The New Year is celebrated in numerous ways in various cultures, but nearly all have an element of opportunity for positive change, a clean slate, and achieving new or renewed goals. After the abundance of holiday food and drinks, decorations, gifts, and activities, New Year’s day can be for many, a time to regroup, tidy up, and declutter while setting an intention for the coming months. Organizational Guru Marie Kondo recently shared her three New Year’s traditions that help her start January with purpose, optimism, and health.
Rooted in her Japanese heritage, Kondo starts her New Year by writing down her goals or resolutions for the coming year with a ritual called “kakizome” in which individuals pen a word that represents their intention for the coming year using special calligraphy paper and ink. The act of writing out goals helps to focus the mind and serves as a reminder throughout the months of one’s ambitions and resolutions. Kondo also likes to suggest to her clients to use a fresh new notebook and pen at the beginning of the New Year to write down their goals and inspire growth, renewal and positive lifestyle changes.
Choosing healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains can start the New Year off with energy and well-being. In Korean culture, eggs represent birth and beginnings. But, traditional meals from your own culture can bring meaning and remind families of their strong roots that provide stability to prosper and live with vitality.
The third tradition is one that everyone can enjoy to help start off the New Year on the right foot. Replacing one old item with a new one can inject fresh energy into the New Year. In the practice of Feng Shui, the underwear you choose to wear on New Year’s Day sets the tone for the entire year. White symbolized new beginnings – but it doesn’t have to be underwear, a new pair of socks, a new toothbrush, towels, or a new bathrobe will do the trick. Picking something you use often, that is worn, and replacing it with something new can provide an instant lift.
Whatever your traditions are this New Year’s – a kiss at midnight, clinking glasses of champagne, singing Auld Lang Syne, or welcoming a dark-haired man into the house after midnight, may 2023 bring you peace, prosperity, health and joy.
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