As it's the second week of January, I thought it's a good time to talk about New Year's resolutions. Now is the time, if not before, that the resolve of the start of the year has waned and this comes as no surprise to me, and maybe others too.

January is not the time for change. We're still in midwinter. The animals are hibernating and the trees are dormant, this is how we should be. We are a part of nature, not separate to it. Yes, I know that we still need to earn a living and have responsibilities we can't ignore but at this time of year more rest is often needed. Do you feel that?

Instead of trying to make changes, now is a good time to generate ideas, dream up possibilities and tend to the seeds of a new life or a new project or whatever you want to come next. In the dark the seeds germinate and are nourished.

In many cultures, including the ancient Celtic culture of this land, the new year wasn't in January. January is not a new beginning, except for the human-constructed calendar we have learnt to live by. If you look outside there isn't much newness in the landscape. This, of course, starts in spring.

The capitalist system, however, can gain from the idea of resolutions in January. The buying of a gym membership that never really gets used or equipment for a new hobby that ends up sitting in a cupboard. Then the guilt people feel, the feeling of failing when the resolution isn't continued can fuel more spending to mask these feelings.

So, please don't feel like a failure if that New Year's resolution hasn't come to fruition. It's not you, it's the system we're in. I invite you, instead, to use the winter to think, to dream, to tend to those seeds of what might be and then sow them at the right time, in the spring.

Until then, happy hibernation!

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