Good grief, we’re barely through with 2025 yet, and already I’ve got things on the calendar way into spring. I’m supposed to be signing up for April events, and I haven’t finished with December yet. By April I should be thinking about the garden, and here I am shovelling snow — and yes, I know we’ve already had enough, but there’s more to come, count on that.
I intended to uncomplicate my life by doing less in the new year, and now I see that’s not going to happen. We go into January believing we have a clean slate when in reality we only have a quick Christmas break before we’re right back into our routine, one that we chose in September when we were desperate to find new activities.
If we were suddenly to leap off the merry-go-round of our own making, we’d soon find ourselves mired in ennui and longing to get out of the house and into our old routine, or if nothing else, to find a new activity. Sure, it’s tempting to get all virtuous and decide to go to the gym, but you probably know that you’ll find excuses to skip sessions long before the membership runs out. We’re much better off to pick up where we left in mid-December and leave the big changes to the real New Years, which we all know is September 1.
January? What is the compulsion to schedule ourselves way ahead? Well, it gives us a reason to get up in the morning. Knowing the day holds some promise of purpose increases our resolve to make the best of it. We can think ahead to how the event will play out. Maybe we think of what we’ll wear, who we’ll see, even how much it’s going to cost. Meeting someone for coffee takes a whole lot of phone calls and emails to get a date compatible for both of us, but once we do, it’s on the calendar, and heaven help circumstances that interfere.
February? Putting something on the calendar months in advance gives us planning time. Maybe we need to improve our skills… which involves taking a course. Purpose again: every class gives us the opportunity to learn and grow towards the final goal. The dog trialling season will start up again in a month, and I’ve got a long way to go. Diligence, patience, and yes, a whole lot of practice! Whatever I can learn in the meantime will be useful.
March? Already? Time to put the skills to good use and hope the practice pays off. Are travel plans in the offing? Have you booked the resort for the summer? Better get at it now before all the best spots are taken. There might be icicles hanging from the eaves, but in a few months it’s going to be a scorcher and you’ll want to be on a lake somewhere cool. Get those weeks written into the calendar, and pray the weather will cooperate. Then you can let your imagination take over while you declare “I can’t wait for…” It’ll make the experience even better when you’ve savoured it for months in advance.
Anticipating events, even if they aren’t particularly exciting, provides focus. I knew a lady who said: “I can’t die yet, I’ve got bridge next week”, and by golly, she was there at the table with the best cards. Yes, “places to go, people to see” provides incentive one day to the next.
So what do we do if our best plans go off the rails? We regroup our resources and make a new plan. The gap in the calendar might be a gift of time we didn’t anticipate when we can play hooky for a while. Even if the derailed date is doomed by weather or circumstances, we can salvage some shred of purpose from it.
We’ve got several calendars around here, but we rely on the computer one and the little notes tucked into our garden journal. Lord help us if we forget to enter something, because it’ll disappear into the ether. I thought I didn’t need reminders, but I’m glad to see them pop up on the email if only to confirm what I already know. Further, it prevents things from overlapping and me from having to make weak excuses for forgetting. That annoys me.
So there now, I’m turning a new page to January 2026, with many events already planned for the next four months. They’re on the calendar, in my journal, and waiting. I’ll do my best to arrive at each of the dates with some degree of readiness. I’ve still got plenty of time to pencil in lots of new things too, so “I’ll have my people call your people” and we’ll try to get together some time before September, when it’s good for both of us.