My brother texted me on Samhain (multiple spellings around!), the night between October 31st and November 1st, to wish me a Happy New Year as this is the beginning of the new year for Celts. Our Celtic roots unite our souls like a profound and tacit bond. Just play the bagpipe and you'll see both of us turn around and well up as emotion overwhelms us. Every time!

 

I usually spend the last week of October in Brittany and I feel that passage across the threshold to the darker half of the year deep in my bones and soul. I squeeze out the last of the lighter half of the year and enjoy the beautiful colours and light over there, then on October 31st, I take it all in for the last time until April. I know that the following day, everything would be different. Nature would change drastically and the "vibe" would be different; I would feel different. 

 

I used to dread November and I believe many people find this particular month quite depressing. When I see Christmas stuff in stores arriving in October, I want to believe that it is not spurred by commercial greed but as a philantropic gesture to help us navigate November, a way of saying, "Hang in there, December is around the corner and there will be lights and cheerful songs!". Alright, it might not be their motivation but the result is the same and I know a few people who have already decorated their homes for Christmas as a way to cope with the dread of winter. 

 

In the last couple of years, I have started planning the year to come in November for no obvious reason other than it felt right to me. I knew Samhain was the beginning of the darker half of the year but I didn't know it was the beginning of the Celtic year. I read up and discovered that, for Celts, the day begins at nighttime and the year begins as the dark months arrive. Life begins in the darkness, in the womb. Darkness is a place we typically are encourage to escape but it might be where we need to gather our strength.

 

I find it quite interesting that beyond our natural biorhythms, we might also experience phases and seasons according to our roots because, in ways we don't necessarily understand, we are part of a bigger picture. 

 

Have you ever experienced this sort of things? You look back on what you do and how you feel at some particular points of the year and suddenly you realise that there is a reason for all of that and it stems from a bigger picture you are part of.

 

If you have, please share your story with me by replying to this email. I'd love to know.

 

I am going to plan the year to come this month because this is what feels natural to me — some people feel their birthday is a natural time to plan the year ahead and that makes great sense. For me, it is a way to create space for what might be, rather than feeling the pressure of "There are two months left, what are you going to do to meet your goals?". Either way might work. Some need that last push to achieve their dreams and that's great but I don't have the energy to rush at this time of year; I am better off imagining and making plans, not that I don't do anything, but I know for sure that I will have more energy and enthusiasm when blossoms start to appear in February. 

 

Planning doesn't need strict time structures like years. We can wipe the slate clean at any point, decide what we are going to do next and use new systems whenever it feels right. We can buy a new diary and start a new journal anytime. I still like the end-of-year/new-year vibe and I do like a new month especially if it falls on a Monday; but new beginnings can happen whenever we decide. We just have to follow our intuition and heart.