It's another no-resolution year!

Time to pick a saying for the year instead

The seeds of the new year have been planted.

The Gregorian new year, that is.

I celebrated the Minoan new year back at the Autumn Equinox, and my ancestral new year at Winter Solstice a week and a half ago. I gave a nod to the Celtic-neopagan new year back at Samhain, too.

We’re subject to so many cycles, it’s dizzying.

The human-made ones include the Gregorian calendar, the 24-hour day, the 7-day week, and the various iterations of the 40-hour work week, depending on whether you work 9-to-5 Monday through Friday or some other configuration.

The smaller-scale natural ones that we notice in our everyday lives include the 365-day solar year, the 29.5-day lunar cycle, and the seasons, which will vary depending on where you live. I live in a northern hemisphere four-season temperate zone, so it’s winter now at my house.

There are larger-scale natural cycles like the Saros cycles, the lunar standstills, and the Octataeris (all of which the Minoans used in their sacred calendar), and even larger-scale ones like Precession and the Milankovitch cycles.

They all tug on us in one way or another, but the smaller ones can press harder on our lives, maybe because they’re closer to us in our everyday activities.

The Gregorian calendar is ever-present; all my appointments, deadlines, and events are based on it. So when December 31 rolls around, I find myself wanting to mark the changeover to the next year.

But I don’t make resolutions at the calendar new year.

I’ve explained before that I feel strongly enough influenced by nature’s seasonal cycle that I just can’t get up the oomph to make resolution-type changes in the dead of winter. In fact, I’m almost tempted to try to hibernate, the way some of our long-ago ancestors appear to have done.

I save those resolution types of life shifts for springtime, when the energy around me is increasing and I’m more likely to follow through for the long term and not end up disappointed.

Winter is a contemplative season for me, so I mark the new calendar year by choosing a phrase or saying that I can carry with me, figuratively speaking, for the rest of the year, as a subject for meditation and contemplation. I often discover new insights into many different aspects of life, even some that don’t have obvious connections with the saying I choose.

Actually, I don’t choose the saying so much as it crops up and won’t leave me alone until I accept it. It chooses me, in a manner of speaking, once I open the door to it.

This year’s saying comes from Kahlil Gibran’s writings, and it showed up strong and insistent: “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”

I try not to read too much into each year’s saying when it shows up; they never act as portents, at least not in the way that I expect. So I’ll tuck this one in my (metaphoric) pocket and see where it leads me over the next twelve months.

How do you mark the new calendar year? Do you make resolutions or do something else for the upcoming year?

I hope 2025 treats you gently.

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About Laura Perry

I'm the founder and Temple Mom of Ariadne's Tribe, a worldwide inclusive Minoan spiritual tradition. I'm also an author, artist, and creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs. My spiritual practice includes spirit work and herbalism through the lens of lifelong animism. I write Pagan / polytheist / magical non-fiction and fiction across several different subjects and genres. My Minoan entry in the Moon Books Pantheons series is now available for pre-order and will be released on 26 August 2025. While that process percolates along, I’m working on an illustrated book of modern Minoan myths. I’m also an avid herb and vegetable gardener and living history demonstrator.