhausted by the last month of holidays, socializing, Winter Break, and your usual routine shaken up?
Now, keep in mind, these calendar facts:
The Julian calendar, created in 45 B.C., was the first to follow the solar year (earth’s travel around the sun) rather than lunar cycles, which tended to fall out of sync with the season since the moon cycles are 29.5 days long.
- Another change was moving the beginning of the year to January rather than March.
- In addition, the calendars previous to the Julian were ten months long, and the winter months weren’t named.
- When the calendar was reformed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, the January 1 date for the new year stuck (for many, some traditions have other dates like Chinese New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and Nowruz).
What Does the Season Have to do With It?
With January 1 being the arbitrary start to the new year, productivity rules, but do you need to “be productive” right now?
However, if we consider the energy of winter for the Northern Hemisphere, it’s generally a time for slowing down, introspection, and planning. In certain parts of the world, it’s cold and snowy. The days are short and nights long.
Pushing forward in productivity may be less productive in the long run, especially if your Human Design archetype is one that doesn’t access consistent energy. Orchestrator/Projector, Initiator/Manifestor, and Calibrator/Reflector energies aren’t consistent, and people with these archetypes tend to need more downtime than Time Bender/Manifesting Generator or Alchemist/Generator archetypes. Type isn’t the only indicator that someone may need more rest, but it’s often a big ah-ha moment for someone who has always felt out of sync with the messaging around them.
Even if you don’t know your archetype, consider allowing yourself to reflect on the energy of the season as you feel it. This lower energy may be perfect for you to churn out productive work. Or some days you feel energized, checking off your to-do list with precision, followed by other days of low energy. Perhaps this may be the time to begin planning what comes next as we move through the winter into spring.
We experience our energy levels on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis. Consider this an invitation to examine your energy levels and what’s going to work best for you. You may need a day or two off to actively do nothing. If this shows up for you, practice non-judgment! Permit yourself to do what you need to replenish.
Calendar Facts by National Geographic
Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash
