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Old Year, New Year

© Fiona Broome

Halloween is a time of celebration in many cultures. Whether it is a religious or secular festival for you, there are many aspects of its traditional roots that can be helpful.

From earliest times, autumn meant the harvest. Samhain (or Halloween) was the celebration that marked the end of the harvest year. It was time for looking back over the previous year, and giving thanks.

Although Thanksgiving has replaced some of the Halloween traditions, our ancestors knew the importance of pausing to reflect with gratitude at least once a year.

While gratitude is important, the sense of pausing is also vital. Unfortunately, for many people Halloween merely marks the beginning of the most hectic time of year.

In ancient times, our ancestors rested during the time between the end of harvest and springtime's preparations for planting. Today's busiest time of year was--in earlier eras--a time to relax, and to prepare for the coming year.

This year, consider marking Halloween as the end of your year. Let the busyness go. Decide to enjoy the holiday season with no other goals than to embrace your spirituality and grow closer to the people who are most important to you.

Make a list of the 10 most important things to make a holiday season meaningful. Consider these choices:

Sending holiday cards

Making holiday cards

Displaying and decorating a Yule tree

Exchanging holiday gifts

Making holiday gifts

Attending church, your synagogue, circle, or other spiritual celebration

Participating in a holiday choir

Baking holiday cookies or candies

Decorating your yard, windows, or patio with holiday lights

Going out to see others' holiday displays after dark

Attending a large family gatherings

Hosting a large family gathering

Taking family members to see Santa

Creating a family newsletter

Creating or continuing a family tradition such as ice skating, donating time at a homeless shelter, visiting a local retirement home, etc.

Planning a holiday vacation for yourself or your family

Organizing a neighborhood or church potluck dinner after the holidays

Special New Year's Eve celebrations

After making a list of the 10 that are most important to you, identify the top three and a schedule them now. Note necessary preparations and enter them into your planner or on your calendar.

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