It’s a day of firsts: my husband’s first day in his new job, the 18th anniversary of my first day without a cigarette and – behold! – my first ever blog.
Everyone knows that a new day (I’ll forego the bafflingly cheap but delicious Wetherspoons fry up tomorrow), week (I’ll start the job hunt next week), month (I’ll put some money aside next month) or year (my new year’s resolution is to try swinging) has a psychological allure.
Like a chameleon shedding its skin (yes, they do that too), we cast off the ‘old us’ and dabble with a bit of minor character reinvention. Usually nothing too racy, but enough to make us feel that we’re making healthier choices and taking the plunge in ways that move our lives forward.
But why choose one moment over another? For me, there’s the ‘license to chill’ factor – will power be damned! Picking a fresh and shiny (though, ultimately, arbitrary) date in the future is giving yourself permission to indulge in whatever frivolities tickle your fancy in the short term – because YOU HAVE SET A DATE TO BE A BETTER PERSON. They knew what they were doing when they tacked new year’s day onto the end of the Christmas period.
And remember the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely) objectives we’re urged to make in goal-setting season? A fresh page, line or square on the calendar helps us neatly visualise the time frame we’ll use to judge our success.
Thus, October becomes ‘the month I started blogging’ in my universe. What do the next 31 days hold for you?
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
Katie Jones 