Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Janustide - my six days of intention


For years now, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day has been my own private holiday. I've finally decided to give it a name: Janustide. Janus, you may recall, was the Roman god for whom January is named, whose two faces look to the past and the future. He was the god of beginnings, endings and of gates, doors and doorways.

My Janustide is six days of intentional transition from the old year to the new, a mixture of physical and mental decluttering, reflection, planning and preparation. It's the third day, and my home office is nearly ready for the coming semester; one more day will do complete the job. I have moved three large bags of unneeded stuff to the basement for the next charity pick-up, and filled two paper recycling bins. While I work, I listen to books or podcasts (Zencast is a favorite.) A small notebook and pen lie on my desk, ready to capture fleeting ideas or reminders.

I'm curious; do others have the same turn-of the-year rituals?

Update: My office is ready for 2011! Yes, that's a sewing machine at the far right.





1 comment:

Unknown said...

What a great idea! I might have to steal it. I'm in the process of developing some yearly rituals for myself. I realized this year, that as an agnostic, the Christian holidays and rituals we participated in as children don't hold any meaning for me. Even though we were a secular house we celebrated the holidays like everyone else. But now that families are moving away, changing, and we can't get everyone together to celebrate on the official day, I'm kind of adrift. The holidays themselves don't anchor our celebrations... but we never really defined what the celebration means to us and what it's about because there was always the holiday to stand in as a place holder. However, I do think I need ritual and holidays to mark the stages of the year, of my life.