New Year, Same You!

Let’s get this out of the way: There is nothing inherently special about January 1.

In many cultures, there’s nothing special about it at all. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to do anything to mark this particular day. If treating it like any other day is what’s best for you, godspeed.

What I certainly don’t want to do on January 1 is create a list of things I hate about myself and formulate elaborate, unrealistic, and sometimes costly goals that I am not going to achieve and then end up feeling worse about myself. I especially don’t want to do that heading into a year that I fully expect to be brutal. However, I do find that it’s sometimes nice to have a fresh start, and the liminal time we know as “the holidays” seems like as good a time as any to set some intentions for myself. So, if you want to do something, here are a couple of things you might do.

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Chose a Word (or Phrase) of the Year

This is something I’ve been doing for a while now and I’m going to do it again for 2025. Sometimes I find my word by accident. Sometimes it comes to me without a lot of thought. This year I’m maybe putting too much effort into it. “Persevere” seemed kind of depressing, so I considered “Keep Going,”but sometimes what I really need to do is stop—because I’m burnt out, because I need help, because I’m going in the wrong direction, because I really need to pee, but my ADHD insists that I finish this sentence first…

I went to Wordnik to look for some alternatives. I kind of like “Abide,” but I don’t want to have to have to put up with a year of Big Lebowski references. “Hang In There” is a classic, but “Hangin’ in there” has been my go-to response to “How ya doing?” since 2016 and it has worn a bit thin. “Persist” isn’t bad. “Lump It” is hilarious and makes me think I should maybe just go with “Aw, Nuts,” which leads me to “Fuck It,” which is evergreen. “Keep On Truckin’” has popped into my head, bringing along with it “Just Passin’ Thru…” (R. Crumb fans will understand.) A reminder of impermanence makes a whole lot of sense right now, but… I think I need something with a little more bite. “Become Ungovernable” is, at this moment, pulling to the head of the pack, although “Do Not Obey In Advance” is close behind.

If you’d like a process that’s a little more structured, maybe set aside some time on New Year’s Day and try this:

Remember what was good in 2024 and reflect on what you would like to bring into 2025. If this suggestion makes you LOL, believe me, I get it, but I promise that there was something good mixed in with all the bad. Like, races from the top of the ballot to the bottom did not go the way I wanted them to, but in working to get out the vote, I developed a stronger sense of community. “Community” would be a very not bad word of the year. “Mutual Aid” also has a nice ring to it.

Next, think about what you want to leave behind in 2024. I realize that it’s probably impossible to create an exhaustive list, but if you see some themes emerging, they might point you towards what you want to add to your life or cultivate.

What do you do with your word (or phrase) of the year? Whatever you want. You can cross stitch it on a sampler. You can commission or create a piece of jewelry with your word(s) on it. You can write it on a piece of masking tape that you stick to your desk. You can whisper it to yourself when you need to remember who you are and what you’re doing.

Choose a Tarot Card for the Year

Numerologically speaking, the card of the Year for 2025 is the Hermit. I offer some thoughts about this card and ideas for working with it over at Postmodern Witch. But if you want to choose your own, let chance be your guide. Use your favorite Tarot deck. Use whatever deck you have. Use oracle cards. Use a stack of Buffy the Vampire Slayer trading cards. I don’t care. The universe doesn’t care. Just shuffle and pick one.

I thought I might use Garbage Pail Kids Tarot (which is surprisingly excellent) this year, but 1.) I feel like I need something slightly less chaotic and 2.) I can’t find it right now. The Literary Witches Oracle (created by the amazing Katy Horan and friend of the zine Taisia Kitaiskaia) happens to be sitting on my desk, so I picked that up instead. I pulled Snail, which Taisia tells us means “taking your time, the sacred, and fragility.” Would I have liked to have pulled Angela Carter or Octavia E. Butler instead? Sure! Who wouldn’t? But I can hardly even tell you how meaningful Snail’s message is to me and how well this card vibes with the Hermit.

Which brings me to: If you pull a random card, it may well be a Minor Arcana card, sort of like when you start doing genealogy you discover that, no, you are not a royal child hidden amongst the commoners until it’s safe for your big reveal but, rather, a bog standard descendent of people who have been working people since the Stone Age. But! I use Tarot cards because every card is an invitation to escape the thoughts that run on a loop in my head. Every card offers something new to consider. Every card has something to teach you if you are willing to learn about yourself.

How should you work with your card? That’s entirely up to you, of course, but I have some ideas. Look around and see how different artists interpret your card and find a version that really speaks to you. The simplest thing you can do with this image is print it out and keep it somewhere you’re likely to see it. I must add some caveats: If the image you love is part of a deck that is commercially available, please consider purchasing that deck—directly from its creator if possible. If the image you love is available as a print, please think about buying a print. (I don’t know any visual artist who would mind if you print out their work so that you can look at it every day, but please do give money to the people who create art you connect with and absolutely do not share it without attribution.)

Another thing you might do is really dig into the symbolism and history of your card to see what you can learn by going deep. This is my jam, and I have Pinterest boards devoted to cards I’ve spent a lot of time with.1

Focus on what you don’t want to change

Weird idea, right? What are you supposed to do with your time, your money, your effort, and your emotional energy if you’re not trying to fix everything that’s wrong with you and your life? I don’t know! Maybe let’s find out! I’m kind of thinking this through as I type, but I’m feeling like starting 2025 by making a list what’s cool can’t be a bad idea.

We’ve all got a lot of work ahead of us. Maybe let’s get ready by loving ourselves as much as we can. Remember who benefits from your desire to make yourself smaller.

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Thank you for being here. All we have is each other. Do not obey in advance. See you in the new year.