{"id":291,"date":"2025-02-10T14:35:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T14:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/center.antioch.edu\/csc\/?p=291"},"modified":"2025-12-17T12:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T12:19:56","slug":"your-year-your-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/center.antioch.edu\/csc\/2025\/02\/10\/your-year-your-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Year, Your Timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This time of year carries different energy for different people. For some, it\u2019s an energizing fresh start. For others, a moment to pause, reset, and continue on as before. For others? Just a series of long, cold, monochromatic grey\/white\/black days.\u00a0 In much of Western culture, the focus on improvement, on making this the\u00a0best year ever<\/strong>\u00a0is ubiquitous. The stores are full of organizing supplies and workout gear and social media is a seemingly never-ending stream of\u00a0\u201cThese are the 10 things you MUST do in 2025!\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that\u2019s your jam then by all means- have at it. I\u2019m never going to yuck someone else\u2019s yum. But if you\u2019re just not feeling it this year, let me say this out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to start your new year in January.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We celebrate New Year’s in January in honor of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings<\/a>, but it\u2019s not like January is the only time we begin and end things. This year, you can decide to take control of your fresh start. Maybe choose the spring solstice on March 20. Or your birthday. Or the last day of school. Or the anniversary of the day you discovered you love cheese. Put it wherever you want on the calendar- or skip it altogether! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, 2024 was kind of a lot and we don\u2019t know what 2025 is going to bring. Maybe we should take a cue from nature and just\u2026hunker down for right now.\u00a0Rest<\/a>.\u00a0Lie fallow<\/a>. Stay warm,\u00a0support those who depend on us<\/a>, and\u00a0let those we depend on take care of us\u00a0<\/a>as well. Eat a little extra cheese. And bread. And soup.\u00a0\u00a0Stretch<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0dream<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0give ourselves permission not to DO anything<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you get itchy- to organize, to create, to move in a new direction- then by all means honor that itch. Or maybe just set up a system to organize the things you\u2019ll want to find when you\u2019re ready. (I recently wrote this piece for Edutopia on avoiding FOMO<\/a>– there are some great resources there to check out) But maybe don\u2019t rush into it.

Take a breath, get another cup of tea or coffee or kombucha (and a cookie and\/or a slice of cheese), and look around. Notice what\u2019s in front of you<\/a>– not what\u2019s missing, what you wish were there, what you hope to have someday- and take a bit of pride<\/a> in the part you played in creating it. 

Thanks for everything you do and for being a part of our community. You\u2019re pretty great, you know that?
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