Druidry and resolutions
(Nimue)
The whole idea of celebrating the shift from December to January goes back to the Romans, so it isn’t necessarily going to be resonant for Druids. Some Druids celebrate the new year at Samhain, others at the solstice. The important thing here is to work with whatever seems resonant to you. I rather like the process of reflecting during the darker part of the year and deliberately trying to set my intentions for the year ahead but at the same time I don’t get over-invested in it.
Conventional resolutions are often problematic. Some years ago I deliberately put down anything that looked like self-flagellation. None of that ‘new year new me’ nonsense either. This for me is just a point in the wheel of the year when I pay extra attention to both looking back and looking ahead.
For Druids, I don’t think it makes a huge amount of sense to be focused too much on new year resolutions or for that matter end of the year reflections. We need to check in with ourselves far more often than that. Reflecting on what’s happened and what’s been learned can be part of an everyday practice. It’s something I make time for at least a couple of times in any given week.
It is also important to look at life and ask where our choices are taking us and whether we need to finesse that. This isn’t being about goal orientated necessarily. In fact I think it often works better not to be too goal orientated. As Druids we might be more interested in the journey we are taking and the kind of terrain we want to enter. There are questions it is good to ask all the time – what can I do to be kinder to myself, and kinder to others? What is needed right now? What isn’t serving me?
There more we check in with ourselves and act deliberately the more fully we are able to live. Our lives don’t just drift past us, unintended and taking us in random directions. The more aware we are, the more agency we have. What can I learn from this experience and how can I do better are questions that I return to all the time.
Sometimes it helps to set big, dramatic intentions if enacting them will take some organising. The intention to make a massive pilgrimage, write a book, learn an instrument etc is going to involve a few large, dramatic steps to get that moving. If you need to massively change your life, then sometimes a hefty resolution is what’s called for – regardless of the time of year. The rest of the time, there’s a lot to be said for making small resolutions to explore.
One of the good things about small resolutions is that you can more readily step away from them. Failing to keep New Year’s resolutions is a normal part of that experience and can invite shame, guilt and feelings of failure. A small resolution to give something a go and see what happens can be gently set aside if it doesn’t work. Often what works best is the resolution to be open, or brave, and a small resolution to give something a try.
If you don’t have anything else in mind, I can recommend considering a resolution to try and be kinder to yourself.
