January is the start of the new calendar year. It’s named after Janus, the god with two face, one of which faced forwards and one backwards. This is a good month to look forwards and make plans, decisions and changes, based on what happened last year. It’s traditionally a time to make resolutions. If you take time to reflect on the previous year, and on the basis of that consideration make decisions about what you would like to do differently, then the changes you hope for are much more likely to be both achieved and sustained. January can also be symbolically represented by a gate. At a gate, we stand on a threshold, about to step from one place to another. January is like this. The old year is only just over and the new year is beginning. You are on the threshold of the new year. The old saying about turning over a new leaf is appropriate here. On the threshold, you are about to step from the past and into the future. The threshold, the gate, is where you are standing now. Today’s the day which lies between the past and the future. It’s the time of taking an overview of the year, of starting a new calendar, a new diary, a new journal. A threshold, or gate, has another potential meaning, because on the other side of the gate, may lie some new territory. In stepping through the gate, you are entering a new place, stepping onto new ground. There’s something exciting about this, but for many people, there’s also something a bit scary about it. We don’t know what the future might hold, but at least realising we can play an active part in creating it, gives us the potential to step into it positively.
