In Defence of Spring 🌷

Hot take: Nowruz should replace New Year's.

My lilac tree will soon bloom ♥️

I have lukewarm feelings towards Spring. Don’t get me wrong. Spring is a sight to behold with its warmer temperatures and mid-season allure. Here comes the joy of shedding layers, the craving for fresh fruits and vegetables, the flirtatious glances, the smiles, the impromptu coffee dates with friends...

But then, there’s the rain, the melting snow, the snow coming for its last hurrah in May, the despair while trying to figure out if the warm weather will ever come back, the strain of hibernation in our bodies…

So, as I said, my feelings about Spring are ambivalent, lukewarm, and tepid —lots of synonyms… I’m not a fan until the lilacs bloom and the city smells of flowers. This, for me, is what Spring is about: flowers blooming, nature taking over again, longer days, cold beverages in hand, ready to stroll in the city, wanderlust taking over people’s bodies, etcetera, etcetera.

Spring, with its cycle of birth and rebirth, seems like the perfect start of the year. From flowers to birds to ourselves, we all undergo a similar transformation. We hibernate in winter, leaving parts of ourselves to rest, and when the sun returns and the weather warms, we unfurl towards the light, ready to grow.

While Fall holds a special place in my heart with its fiery colors and the sense of transition, Spring is when I truly come alive. It’s the season of awakening, the end of seasonal blues, and the beginning of a new energy. And I’m not alone in this. I’ve spoken to friends, and many share the sentiment that Spring marks the actual start of the New Year.

And lately, it seems even more like the New Year. While some cultures worldwide celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year, we also celebrated the start of a new Astrological calendar—entering the Aries season, the first sign of the Zodiac—and Spring. Things are flourishing, paths are clearing, and it seems appropriate to ask ourselves the following…

WHY THE FUCK DO WE CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR IN JANUARY?!

A Scientific Search for An Answer

Look, I know. The answer I’m searching for has nothing to do with astronomy, physics, or anything very scientific, for that matter. It has everything to do with… HISTORY.

I searched the Internet for an answer—read Reddit—and was horrified when the answer was so simple. It’s just because Julius Caesar decided it should—excerpt from what I found.

The short answer is that January 1 was the first day of the Roman calendar, and remained the first day when Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 45 BC. Roman and post-Roman Europe has used pretty much the same calendar ever since then (although we now call it the Gregorian calendar after another reform in the 16th century).

So…why did the Roman calendar start on January 1?

“The Romans themselves were not sure why their civil year began in January, and the names of the months after June (going from Sextilis to December) made it easy for them to imagine that originally their calendar and civil year must have begun at the more “natural” beginning time of the spring, with March as the first month.” (Feeney, pg. 204)

Make it make sense. Even the Romans were confused! We just don’t know WHY it was decided that the calendar should start in January. The same way we celebrate Christmas in December when it should be in March, April, or May. For Christmas, it was because December 25 was the start of festivities of Sol Invictus, the Roman Sun God, but the beginning of the year… that’s a mystery no one knows.

As times change and our world seems darker, I propose changing our calendars. Yes, let’s shed our Western calendars and adopt other traditions. Hence, my defence of Nowruz as our New Year. And it makes sense: Rebirth and renewal are at the center of the celebration. Shouldn’t this be a moment to reflect and celebrate rather than a snowy, cold, deep-in-the-dark winter?!

Wishing You A Victorious New Day!

Rebirth and renewal have been a dear theme of mine lately, and they are constantly happening to everyone. Every day is an opportunity for rebirth, and every minute is an opportunity for renewal and reframing. Nowruz means New Day; by so, it also means opening new doors!

The warmth of the past few days has instilled in me some excitement and appreciation for the year to come —even with what is happening in the world. I wake up with a need to refresh and start anew. My year didn’t start in January. It begins now. As the weather gets warmer and maple syrup starts flowing through maple trees, my cheeks flush, and my brain gets out of the winter fog. Suddenly, there’s hope for something better to come.

I’m not profoundly spiritual or religious, but I believe in things shifting with the seasons—energies, feelings, stories, even. I named my cat Persephone five years ago because of the Greek Myth. I won’t explain it entirely, but my cat’s name symbolizes rebirth and renewal. Persephone is my Spring. When I got her, I knew she’d bring Spring into my life’s long winter before adopting her.

Spring is symbolic—it always has been. And so, while we start another spring, another rebirth, let’s reframe Time.

The New Year starts in March, and it started last week. You still have all the time in the world to begin anew. Go out, get in touch with yourself, reach out to that friend you haven’t seen in a while, and grab a cold brew.

Renewal and rebirth start now.

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Let me wish you a beautiful start to the new year and a wonderful spring.

And maybe lots of maple butter on toast. And in creamy yogurt. And by the spoonful, on its own.

Maple everything for the next month!

À la prochaine,

Y.