New Year’s Goals: Get Ready, Get Set, Wait! by Marie Bowser

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Marie Bowser as she shares with us “New Year’s Goals: Get Ready, Get Set, Wait!” Enjoy!

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You’re almost through the celebratory tunnel! Whether it was decorating, eating and connecting on Zoom or reflecting, reading and resting, I hope you got exactly what you needed last week. (I myself knitted my brains out while catching up on holiday movies.)

There is one more gauntlet remaining. Many people place an incredible amount of importance on New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day. To which I say, wonderful!

Any opportunity to assess and reflect on life and to get clear about your goals is important and lovely. AND I want to remind everyone that we are still at MIDWINTER. We are still deep in the season of the water element.

MIDWINTER: Deep in the Season of the Water Element 

Now is not necessarily time to sprint out of the gate, guns blazing, up at 5AM, to run a marathon. And unless this is already part of your work routine, it’s not necessarily time to push hard on your next creative project. (I know. I’m such a buzz kill.) 

Winter really is the time where we get to rest after the hard work of planting, harvesting and storing the crops. 

• Did you participate in NaNoWriMo?
• Did you adequately rest afterward?
• Has this year been literally friggin’ bananas? 

Our culture does not value resting, recovering, doing nothing and dreaming. That doesn’t mean it’s not important.

The Between Time: From New Years Eve and Lunar New Year

One thing I often suggest is to hold the time between New Years Eve and Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year, which starts on Friday, February 12, 2021) as a time for gaining clarity, doing research and laying out your plans. Doesn’t that feel spacious? 

If you ARE planning to run a marathon: line up a running coach and a team of people who will support your body; start a stretching routine; research the best shoes for your feet; find a running group.

If you ARE starting a new creative project: look at your calendar and plan your schedule so it allows adequate rest and sleep; dream and vision about the characters and scenes you want to write about; casually develop a skeleton for your story; line up your accountability team or research different writing groups; or schedule a session with a writing coach. You get the idea…

The natural energy of the year increases each day after the winter solstice and we can USE that energy to support our activities. 

Springtime, wood element energy is active, bright, and pushes up out of the earth like a plant reaching toward the sun. It starts to enliven at the beginning of February and increases significantly by the middle of March. 

On January 12 you may find your body wants vigorous hikes and stretching or casual journaling exercises. 

On February 12 you will have access to more energy to get up early and produce thousands of words or to put in some low mileage runs. 

New Year’s Time: We’re Still in the Water Element 

If you truly give yourself the water element experience and conserve your energy, you’ll be effortlessly banging out chapter upon chapter of material and putting in high mileage marathon training March onward. 

By mid-June you’ll be prolific and you may even feel ready for a break to have some fun! 

I promise you that conserving your energy now will prevent burnout and pay off with high productivity later when the springtime, wood element energy, bursts upward with new life and gives you additional energy to sprint. 

• Have you been following this seasonal, elemental wisdom for how to work and live? 
• Has it felt amazing? 

My patients and clients love it, as do I and I would love to hear how it’s going for YOU. 

P.S. I love a glass of bubbly on special occasions and am often wishing there were more fun non-alcoholic (NA) options to make a big evening like New Year’s Eve feel special. I developed some NA mocktail recipes so that my guests (when guests are a thing) and I have options that feel as appealing as what everyone else is drinking. I thought I’d share them so you could do the same! Here is a link to access the recipes.