Recharging for the New Year

Anticipation, expectation, and the prospect of new beginnings are part of the magic. Even a sensible soul like me—one who’s admittedly cynical at times—is caught up in the excitement leading up to every New Year’s Day. The thought of being a phoenix rising from the ashes or, more simply, being able to erase past sins and start anew at the stroke of midnight is a fairytale so ingrained in our brains from childhood.

From a more rational perspective, a new year allows for recalibration. Any conscious change requires a shift in mindset, and such iconic a celebration makes it all the easier to assign meaning or measure progress. It’s not to say that resolutions can’t be made anytime, anywhere, of course; New Year’s Eve is just an auspicious time to do it. But to make change of any kind requires clarity, and to achieve tabula rasa requires hitting the reset button with intention.

For me, it’s not as easy as a snap of the fingers—and even if it were, I relish in the process. Prepping is poetic ritual, a re-charging that entails:

Making sure all is in order.

All as in: Credit cards, savings accounts, investments, work, email inboxes, paperwork, desktop files, relationships. Before recharging, a detox is needed—so I’ve been dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, disinfecting, getting down on my hands and knees to deep clean every square foot. Every inch has been re-organized or de-cluttered. Leave no space unturned.

Queuing up the new laptop.

Creating again is one of my resolutions, and what better a motivator than a brand new Macbook Pro? But equally as important as setting up the tech is ensuring that my home is conducive to inspired, productive work, which leads to…

Recharging my home.

Deep-cleaning every inch is only the first step. To recharge is to infuse every corner with something that brings joy; for me, this means buying fresh flowers, arranging crystals, burning candles, and making sure there’s champagne in the fridge just in case last-minute plans arise or a creative breakthrough calls for celebration.

Recalibrating.

It starts with writing away all of this year’s grievances, pain, excess. Tabula rasa is the only way one can make room to be open to all that is new.

Watching the Joan Didion documentary, “The Center Will Not Hold,” which I’ve been impatiently waiting for and is here at long last. Reading Anaïs Nin’s diary. Hoping that one day, I will be as prolific and profound as she in my own reflections.

Ordering all the things I wanted, because this past year I abstained and in 2018, I will devour. I’ve made a promise to myself —one permanently etched in ink on skin—so that I will always remember to devour without guilt. An art. Fingers crossed that before the new year, my new Agent Provocateur set will have arrived in time for an intimate celebration. An intimate celebration of self, that is, so that even if I choose to sit on a couch with my parents to watch the ball drop, I feel every bit beautiful and feminine as every woman deserves to. Also coming my way are a new workout outfit, a few books, a bottle of vitamins, a ballet pink cashmere Bella Freud sweater (with “Heroine” embroidered across the chest, how very Jeanne Damas meets Barbarella—my 2018 #aesthetic), a rainbow keyboard cover for my new MacBook, and of course, lipstick. From Guerlain. I’ve treated myself to the nth degree and will make no apologies—nor will I offer justification—for any of it. All these gifts to me, from me, are scheduled to arrive throughout the first week of 2018 so that I am consistently reminded of all the things I can and aspire to do. I will write, create, move. I will better trust my intuition and my respect my body. I will learn to love taking time for self-care, which includes putting on lipstick when I damn well feel like it and dressing up even when I don’t.

And here’s a profound thought:

What if we recharged ourselves as much as we did our phones?

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xx